By Emmanuel Onwubiko
Pope
Saint John Paul the second is perhaps one of the few modern day Popes that made
significant impacts in the annals of the sacred papacy as a constantly
travelling holy father who practically touched down on virtually all continents
of the world.
In Nigeria
cosmology, there is this joke about a man known as AJALA who has a reputation
for being the first Nigerian to have travelled to all parts of the World. This
mythology of AJALA the World traveller perfectly fits the description of Pope
John Paul 11.
Pope
John Paul II was also remarkable for his motivational activities around the
thematic areas that mostly affect the young person’s positively.
Pope
John Paul II was charismatic and vastly knowledgeable about the central role of
the younger populations of the world towards the globalization of peace and
security. His Papacy elevated and celebrated World Youths Conferences that held
in different parts of the World bringing together young Catholics from all
parts of the Earth to fraternize for at least one week dealing with social and
spiritual issues of our times. That legacy is alive and strong.
However,
like a pathfinder, the successor to the throne of Saint Peter and who is the
head of the over two billion membership Roman Catholic Church, the catholic
pontiff, Francis the first, is clearly known for his love, passion and
commitments to advocate those basic issues that seek the promotion and
protection of the human rights of the youths.
This
is not to underrate the achievements of Pope Francis’s immediate predecessor
Pope Benedict XVI just as we must take specific note that Pope Benedict the
sixteenth occupied his papacy with phenomenal scholarships in the area of the
radical advancement of theological sciences. Benedict did not shy away from
letting the World know that he is a man that cherishes the choicest parts of
the revered Roman Catholic traditions which were facing the imminent threats of
erosion and decline. He instituted many reforms aimed at refocusing the Church
towards the celebration of the Holy Mass that is in tune with traditions and
rites that are sacred and sacerdotal.
Pope
Benedict XVI, who is the only Pope in the last four centuries to have resigned
from his high office due to health challenges, is known for excellent books on
Bible and theology. Yours faithfully have the rare privilege of buying about
half a dozen of such books of spiritual purity and pristine quality.
And
so, in the context of the central themes that have occupied the times of the
current Pope, it is not in doubt that the wellbeing and spiritual welfare of
the younger populations of the world is so dear to him. In the past couple of
months, this Pope who loves the youth and the less privileged, has occupied
himself with evangelism of the youths around the world with travels to
virtually all continents of the world.
I
will return to the aforementioned but first, it would seem that Pope Francis is
gradually carving a niche for himself as the Saint John Bosco of the
contemporary times.
A
scholar, John Kubasak reflected about what he calls the 7 important lessons
from the life and times of Saint John Bosco which was published on
www.coraevans.com.
John
Kubasak had in the preamble to the work on his namesake stated that if we had
lived in Italy during the 19th century, St. John Bosco would’ve been a
household name. His personal service to
the Church, and that of the Salesian religious order that he founded reached
far and wide throughout Europe.
St.
John was born in Turin, Italy in 1815 to a poor family, and lost his father at
age two.
The
writer recalled too that he was ordained a priest in 1841 just as he observed
that perhaps the tragedy of losing his father spurred him to the mission that
he was best known for: reaching out to troubled youth.
The
more proximate cause of ministering to troubled youth was seeing the squalid
condition of the nearby prisons, in which children were incarcerated along with
adults. Pope Francis has also identified
with the suffering prisoners and immigrants who are mostly young person’s just
like what Saint John Bosco did as compiled by John Kubasak. Recently, Pope
Francis dedicated a four story edifice for sheltering immigrants and a kitchen
where they are to be fed at least two good square meals every day.
Kubasak
recalled that a meeting house where St. John could instruct boys was founded in
the late 1840s burgeoned into the Salesian religious order approved by the
Vatican in 1874.
The
author then stated that by the time of his death in 1888, 250 houses had been
established throughout the world. The
work of the society in the 40 years of St. John’s earthly life produced a
staggering 6,000 priests and innumerable riches in converted souls.
The
writer confirmed my assessment of Pope Francis to be a replica of Saint John
Bosco when he wrote that everything Pope Francis has described as the model of
a priest, St. John Bosco was: he had the smell of his sheep, went out to the
margins, lived a life of grace and the sacraments, and was zealous for
souls.
St.
John, he affirmed, was also a mystic, and the primary medium of his mystical
experiences were vivid dreams.
Whether
we are young or not so young, St. John Bosco was a man of great holiness whose
life could teach us all some lessons.
From his dreams, his biography, and the communities he started, I think
there are seven main lessons we can learn from St. John Bosco. With the turmoil in the world and within the
Catholic Church today, St. John Bosco is a timely intercessor and teacher for
our times, John Kubasak concluded.
So
we now have to stage a comeback to our topic of interest which is about the
dominant theme of the wellbeing of the world’s youths in the gospel according
to the current pope, Francis who is from Argentina, originally.
He
actually took his time as a deep thinker to throw the challenge to technology
firms regarding their corporate social responsibility towards the youths and
then he gave a general message to leaders of advanced nations on why they have
to slow down on their pursuit for nuclearization of their military weaponry. He
is of the conviction that the evolution of the world into fractional political
societies of military forces, who are in a race of life to develop nuclear
weapons, will in a big way endanger the youth, endanger world peace and
threaten humanity. Pope Francis is 100% correct.
