VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXVI - # 32   
   DATE 16-02-2016   
      
   Summary:   
   - Mass at San Cristobal de la Casas: the Pope asks indigenous peoples for   
   forgiveness   
   - Encounter with families: combat uncertainty and isolation   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Mass at San Cristobal de la Casas: the Pope asks indigenous peoples for   
   forgiveness   
    Vatican City, 16 February 2016 (VIS) - The Holy Father arrived shortly after 9   
   a.m. local time (4.10 p.m. in Rome) at Tuxtla Gutierrez, capital of the state   
   of   
   Chiapas. Given its high growth rate the city, usually referred to as Tuxtla, is   
   one of the poles of attraction for clandestine immigration both from bordering   
   Guatemala and other Latin American countries.   
    Chiapas is Mexico's southernmost state and, despite is great wealth of natural   
   resources, it is one of the poorest with the lowest life expectancy. Thirty per   
   cent of its four and a half million inhabitants speak the indigenous language   
   only, and the past oppression of the indigenous population was in 1868 the   
   cause   
   of the rebellion that came close to conquering Tuxtla. The state is also the   
   stronghold of the Zapatista movement (Zapatista Army of National Liberation),   
   established in 1983 to demand respect for the rights of indigenous populations   
   and the recognition of their culture, and to claim control of local resources,   
   especially land. The Zapatistas set aside their weapons in 1994 and moved to   
   the   
   political sphere through a strategy of civil resistance and the use of   
   communications media. The popular basis of the movement is constituted   
   principally of the inhabitants of rural areas and the Maya indigenous   
   populations.   
    From Tuxtla Gutierrez the Pope transferred by helicopter to San Cristobal de   
   las Casas, considered the cultural capital of Chiapas. The city, founded in   
   1528   
   and named first "Villareal" and subsequently "Ciudad Real", over time adopted   
   the name of the state's patron saint, Cristobal, and added "de Las Casas" in   
   honour of Fr. Bartolome de Las Casas, the first bishop of Ciudad Real from 1554   
   to 1566 and defender of the rights of indigenous peoples.   
    The Pope was received by Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel of San Cristobal de   
   Las Casas, and celebrated the Eucharist in the municipal sports centre, able to   
   hold a hundred thousand people. The majority of the faithful were indigenous   
   people from throughout the whole of the state of Chiapas and the celebration   
   was   
   held not only in Spanish but also in the tseltal, ch'ol and tsotil languages,   
   in   
   accordance with a decree approved by Francis for the occasion, enabling the use   
   of indigenous languages in the liturgy.   
    In his homily, the Holy Father recalled the liberation of the People of Israel   
   from the tyranny of the Pharaoh, and their yearning to live in freedom in the   
   promised land "where oppression, mistreatment and humiliation are not the   
   currency of the day". He cited the Popol Vuh (Book of Wisdom) which recounts   
   the   
   Mayan myth of creation, according to which "The dawn rises on all of the tribes   
   together", as well as on the earth itself, which demands respect and is instead   
   "among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor", leading to the current   
   environmental crisis, one of the gravest in the history of our planet. The Pope   
   praised the wisdom of the indigenous populations, and reaffirmed that they have   
   much to teach humanity on account of the harmony of their relationship with   
   nature, and he asked their forgiveness for the many times throughout history   
   that they have been misunderstood, excluded and robbed of their lands, values,   
   cultures and traditions.   
    "Li smantal Kajvaltike toj lek - the law of the Lord is perfect; it revives   
   the   
   soul. Thus begins the psalm we have just heard", said the Pope. "The law of the   
   Lord is perfect and the psalmist diligently lists everything that the law   
   offers   
   to those who hear and follow it: it revives the soul, it gives wisdom to the   
   simple, it gladdens the heart, and it gives light to the eyes. This is the law   
   which the people of Israel received from the hand of Moses, a law that would   
   help the People of God to live in the freedom to which they were called. A law   
   intended to be a light for the journey and to accompany the pilgrimage of his   
   people. A people who experienced slavery and the Pharaoh's tyranny, who endured   
   suffering and oppression to the point where God said, "Enough! No more! I have   
   seen their affliction, I have heard their cry, I know their sufferings". And   
   here the true face of God is seen, the face of the Father Who suffers as He   
   sees   
   the pain, mistreatment, and lack of justice for His children. His word, His   
   law,   
   thus becomes a symbol of freedom, a symbol of happiness, wisdom and light. It   
   is   
   an experience, a reality which is conveyed by a phrase prayed in Popol Vuh and   
   born of the wisdom accumulated in these lands since time immemorial: 'The dawn   
   rises on all of the tribes together. The face of the earth was immediately   
   healed by the sun'. The sun rose for the people who at various times have   
   walked   
   in the midst of history's darkest moments".   
