Pope in Japan:a "field hospital" Church that offers reconciliation and forgiveness

Dialogue, solidarity and a rethinking of a society conditioned by careerism were the central themes of the afternoon of the penultimate day of Pope Francis' visit to Japan, marked by the celebration of Mass at the Tokyo Dome, in front of over 50 thousand people, by the visit to the Prime Minister and the meeting with the country's political, civil and religious authorities.

Tokyo (AsiaNews) - The Church as "a field hospital, ready to heal wounds and to offer always a path of reconciliation and forgiveness" for a defense of life and creation that also calls people "to deal with the nuclear question on the multilateral plane, promoting a political and institutional process capable of creating a broader international consensus and action. ".

Dialogue, solidarity and a rethinking of a society conditioned by careerism were the central themes of the afternoon of the penultimate day of Pope Francis' visit to Japan, marked by the celebration of Mass at the Tokyo Dome, in front of over 50 thousand people (in the photo), the visit to the Prime Minister and the meeting with the country's political, civil and religious authorities.

In a country strongly marked by consumerism, he said in his homily, " the home, school and community, which are meant to be places where we support and help one another, are being eroded by excessive competition in the pursuit of profit and efficiency. Many people feel confused and anxious; they are overwhelmed by so many demands and worries that take away their peace and stability. The Lord’s words act as a refreshing balm, when he tells us not to be troubled but to trust. Three times he insists: “Do not be anxious about your life… about tomorrow” (cf. Mt 6:25.31.34). This is not an encouragement to ignore what happens around us or to be irresponsible about our daily duties and responsibilities. Instead, it is an invitation to set our priorities against a broader horizon of meaning and thus find the freedom to see things his way: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (Mt 6:33).

" The Lord is not telling us that basic necessities like food and clothing are unimportant. Rather, he invites us to re-evaluate our daily decisions and not to become trapped or isolated in the pursuit of success at any cost, including the cost of our very lives. Worldly attitudes that look only to one’s own profit or gain in this world, and a selfishness that pursues only individual happiness, in reality leave us profoundly unhappy and enslaved, and hinder the authentic development of a truly harmonious and humane society. The opposite of an isolated, segregated and even suffocated "I" can only be a "we" shared, celebrated and communicated ".

"We are invited as a Christian community to protect all life and testify with wisdom and courage to a way of living marked by gratitude and compassion, generosity and simple listening. One capable of embracing and accepting life as it is, “with all its fragility, its simplicity, and often enough too, with its conflicts and annoyances” . We are called to be a community that can learn and teach the importance of accepting “things that are not perfect, pure or ‘distilled’, yet no less worthy of love. Is a disabled or frail person not worthy of love? Someone who happens to be a foreigner, someone who made a mistake, someone ill or in prison: is that person not worthy of love? We know what Jesus did: he embraced the leper, the blind man, the paralytic, the Pharisee and the sinner. He embraced the thief on the cross and even embraced and forgave those who crucified him”. "The proclamation of the Gospel of Life urgently requires that we as a community become a field hospital, ready to heal wounds and to offer always a path of reconciliation and forgiveness. For the Christian, the only possible measure by which we can judge each person and situation is that of the Father’s compassion for all his children. United to the Lord, in constant cooperation and dialogue with men and women of good will, including those of other religious convictions, we can become the prophetic leaven of a society that increasingly protects and cares for all life".

Dialogue, peace, solidarity at the international level and defense of the "common house" including human ecology were then the topics addressed by Francis in the meeting with political and social exponents, following the private visit to Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.

In a speech in which he recalled the moments of the visit to Japan in a certain way, Francis, recalling the stops in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, said that " History teaches us that conflicts and misunderstandings between peoples and nations can find valid solutions only through dialogue, the only weapon worthy of man and capable of ensuring lasting peace. I am convinced of the need to deal with the nuclear question on the multilateral plane, promoting a political and institutional process capable of creating a broader international consensus and action”.

Another theme, the protection of the "common home", " subjected not only to natural disasters but also to greed, exploitation and devastation at the hands of human beings. As the international community struggles to honor its commitments to protecting creation, it is the young who are increasingly speaking up and demanding courageous decisions. They challenge us to see that the world is not a possession to be squandered, but a precious legacy to be handed down”.

The protection of the common home, added Francis, "must also consider its human ecology. A commitment to protection means confronting the growing gap between rich and poor in a global economic system that enables a select few to dwell in opulence while the majority of the world’s population lives in poverty”.

"Human dignity needs to be at the center of all social, economic and political activity; intergenerational solidarity must be fostered, and at every level of community life concern must be shown for those who are forgotten and excluded. I think particularly of the young, who so often feel overwhelmed in facing the challenges of growing up, the elderly and the lonely who suffer from isolation. We know that, in the end, the civility of every nation or people is measured not by its economic strength, but by the attention it devotes to those in need and its capacity to be fruitful and promote life.”