A short but important message. Pope Leo sends a video greeting to the participants of the Aplenary assembly of the Federation of Asian Episcopal Conferences in Jakarta, underlining the centrality of the Eucharist as a source of unity.
«While you meet to discuss the important issues that concern the life and future of the Catholic Church in Asia, I assure you of my spiritual closeness, praying that the Holy Spirit will inspire and guide your time together”says the Pontiff. And he adds: «The theme chosen for your plenary Assembly is taken from the words of Jesus to Nathanael: “You will see greater things.” In calling Philip and Nathanael to follow him and become his disciples, the Lord refers to himself as the only mediator between God and men. As his disciples today, we know that Jesus is not only the source of our communion with God, but also of communion with each other. Effectively, in the recently published Encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, I wrote that Christian solidarity finds its source in the mystery of Christ and flows from our communion in the sacraments, particularly in the Eucharist. For this reason, I wish to encourage you to continue to promote a Eucharistic spirituality in your local Churches, i.e a spirituality of ecclesial unity founded on the charity that flows from the gift of the Lord in the Eucharist. In this way, I hope that the bonds of communion within and between local Churches will strengthen and become an ever greater sign of God’s presence in your various countries, which in turn will help you to be bridge builders together across Asia”.
In a continent characterized by a extraordinary diversity of cultures, languages, religions and political situations, recalling the Eucharist as the “source of communion” therefore means seeking a unity that is not built only on human agreements, but received as a gift.
The Church in Asia is the one that, in the world, is growing more rapidly in terms of vocations, presence and pastoral vitality, but it is also a community experiencing the most complex challenges: from the presence of authoritarian regimes (China, Vietnam, Myanmar) to coexistence with majority religions (Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism), passing through poverty and economic inequalities. The Pope invites to do not look with fear at these challenges, but to see in them the place where God can work “greater things». It is an invitation to hope and prophetic courage. Because the Church, in a continent marked by ethnic, religious and territorial conflicts (think of Kashmir, the division between North and South Korea, the tension between China and Taiwan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which also involves Asian Christian communities), bishops are called to a role of mediation and dialogue. It is not a question of direct political action, but of an evangelical presence that creates meeting spaces, that listens, that seeks the common good beyond belonging.