    "In this expression"; he continued, "one hears the yearning to live in   
   freedom,   
   there is a longing which contemplates a promised land where oppression,   
   mistreatment and humiliation are not the currency of the day. In the heart of   
   man and in the memory of many of our peoples is imprinted this yearning for a   
   land, for a time when human corruption will be overcome by fraternity, when   
   injustice will be conquered by solidarity and when violence will be silenced by   
   peace. Our Father not only shares this longing, but has Himself inspired it and   
   continues to do so in giving us His son Jesus Christ. In Him we discover the   
   solidarity of the Father Who walks by our side. In Him, we see how the perfect   
   law takes flesh, takes a human face, shares our history so as to walk with and   
   sustain His people. He becomes the Way, He becomes the Truth, He becomes the   
   Life, so that darkness may not have the last word and the dawn may not cease to   
   rise on the lives of His sons and daughters".   
    "In many ways, and in many forms, there have been attempts to silence and dull   
   this yearning, and in many ways there have been efforts to anaesthetise our   
   soul, and in many ways there have been endeavours to subdue and lull our   
   children and young people into a kind of lassitude by suggesting that nothing   
   can change, that their dreams can never come true. Faced with these attempts,   
   creation itself also raises an objection: 'This sister now cries out to us   
   because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse   
   of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as   
   her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in   
   our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness   
   evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is   
   why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and   
   maltreated of our poor; she groans in travail. The environmental challenge that   
   we are experiencing and its human causes, affects us all and demands our   
   response. We can no longer remain silent before one of the greatest   
   environmental crises in world history".   
    "In this regard, you have much to teach us, much to teach humanity",   
   emphasised   
   the Pope. "Your peoples, as the bishops of Latin America have recognised, know   
   how to interact harmoniously with nature, which they respect as a 'source of   
   food, a common home and an altar of human sharing'. And yet, on many occasions,   
   in a systematic and organized way, your people have been misunderstood and   
   excluded from society. Some have considered your values, culture and traditions   
   to be inferior. Others, intoxicated by power, money and market trends, have   
   stolen your lands or contaminated them. How sad this is! How worthwhile it   
   would   
   be for each of us to examine our conscience and learn to say, 'forgive me!',   
   'forgive me, brothers and sisters!' Today's world, ravaged as it is by a   
   throwaway culture, needs you. Exposed to a culture that seeks to suppress all   
   cultural heritage and features in pursuit of a homogenised world, the youth of   
   today, these youth, need to cling to the wisdom of their elders. Today's world,   
   overcome by convenience, needs to learn anew the value of gratitude".   
    "We rejoice in the certainty that 'The Creator does not abandon us; he never   
   forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us'. We rejoice that   
   Jesus   
   continues to die and rise again in each gesture that we offer to the least of   
   our brothers and sisters. Let us be resolved to be witnesses to his Passion and   
   his Resurrection, by giving flesh to these words: Li smantal Kajvaltike toj lek   
   - the law of the Lord is perfect and comforts the soul", he concluded.   
    At the end of the Mass a representative of the indigenous communities   
   addressed   
   "Tatik Francisco" to thank him for his visit. "Thank you for visiting us.   
   Although many people disregard us, you wanted to come here and have thought of   
   us, as Our Lady of Guadalupe did with St. Juan Dieguito. May you carry in your   
   heart our culture, our joys and sufferings, the injustices we have suffered.   
   ...   
   Although you live far away from us, in Rome, we feel that you are very close to   
   us. May you continue to inspire us with the joy of the Gospel, and help us to   
   care for our sister and mother Earth, that God has given to us. And thank you   
   for having again authorised the role of the indigenous permanent diaconate,   
   with   
   its own culture, and for having approved the use of our languages in the   
   liturgy".   
    After the Eucharistic celebration the Pope transferred to the episcopal curia   
   where he lunched with eight representatives of the indigenous populations. He   
   subsequently visited the cathedral dedicated to the Assumption, built between   
   1500 and 1600, where he was awaited by a group of elderly and sick people with   
   whom he spoke at length. He also paused to pray by the tomb of Msgr. Samuel   
   Ruiz, who died in 2011, and who served as bishop of San Cristobal de Las Casas   
   for forty years, during which he was greatly esteemed by the indigenous   
   communities of Chiapas.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Encounter with families: combat uncertainty and isolation   
    Vatican City, 16 February 2016 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon, after visiting the   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)