Beatitudes Are Fruits of Hope, Pope Francis Says in Chile

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The beatitudes are not cheap words for those who think they know it all yet do not commit to faith; they are the fruit of a hopeful heart that yearns for peace and happiness, Pope Francis said.

Christ’s response to the longings and aspirations of those seeking a life of happiness are not a “product of those prophets of dooms who seek only to spread dismay” or “mirages that promise happiness with a single ‘click,’ in the blink of any eye,” the pope said Jan. 16, celebrating his first public Mass in Chile.

“The beatitudes are born of the compassionate heart of Jesus, which encounters the hearts of men and women seeking and yearning for a life of happiness,” he said.

A sea of yellow and white flags waved throughout O’Higgins Park as Pope Francis arrived in his popemobile, greeting the estimated 400,000 people. By the middle of the Mass, it was 82 degrees. Pilgrims shielded themselves from the sun with ball caps and sun hats.

Despite several acts of vandalism and protests against the pope’s visit that made headlines in the Chilean capital, there was an atmosphere of joy and hope as crowds sang a traditional Latin American hymn welcoming the pope.

The offertory gifts included a statue of a Moai from Easter Island, sculpted by artist Pau Hereveri Tepano. Some of those present at the Mass traveled the nearly 2,300 miles from Easter Island.

The gifts included an earthenware piece depicting the Quasimodo, a traditional Chilean procession during Holy Week, when men and women in traditional dress go, on horseback, to give Communion to the sick and elderly who cannot make it to church. A green truck represented the truck that St. Alberto Hurtado used to drive around the community to help the poor.

Jesus’ first act before preaching, the pope said, was to “look out and see the faces of his people.”

“Those faces awaken God’s visceral love. Jesus’ heart was not moved by ideas or concepts but by faces, persons. By life calling out for the life that the Father wants to give us,” he said.

The people of Chile, he added, know about rebuilding. They continue to “get up again after so many falls.”

“This is the heart to which Jesus speaks; that is the heart for which the beatitudes are meant,” the pope said.

By proclaiming the poor, those who mourn and the afflicted as blessed, Jesus “shakes us out of that negativity” and “the sense of resignation that tends to isolate us from others.”

Christians, the pope said, are also called to be peacemakers and work for reconciliation by “going out of our way to meet someone having a difficult time, someone who has not been treated as a person, as a worthy son or daughter of this land.”

Among the bishops concelebrating the Mass was Bishop Juan Barros, whose appointment as bishop of the Diocese of Osorno sparked several protests ahead of the pope’s visit. Bishop Barros’ former mentor, Father Fernando Karadima, was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance by the Vatican after he was found guilty of sexually abusing boys.

Santiago’s metro opened early for pilgrims to attend the Mass. Veronica Ruiz, an Argentine living in Chile, was on a packed train with her brother, daughter and son-in-law. She said she also planned to see Pope Francis in Peru during his Jan. 18-21 visit. They were prepared for a long wait with food, water and sunscreen.

“We have been Catholics all our lives, and to see the pope fills us with energy. We got up at 3 a.m. to be here, and we are so excited that we don’t know if we slept or not; but, never mind, we are here now and very happy to be there.”

At O’Higgins Park, people from all over Chile arrived by bus hours before the Mass. Police on horseback kept pilgrims orderly. Many pilgrims lined up to buy souvenirs—flags, bags, key rings and photos featuring Pope Francis.

When mothers are in prison, “children are the ones who suffer the most,” a female inmate at San Joaquin Women’s Prison told Pope Francis Jan. 16.

“Nothing and no one can replace a mother,” the inmate, Janeth Zurita, told the pope on behalf of the hundreds of other women in the prison.

Pope Francis has visited other prisons, but this was the first time on his travels as pope that he visited one just for women. He was greeted by women standing with their babies in their arms.

He stopped and spoke to one woman who was seven-and-a-half months pregnant and touched her stomach to bless her unborn baby. The prisoners can have their children with them until they are 2, then they must hand them over to another member of the family to look after or, if no one is available, the children go into the care of the state.

The inmates have been preparing for the papal visit for months. They composed a special song for him and hung brightly colored paper ribbons from the ceiling of the gym where he met them; each ribbon had a quote of inspiring words Pope Francis had spoken at previous prison visits.

The women greeted him with smiles, tears and more babies dressed in their best clothes, who were passed to the pope for hugs, blessings and kisses.

Sister Nelly Leon, a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, has been chaplain at the prison for 13 years. She welcomed Pope Francis and told him she believes inmates are the people who are most forgotten by society. Sister Nelly runs a charity called Mujer Levantate (Woman, Get Up), which helps former female prisoners get back on their feet through work and a special shelter.

Pope Francis deviated from his original speech and repeatedly told the women they must demand their right to go back into society with dignity and not to forget their hopes and dreams.

“A sentence without a proper future isn’t humane,” he said. “Instead, it is a torture.”

He praised the prison guards for treating the women with dignity.

He also spoke of the importance of motherhood and the gift of children.

“Many of you are mothers, and you know what it means to bring a new life into the world,” he told them. “You were able to take upon yourself a new life and bring it to birth. Motherhood is not, and never will be a problem. It is a gift, and one of the most wonderful gifts you can ever have.

“Today you face a very real challenge: You also have to care for that life. You are asked to care for the future, to make it grow and to help it to develop—not just for yourselves, but for your children and for society as a whole.”

The inmates and Sister Nelly asked the Chilean government to change its system so that children do not have to suffer unnecessarily and can remain with their mothers. Pope Francis acknowledged that suffering. President Michelle Bachelet was at the ceremony and listened with interest, but she will be replaced in March by President-elect Sebastian Pinera.

The importance of forgiveness was another theme of the visit. Ms. Zurita asked for forgiveness for her crimes. She is scheduled to be released from jail after serving time for drug trafficking—the crime for which most of the women are in the prison.

Pope Francis, in his first formal speech in Chile, asked forgiveness from those who were sexually abused by priests.

Addressing government authorities and members of the country’s diplomatic corps Jan. 16, the pope expressed his “pain and shame at the irreparable damage caused to children by some ministers of the Church.”

“I am one with my brother bishops, for it is right to ask for forgiveness and make every effort to support the victims, even as we commit ourselves to ensure that such things do not happen again,” he said.

Preparations for Pope Francis’ visit to Chile Jan. 15-18 were overshadowed by continuing controversy over the pope’s decision in 2015 to give a diocese to a bishop accused of turning a blind eye to the abuse perpetrated by a notorious priest.

Survivors of abuse and their supporters planned a conference and protests around the pope’s arrival.

Pope Francis made his way to La Moneda, the presidential palace, and was welcomed by President Bachelet. Thousands were gathered in the square outside the palace, chanting “Francisco, amigo, Chile esta contigo” (“Francis, friend, Chile is with you”).—CNS