On
his worries over the unregulated access of the young minds to diverse sets of
technological advances, the Holy Father sounded a note of warning as reported
by Reuters.
Pope
Francis warned on Friday last week that technology and globalization were
homogenizing young people around the world to the point where their uniqueness
and cultural individuality were becoming endangered species.
The
82-year-old pope made his appeal for young people to hold on to the cultures
handed down by their ancestors and cherish their roots at a meeting of leaders
of other religions as he wrapped up the last full day of his visit to Thailand.
He
decried a “growing tendency to discredit local values and cultures by imposing
a unitary model” for values on young people, referring apparently to Western
influence from films, advertising and social media.
“This
produces a cultural devastation that is just as serious as the disappearance of
species of animals and plants,” he said.
These
sentiments will resonate well in Africa whose beautiful cultural confront the
challenges of global imperialism and neo-colonialism.
The
preservation of local culture was also a theme of a visit on Friday to the
predominantly Catholic village of Wat Roman on the outskirts of Bangkok where
he urged today’s Thais not to consider Christianity a “foreign” religion. In
all of these visits both Reuters and other prominent global media gave it
extensive coverage.
The
Pope continued his defence of Cultural rights of diverse people of the World
when he emphasized the essence of holding on to the heritage of these distinct
cultures just as we will recall that the dominant culture in Thailand is
closely tied to Buddhism, although the Catholic minority of fewer than 1% were
generally treated well in modern times.
In a
talk to priests and nuns gathered in the village church, Francis paid tribute
to those killed to those killed for their faith in the past.
Among
them were seven Catholics, including three teenage girls, who were killed by
Thai police in 1940 in the northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom.
Pope
Francis called for migrants to be made welcome and women and children to be
protected from exploitation, abuse and enslavement as he began a busy two days
of activities in Thailand on Thursday, says Associated Press.
Francis
pleaded for action against one of the region's greatest scourges, human
trafficking to fuel the forced labour and sex trade industries, as he began a
weeklong visit to Asia. Nigeria and much of Africa face similar challenges. So
the Pope spoke for us too.
He
praised the Thai government's efforts to fight human trafficking in a speech
delivered at host Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's Government House offices.
But
he appealed for greater international commitment to protect women and children
"who are violated and exposed to every form of exploitation, enslavement,
violence and abuse''.
He
called for ways to "uproot this evil and to provide ways to restore their
dignity''.
"The
future of our peoples is linked in large measure to the way we will ensure a
dignified future to our children,'' he said.
The
United Nations considers Thailand a key trafficking destination as well as a
source of forced labour and sex slaves, who are trafficked at home or abroad.
The UN anti-trafficking agency says migrants come from Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia
or Vietnam, with Cambodian women and children in particular trafficked to beg
in Thai cities. Pope Francis's iconic speech on the girl child and women rights
coincided with the marking of the 16th days of activism against gender based
violence which began on November 25th being the International day of the Girl
Child and would culminate in the symbolic marking of the International Human
Rights Day on December 10th. During his
visit to Japan, his speeches covered many areas from bullying up to the issue
of the need for denuclearization.
Bullying,
he said, “Attacks our self-confidence at the very time when we most need the
ability to accept ourselves and to confront new challenges in life”.
The
Pope described the phenomenon as an epidemic and said the best way to treat it
is to unite and learn to say “Enough!” And he urged all young people never to
be afraid of “standing up in the midst of classmates and friends and saying:
“What you are doing is wrong”.
Fear,
the Pope explained, is always the enemy of goodness, because it is the enemy of
love and peace. He said that all great religions teach tolerance, harmony and
mercy, not fear, division and conflict. He reminded those present that Jesus constantly
told his followers not to be afraid. Love for God and for our brothers and
sisters, the Pope said, casts away fear. “Jesus himself,” he said, “knew what
it was to be despised and rejected – even to the point of being crucified”.
“He
knew too what it was to be a stranger, a migrant, someone who was
“different”. In a sense, Jesus was the
ultimate “outsider”, an outsider who was full of life to give,” he said.
“The
world needs you, never forget that!” Pope Francis said to all the ‘Leonardo’s
of the world’: we can always look at all the things we don’t have, but we must
see all the life that we can give and share with others: “The Lord needs you,
so that you can encourage all those people around us who are looking for a
helping hand to lift them up.”
This,
he said, involves “developing a very important but underestimated quality: the
ability to learn to make time for others, to listen to them, to share with
them, to understand them”.
Only
then, the Pope explained, can we open our experiences and our problems to a
love that can change us and start to change the world around us. That, the Pope
continued is exactly what Miki talked about during his presentation when he
asked how young people can make space for God in a society that is frenetic and
focused on being competitive and productive. Increasingly, he said, we see that
“a person, a community or even a whole society can be highly developed on the
outside, but have an interior life that is impoverished and under-developed,
lacking real life and vitality”.
The
young people of the World should listen, imbibe the teachings of Pope Francis
and externalize these excellent values and virtues so we make the World a
better place for humanity just like Michael Jackson of the blessed sang that we
should make the World a good home for all.
*Emmanuel
Onwubiko heads HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) and blogs
@www.emmanuelonwubiko.com,
www.huriwa.blogspot.com,www.thenigerianinsidernews.com.
