THE Pope is in Latin America – and he’s going down a storm.
As well as discussing all the big issues affecting his home continent (Francis is Argentinian), he’s been further cementing his reputation as the most unpretentious pontiff in recent times.
During his latest stop in Bolivia, not only did he dip into a Burger King to change his garments, but he was happy to pose in traditional Bolivian hats with the country’s president, Evo Morales.
Pope Francis appeared with Morales (the first indigenous president in Bolivia’s history) at a world summit of popular movements. It was the longest and most important speech of his week-long, three-nation South American trip, tackling a number of big issues.
He talked about the need to change an unjust global economic system which excludes the poor, and replace it with a “communitarian economy” involving the “fitting distribution” of the Earth’s resources.
“Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the Earth and human labour is not mere philanthropy, it’s a moral obligation,” he said.
He also committed himself to a full apology to the indigenous peoples of Latin America, who suffered centuries of violent oppression at the hands of European-descended elites. It builds on comments from previous popes, including John Paul II.
“I would also say, and here I wish to be quite clear, as was St John Paul II: I humbly ask forgiveness, not only for the offences of the Church herself, but also for crimes committed against the native peoples during the so-called conquest of America,” he said to applause from the crowd.
Then, deviating from his prepared script, he added: “I also want for us to remember the thousands and thousands of priests who strongly opposed the logic of the sword with the power of the cross. There was sin, and it was plentiful.”
He continued: “But we never apologised, so I now ask for forgiveness. But where there was sin, and there was plenty of sin, there was also an abundant grace increased by the men who defended indigenous peoples.”
He ended the speech with a fierce condemnation of the world’s governments for what he called “cowardice” in defending the Earth.
Echoing his environmental encyclical of last month, the Pope said the Earth “is being pillaged, laid waste and harmed with impunity” while “one international summit after another takes place without any significant result”.
He urged the activists present to “keep up your struggle”.
It was a message he articulated earlier in the day when he denounced the “throwaway” culture of today’s society which discards anyone who is unproductive. He made the comments as he celebrated his first public Mass in Bolivia, South America’s poorest country.
The government declared a national holiday so workers and students could attend the Mass, which featured prayers in Guarani and Aimara, two of Bolivia’s indigenous languages, and an altar carved from wood by artisans of the Chiquitano people.
