Pope: it was good for me to enter into dialogue with Asia

At the general audience, Francis reviewed the meetings of his apostolic journey to Mongolia. "Why did the Pope go so far from a small flock? Because the Lord does not seek the centre of the stage, but the simple heart of those who desire and love him. Let us widen the boundaries of our gaze to widen also those of the heart".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "I have been to the heart of Asia and it did me good. It is good to enter into dialogue with that great continent, to grasp its messages, to know its wisdom, its way of looking at things, of embracing time and space".

Pope Francis reflected this this morning as he retraced the apostolic journey that took him to Mongolia in recent days with the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for the general audience.

"I met a noble and wise people, who showed me so much cordiality and affection", commented the pontiff. “One might wonder why the Pope goes so far to visit a small flock of the faithful? Because it is right there, away from the spotlight - he replied - that the signs of God's presence are often found. The Lord does not seek center stage, but the simple heart of those who desire and love him without wanting to tower over others. And I had the grace of meeting in Mongolia a humble and happy Church, which is in the heart of God".

Recalling that this Church was born just thirty years ago from the apostolic zeal of some missionaries - that is precisely from the dimension that Francis wanted at the center of this Wednesday catechesis cycle - he underlined that these witnesses of the Gospel "although coming from different nations, they gave birth to a united and truly Catholic community. Not a universality that homogenizes, but a universality that inculturates itself, that captures the good where it lives and serves the people with whom it lives".

A Church born in the wake of charity, today also symbolized by the House of Mercy that Pope Francis blessed in Ulan Bator.

 "A house - he commented - which is the visiting card of those Christians, but which calls each of our communities to be a house of mercy: an open and welcoming place, where the misery of each one can come into contact without shame with God's mercy that lifts up and heals”.

Then recalling last Sunday's interreligious and ecumenical meeting, he recalled that "Mongolia has a great Buddhist tradition, with many people who live their religion in silence in a sincere and radical way, through altruism and the fight against their passions" .

They are "seeds of goodness that in secret make the garden of the world sprout, while we usually only hear about the sound of falling trees".

Instead, “it is crucial to be able to see and recognize the good. Only in this way, starting from the recognition of the good, is the common future built; only by valuing the other can we help him to improve. And this happens with individuals and also with peoples. On the other hand – added the pope – God does this with us: he looks at us in a benevolent way, with trust, with the gaze of the heart ”.

"It did me good to meet the Mongolian people - he concluded - who keep their roots and traditions, respect their elders and live in harmony with the environment: they are a people who scan the sky and feel the breath of creation. Thinking of the boundless and silent expanses of Mongolia, let us allow ourselves to be stimulated by the need to broaden the boundaries of our gaze, and not fall prisoner of trifles. For our gaze to see the good that exists in others and to be able to broaden our horizons. And also make us dilate our hearts to understand, to be close to every person and every civilization".

At the end of the audience, the pontiff expressed his sorrow for the victims of the fire in a five-story building in which 70 people died in Johannesburg last week. Finally, greeting the groups present, turning his gaze to the imminent liturgical feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is celebrated on 8 September, Francis exhorted "always to walk, like Mary, on the ways of the Lord. To her, woman of tenderness, we entrust the sufferings and tribulations of dear and tormented Ukraine which suffers so much".