Photo from L'Osservatore Romano
Posted by: Jora Atienza
On Wednesday,
January 13, Pope Francis held his first General Audience of the New Year, welcoming
hundreds of pilgrims for an intimate address at the Vatican. This day included
our group from USF, along with representatives from other universities,
parishes, and other individuals from across the globe. His address was
translated to multiple languages including Spanish, French, English, Portuguese
and Arabic. During his talk, Pope
Francis spoke about the Jubilee
Year of Mercy, a special time for Catholics around the world to “find
the joy rediscovering and rendering… God’s mercy, with which [they] are all
called to give comfort to every man and every woman.” Thrilled by this opportunity, I joined a
small group of USF students to get to the Vatican early; we also stayed until
after the audience to be blessed and get a chance to meet Pope Francis.
As a Roman Catholic, I was profoundly
moved by the Pope’s words about mercy, compassion, and love. I was particularly struck by the following
quote:
La parola “amore”, qui utilizzata, indica l’affetto, la
grazia, la bontà. Non è l’amore da telenovela... È l’amore che fa il primo
passo, che non dipende dai meriti umani ma da un’immensa gratuità.
The word love, used
here, means love, grace, and goodness. It is not the love of the telenovela. It
is love that takes the first step, that does not depend on human merit but by
an immense generosity.
This idea of
generous, active love connected with speakers that had met with our group in
the days leading up to the Papal Audience.
Representatives from Jesuit Refugee Service
International and Centro
Astalli Foundation had all spoken about the core values of their work of
accompanying, serving and advocating for refugees, asylum seekers, and other
displaced people around the world. The idea of accompaniment struck me in
particular, as each of our classroom speakers spoke extensively about being
present and building deep connections with refugees and other displaced
people. That it is each person’s right
to have his or her human dignity acknowledged in a meaningful way.
As I watched Pope
Francis – a Jesuit himself – greet the crowd that remained after his address, I
marveled and was moved at how he modeled this value of accompaniment. He greeted dozens of people one by one,
unhurried and present for each person, taking almost an hour to move out of the
room. I thought about the various
stories I have read about the Pope visiting with those in need, whether incarcerated
youth or his first
Papal visit to Lampedusa, where he held mass for refugees, and felt that
his vocal support of refugees and displaced peoples in Europe and around the world
has helped pushed organizations and governments to respond to this crisis in a
more substantial and meaningful way.
