Pope Francis has urged the young Africans to reject corruption, war and violence on the final day of his visit to Congo.
“Prayer is the most powerful weapon there is,” Pope Francis told thousands of young adults and catechists in the Democratic Republic of Congo today as he pleaded for peace.
He preached his message before a crowd of 65,000 young people assembled for a rally in the Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa, the capital city, on the third day of his African “peace pilgrimage”.
The Holy Father said: “Yes, prayer conquers fear and enables us to take our future into our hands. Do you believe this?
He said: “Do you want to make prayer your secret, as refreshing water for the soul, as the one weapon you carry, as a traveling companion on each day’s journey?”
“God has placed the gift of life, the future of society and the future of this great country in those hands of yours,” he continued.
“Dear brother, dear sister, do your hands not seem small and frail, empty and unsuited to so great a task? It’s true,” he added.
“Let me tell you something: your hands all look alike, they all look alike, but none of them is exactly the same. No one has hands just like yours, and that is a sign that you are a unique treasure, an unrepeatable and incomparable treasure.
“You who dream of a different future: from your hands, tomorrow can be born, tomorrow can be born from your hands, from your hands peace so lacking in this country can at last come about.”
In his speech, Pope Francis encouraged his audience to be careful of the temptation to accuse people, according to Catholic News Agency, or to exclude others because of “regionalism, tribalism, or anything that makes you feel secure in your own group, but at the same time is unconcerned with the life of the community”.
“You know what happens,” the Pope said. “First, you believe in prejudices about others, then you justify hatred, then violence, and in the end, you find yourself in the middle of a war.”
He urged the young people to consider themselves instead as “part of a greater history, one that calls you to take an active role as a builder of communion, a champion of fraternity, an indomitable dreamer of a more united world”.
The Pontiff urged the crowd to shout together, “Go away, corruption!”
Francis also drew attention to two Congolese martyrs and their examples of faith – Blessed Isidore Bakanja and Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite, both of whom were beatified by Pope St John Paul II.
Blessed Isidore, a convert and a catechist, died in 1909, aged 21 or 22, from an infection caused by a beating and torture at the hands of a European manager for refusing to remove his brown scapular at work.
Blessed Marie-Clémentine, a Sister of the Holy Family, was killed during the civil war in 1964 at the age of 24.
Statues of the two blesseds were present at the youth meeting, according to CAN, where people in the crowd shouted and held signs saying “santi subito!”, demanding their canonisations.
The Pope also recalled 26-year-old Floribert Bwana Chui, killed 15 years ago in Goma for blocking the passage of spoiled foodstuffs which would have harmed people’s health.
The Christian man, said the Pope, prayed for guidance and said no to the “filth of corruption.”
“Now I want to tell you something important,” the Pope said. “Listen closely: If someone offers you a bribe, or promises you favours and lots of money, do not fall into the trap. Do not be deceived; do not be sucked into the swamp of evil. Do not be overcome by evil!”
On Friday, Francis will fly to Juba, South Sudan, for an “ecumenical pilgrimage” in the company of Justin Welby, the leader of the Worldwide Anglican Communion and Archbishop of Canterbury.
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