FATHER LIAM SAYS: Pope
John Paul II visited one hundred and twenty eight countries during his
pontificate. He visited practically
every American country – some of them many times. He went to Brazil four times – the Latin
American country with the greatest number of Catholics and the country that
loses the most Catholics to Protestantism.
Many groups come to Brazil (and other Latin American countries) from the
United States where they have abundant economic resources and are perceived to
preach aggressively against the Catholic Church. This is one of the reasons why the World
Youth event was held in Rio de Janeiro – a decision that was made long before
Pope Francis was elected. In spite of
difficult circumstances, in numerical terms, the Church has more than kept pace
with the growth of Latin America’s population.
In 1959 there were 31.5 million Mexican Catholics while today there are
95 million. In Brazil in 1963 there were
60 million Catholics and today there are 179 million. In both of these countries however the
percentages of Catholics have declined slightly.
Throughout
the world over the last fifty years the number of Catholics has doubled from
527 million in 1959 to over 1.3 billion today.
Catholics have remained at about seventeen per cent of the global
population over those decades. A century
ago there were 1 million Catholics in Africa – almost all of whom were
European. Fifty years ago there were 21
million and today there are approximately 165 million Catholics in Africa or
17.4% of the total population.
Pope
John Paul visited Argentina on two occasions.
The first was in 1982 when the country was in the final throes of the
cruel dictatorship of General Videla. At
that time the present Pope was President of a Jesuit School in Buenos Aires and
had the opportunity to see the Pope at that time. John Paul visited again in 1987 after
civilian rule was restored in the wake of the Falkland invasion. In 1992 Fr. Jorge Bergoglio (the present
Pope) was appointed auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires and in 1998 became the
Archbishop. He was made a Cardinal on 21st
February 2001 – at the same time as Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor.
As
Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aries, Bergoglio belonged to several Congregations
of the Curia so he was required to visit Rome frequently. His competence, humility and sanctity made a
deep impression on his fellow Cardinals and in the conclave of 2005, following
the death of Pope John Paul he is widely believed to have been in contention
for being elected Pope.
In
the Middle East – the birth place of Christianity – Christians are having to
cope with problems that grow more urgent every year. Currently some 40 million Christians live in
countries ruled by Islamic governments.
Many face legal, social and economic discrimination and even the threat
of violence and martyrdom. Christians in
many of these areas were once the majority population and the once vibrant
Christian cities of Alexandria, Antioch and especially Constantinople were the
cradles of Eastern Christianity. Several
Islamic States, such as Algeria and Pakistan, have imposed severe restrictions
on Christians. Saudi Arabia bans all
religions except Islam.
The
phenomenon of Christians being forced to abandon their homes and even their
countries is a growing one. It has
assumed crisis proportions in the Middle East where in the last decade over 3
million Christians have left the Holy Land to settle in Europe or North
America. They represent over a quarter
of all Christians living in the Middle East.
There
were nearly 1.5 million Christians in Iraq at the start of the war there in
2003. Since then Christians have been
targeted for bombing assassinations and kidnapping. Most of the Christians have fled to Syria,
Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. It is
estimated that only 500,000 Christians remain in Iraq. Fundamentalism and lawlessness have led to
the deaths of over seven hundred Christians and attacks on over seventy of
their churches. In Egypt the Coptic
Christians, who comprise 10% of the total population have watched the Arab
Spring bring nothing but problems to them as the Muslim Brotherhood push ahead
with a Constitution that pays them no respect.
There
are many Islamic countries that afford Christians various liberties. Indonesia, Bangladesh and Malaysia for
instance have large non-Muslim populations including Hindus, Christians and
Buddhists who generally are allowed to practice their faith, build places of
worship and even enjoy some right to establish Missionary centres.
Cardinal
Bergoglio’s ability to relate to those of other faiths was evident in the
excellent relations he enjoyed with Jewish and Islamic leaders in
Argentina. He developed friendships with
the leaders even though both faiths are tiny minorities. The Cathedral of Buenos Aires was used for
interfaith services on several occasions.
He invited representatives of the Muslim, Jewish, Evangelical and
Orthodox communities to pray for peace in the Middle East.
Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople was the first head of the Greek
Orthodox Church in nearly one thousand years to attend the Installation of a
Pope. Representatives of some twenty
Christian Churches attended the Installation Mass on 19th March but
not since the 1054 schism between Catholics and Orthodox had the Patriarch come
to Rome to mark the start of a new pontificate.
The Russian Orthodox Church – the largest of the Orthodox Churches – was
represented but the Russian Orthodox Patriarch did not go though he sent a warm
message.
The
Russian Orthodox Church has difficulty in coming to terms with the Byzantine
Catholic Church in Russia and Ukraine.
The Byzantine Catholic Church was severely persecuted under the Soviet
Union and many of its churches were seized and handed over to the Russian
Orthodox Church. They would now like to
hand them back. The Orthodox Bishops
feel that the Pope should not give his support to Eastern-Rite Catholics in
Russia – a suggestion that was repeated at the time of the Installation.
Cardinal
Bergoglio established particularly good relations with the Argentinean Chief
Rabbi, Abraham Skorka and they co-authored a book: ‘On Heaven and Earth.’
(Indebted
to ‘Pope Francis’ by Matthew Bunson)
