TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Francis and his friends
Animosity, on the other hand, easily spreads when we act against each other in the name of the same God.
Change Size
W
e heard very hearty welcoming songs, dances and speeches that Pope Francis received from his friends in Baghdad on his first pilgrimage to the birthplace of his beloved Abraham, the father of the faith.
The pope and his friends were born in distant lands and came from very different cultures and faiths, but still they are very kind to one another.
It is also very important to note that different parties and people of different religious backgrounds were eager to welcome the pope. The visit came only a few years after the end of a war in which killings prevailed. When Francis decided to make this pilgrimage, he said to himself and his aides: It was possible and would come true.
Hard work to prepare for the historic visit finally paid off. But there were different opinions about whether to let the pope come in. Some were very afraid the pope’s life would be in danger as there were groups who might plan to attack him. But near the end, they said to one another: We trust God. He will bless our good will and strengthen our friendship.
Francis and his friends believe they were, are and will always be friends and brothers and sisters because they are faithful to God.
Enmity because of different political, economic and cultural points of view is very often difficult to address. But something must be done to build peace anew. And nothing is impossible when everybody trusts the same God, who created, binds and blesses us all. Animosity, on the other hand, easily spreads when we act against each other in the name of the same God.
What will be the results of those trust-building efforts? There were very beautiful dialogues and meetings during the pope’s four-day trip to Iraq.
In the future, there will always be people who are suspicious of many groups, see possibilities to show off their selfishness and look for various loopholes to weaponize religion to win economic and political wars. There will be people who take advantage of their religion to fulfill their economic, political and cultural ambitions. There are many groups, too, who seek every path to disrupt peace.
But there will always be opportunities to end enmities in this small world. There will be many more people who love peace and find bright sides in different interrelationships.
Let us follow our hearts and minds and capitalize on our economic and political strength to build friendship. As we believe in Him, regardless of our faith, let us grow the seed of love of “Francis and his friends” and make it bloom everywhere in this world.
***
The writer is a lecturer at the Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Jakarta, and author of Belajar Mendidik (Learn to Educate), 2019.
