Black-eyed Pope’s message of reconciliation
Pope Francis wrapped up his Colombia trip yesterday by honouring a fellow Jesuit who ministered to African slaves, and urging Colombians to follow his lead in working for a more peaceful future.
Francis’ visit to Cartagena got off to a rocky start when he hit his head on his popemobile when it stopped short amid swarms of well-wishers. Francis, who had only a hip-high bar to hold on to, lost his balance and suffered a bruised, blackened left eye and a cut on his eyebrow that dripped blood on his white cassock.
Francis had a butterfly patch applied to the cut and continued his programme, sporting a shiner that got increasingly dark as the day wore on.
The highlight of the day was a very personal stop for the Jesuit pope: He prayed at the tomb of St Peter Claver, the 17th century missionary who ministered to hundreds of thousands of African slaves brought through Cartagena’s port to be sold during Spanish colonial times.
Claver, the self-described “slave of the slaves forever”, has been revered by Jesuits, popes and human rights campaigners for centuries for having insisted on recognising the inherent dignity of slaves and treating them as children of God when others considered them merchandise to be bought and sold.
Francis said the legacy of the Spanish priest should serve as a model for the Catholic Church today to “promote the dignity of all our brothers and sisters, particularly the poor and the excluded of society, those who are abandoned, immigrants and those who suffer violence and human trafficking”.
“Be slaves of peace forever,” he said in a final appeal at the end of mass in Cartagena’s port.
It was a final appeal to Colombians to overcome divisions that linger after the Government last year reached a peace deal with leftist rebels hoping to end Latin America’s longest-running armed rebellion. — AP