On January 12, 2015, Pope Francis began his second Asian pilgrimage in five months, visiting Sri Lanka for two days and the Philippines for three. It is exactly 20 years after St. John Paul II‘s record setting visit to those two countries. Pope Francis has defined the Asian continent as ―the great frontier‖ of Christianity, and his trip is to transmit the joy of the Gospel to those lands. Also one of the main reasons for visiting Sri Lanka is to promote reconciliation. The country has just elected a new President and hopes finally to get over the aftermath of the civil war between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority, which lasted from 1983 to 2009 and left more than 100,000 dead. Another reason for the visit is to meet and encourage the Catholics of that island and pray with them. It is a small Catholic flock, only 7% of the population but it is uniquely poised to be a force for unity in Sri Lanka because it counts both Sinhalese and Tamils as members. They worship together, with liturgies often alternating between the two languages. Pope Francis is also making an extra effort to go to areas that were unsafe to visit in the past, to see the victims of the war, as a sign of solidarity. A 2011 U.N. report said that up to 40,000 ethnic Tamil civilians may have been killed during the offensive, and accused both sides of committing serious human rights violations. Also Pope Francis canonization of Sri Lanka‘s first saint, the Rev. Giuseppe Vaz, is another sign of unity: The 17th century missionary from India is credited with having revived the Catholic faith in that country amid persecution by Dutch colonial rulers, ministering to both Sinhalese and Tamil faithful. When Pope John Paul II visited Sri Lanka in 1995, he too tried to bring a message of tolerance but was met with a boycott by the island nation’s Buddhist leaders, who constitute 70 percent of the population. (Hindus represent some 13 percent, Muslims 10 percent). Back then Buddhist representatives had been expected to attend an interfaith meeting but none showed up to protest Pope John Paul’s criticism of the Buddhist doctrine of salvation. Buddhist fundamentalism has only grown in the following 20 years, with hard-line Buddhists waging a violent campaign against Muslims. Pope Francis has denounced the rise of religious fundamentalism in Sri Lanka and the extremists who promote a “false sense of national unity based on a single religious identity.” Two moderate Buddhist representatives are scheduled to greet Pope Francis during an interfaith meeting on the first day of his visit. He said the local church must continue to seek “partners in peace and interlocutors in dialogue” despite violence and intimidation from religious extremists. To be continued …

Sources: Agenzia Info Salesiana & Fox News