Pope calls on Cypriot Church to welcome change and diversity with patience
In the first official discourse of his Apostolic visit to Cyprus and
Greece, Pope Francis addresses Bishops, Priests, Men and Women
Religious, and Catechists, inviting them to be patient as they go forth
in a spirit of fraternity, forgiveness, mercy, and openness.
A “patient” church is the one best suited for the reality in Cyprus,
“a church that does not allow itself to be upset and troubled by change,
but calmly welcomes newness and discerns situations in the light of the
Gospel.”
This is Pope Francis’ vision and encouragement for Catholic clergy,
religious, and catechists gathered in Nicosia’s Maronite Cathedral of
Our Lady of Grace at the start of his Apostolic visit to Cyprus.
Addressing representatives of all the Catholic Rites present in
Cyprus – the Latin Rite, the Maronites and the Armenian Catholics – the
Pope upheld the wealth of their diversity and urged them to persevere
“without growing weary or discouraged.”
Amongst those to welcome him were the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus
Selim Sfeir, the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch Bechara Boutros Rai, and
the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
Lebanon
Greeting representatives of the Maronite Church, the Pope spoke of
his concern for crises currently crippling Lebanon: “I am sensitive to
the sufferings of a people wearied and tested by violence and adversity.
I carry in my prayer the desire for peace that rises from the heart of
that country.”
The patience of St. Barnabas
Getting to the heart of his message, the Pope reflected on the
heritage of Cyprus’s patron, Saint Barnabas, whom, he said, was a man of
faith and wisdom, whose attitude was one of utmost patience: “the
patience to keep moving forward; the patience to enter into the lives of
hitherto unknown individuals; the patience to accept what was new
without rushing to judgment.”
Barnabas, he continued, also had the patience of discernment, the
patience to “study” other cultures and traditions, the patience of
accompaniment, shown by how he accompanied newcomers to the faith by
taking them by the hand and dialoguing with them.
The open arms of the Cypriot Church
Pope Francis encouraged those present to continue in this path,
welcoming newness and discerning situations in the light of the Gospel.
He upheld the work carried out on the island as it welcomes “new
brothers and sisters arriving from other shores of the world,” never
leaving anyone bereft of its loving embrace.
A message for the Church throughout Europe
“This is also an important message for the Church throughout Europe,
marked by the crisis of faith. It does little good to be impulsive and
tempestuous, nostalgic or querulous; instead, we do well to march
forward, reading the signs of the times as well as the signs of the
crisis,” he said.
The Pope also called on priests to be patient in proclaiming the
Gospel to the next generation, and on bishops to be patient in being
close to their priests and in encountering our brothers and sisters of
other confessions.
He asked them to cultivate a culture of forgiveness and mercy and the
capacity to have open ears and hearts for different spiritual
sensibilities, different ways of expressing the faith, different
cultures.
The Church, he said, “does not want to reduce everything to uniformity, but to integrate with patience.”
The need for a fraternal Church
Pope Francis went on to highlight the significance of Barnabas’
encounter with Paul of Tarsus, “an approach of friendship and sharing of
life.” He urged those present to take up the history of others, “taking
the time to get to know them without labeling them, bearing them on our
shoulders when they are tired or wounded, as the good Samaritan did.
This is fraternity, and it is our second word.”
He recalled the time the two apostles, who had journeyed together
evangelizing the eastern Mediterranean region, had a disagreement and
went their separate ways.
However, the Pope noted, although they had different ideas, there was
no rancour between them: “This is what fraternity in the Church means:
we can argue about visions, sensibilities, and differing ideas.”
“We need a fraternal Church,” the Holy Father reiterated, “one that
is an agent of fraternity in our world,” inviting us not to experience
diversity as a threat to identity.
Brothers and sisters, all of us!
We are brothers and sisters loved by a single Father, the Pope said,
noting that the Church in Cyprus is immersed in the Mediterranean, "a
sea rich in history, a sea that has been the cradle of many
civilizations, a sea from which today many individuals, peoples, and
cultures from every part of the world still disembark.”
He concluded by urging them to remind everyone, and Europe as a
whole, “that we need to work together to build a future worthy of
humanity, to overcome divisions, to break down walls, to dream and work
for unity. We need to welcome and integrate one another, and to walk
together as brothers and sisters, all of us!”
