Pope opens Jubilee Year in Bangui and calls for peace
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Pope opens Jubilee Year in Bangui and calls for peace

Pope opens Jubilee Year in Bangui and calls for peace

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(AGI) Bangui, Nov 29 - Pope Francis opened the holy door of theCathedral of Bangui, the capital of the Central AfricanRepublic, thus officially inaugurating the Jubilee Year ofMercy one week ahead of time. This is the first time that aPope opens a Jubilee Year outside of Rome. It was PopeFrancis's strong wish that the extraordinary Jubilee Yearinitiate in Africa, challenging all concerns for his securityraised by the political instability in the Central AfricanRepublic. "To all those who make unjust use of the weapons ofthis world, I make this appeal: lay down these instruments ofdeath! Arm yourselves instead with righteousness, with love andmercy, the authentic guarantors of peace," he said at a mass inthe cathedral in the capital, Bangui. He continued: "Even whenthe powers of Hell are unleashed, Christians must rise to thesummons, their heads held high, and be ready to brave blows inthis battle over which God will have the last word. And thatword will be love and peace!". The Pope explained: "It isamid unprecedented devastation that Jesus wishes to show Hisgreat power, His incomparable glory and the power of that lovewhich stops at nothing, even before the falling of the heavens,the conflagration of the world or the tumult of the seas. Godis stronger than all else. This conviction gives to thebeliever serenity, courage and the strength to persevere ingood amid the greatest hardships." Pope Francis recalled thatpeace is grounded on forgiveness, both given and received."Having experienced forgiveness ourselves, we must forgiveothers in turn," he said. He explained: "This is our essentialvocation: the love of our enemies, which protects us from thetemptation to seek revenge and from the spiral of endlessretaliation. Jesus placed special emphasis on this aspect ofthe Christian testimony. Those who evangelize must therefore befirst and foremost practitioners of forgiveness, specialists inreconciliation, experts in mercy." Pope Francis thentalked of the unbreakable link that exists in Christianphilosophy between justice and love: "The salvation of Godwhich we await is also flavored with love," he said. "Advent isa time when we strive to open our hearts to receive theSaviour, who alone is just and the sole Judge able to give toeach his or her due. He comes to give us His gift of justice.He comes to enrich our personal and collective histories, ourdashed hopes and our sterile yearnings. And He sends us toproclaim, especially to those oppressed by the powerful of thisworld or weighed down by the burden of their sins, that 'Judahwill be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely'," he said,citing the Prophet Jeremiah. "Here as elsewhere, countless menand women thirst for respect, for justice, for equality, yetsee no positive signs on the horizon. These are the ones towhom He comes to bring the gift of His justice. God is not onlyrighteousness, but also and above all love. In every place,even and especially in those places where violence, hatred,injustice and persecution hold sway, Christians are called togive witness to this God who is love," he said in his homilyfor the First Sunday of Advent. (AGI). .
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