{UAH} Pope ends historic visit to Sri Lanka

A very historic journey ends for Pope Francis who has shown all Sri Lankans that he
is indeed a friend to count on! And the people have have shown approval by coming
massively to his events and by lining up in millions to cheer him wherever he ha been.
He has succeeded to unite a nation and its peoples thanks to the wise counsel he has
been freely suggesting to all, including the canonization of St Joseph Vaz whom he leaves
to the population as a model to draw all inspiration from.
The canonization was the key item on the Pope's programme in Sri Lanka. And indeed people
gavbe it a real profile by turning up by the million. People started arriving half a day before the
ceremony.By the time the Pope arrived in his popemobile which had crossed the entire city of
Colombo and cheered by hundreds of thousands of people, the entire sea-front area had already
been filled by participants who included Buddhists, Hindus, Moslems, Protestants and vast numbers
of pilgrims who had travelled from many parts of Asia, among whom many cardinals,bishops, priests, etc...
On arrival to the scene the Pope was very wildly cheered. The ceremony formally began when the Cardinal
Archbishop of Colombo asked the pope to canonize Rev Fr Joseph Vaz. Then the postulator (advocate) of the
cause red a brief but very concise biography of the candidate. After this, the pope consented and read in Latin
the canonization formula whjich was followed by a thunderous and endless applause from the great crowd.
Indeed Fr Vaz who struggled to revive Catholicism in Sri Lanka when the religion had been chased away by
the then ruling Dutch administrators who never wanted to hear of anything to do with Rome. And he saw to it
that it takes roots within the two rival communities: The Sinhalese and the Tamils, a prophetical stance that now
reaps big for the Church and the country. The Pope really wanted Fr Vaz to become officially a saint and he is said
to have done away with the idea of waiting for a flesh miracle in order to speed up this canonization. Instead he
himself speeded up and left the tradition behind! And he has won, since every Sri Lankan looks with great respect at
the new saint whose life has always been part of their past heritage.
In his homily, the Pope qualified St Joseph Vaz as a mùodel of a saint whose love shows the example of surpassing
division in order to be at service for others. St Vaz left everything behind in order to be a missionary, well at service of
God and others. And that his example was very important to all Sri Lankans! At the end of the homily the Pope was very
warmly cheered and ap^plauded by the great crowds.
At the end of Mass before the pope gave his final blessing, the Cardinal Archbishop thanked him forcoming to Sri Lanka
and for the canonization. He affirmed to His Holiness that Sri Lanka needed very ardently his prayers, blessings as well
as his leadership.
At the Papal blessing all pilgrims were requested to raise all holy objects they had on them to be blessed by the Pope.
After exchanging with a number of churchmen and after greeting leaders of different religious denominations present, the
Pope moved away amid cheers, ululations,etc that accompanied him throughout his return trip to the Nonciature.
In the evening he travelled in a helicopter to go to Tamil-land to visit and prayu at the very famous Marian Shrine of
Madhu where very huge crowds numbering hundreds of thousands and extedning over vast areas of the localityhad already
been in waiting for him.When he took the Popemobile the car had a lot of difficulty in moving through the heavily packed
streets.Finally he made it and entered the Shrine. He prayed and requjested the population to forgive one another for what
happened in the past. He insisted on forgiveness as being the only true channel to reconciliation. He advised the masses to
have confidence in the Holy Virgin Mary to help them found true national unity.
Masses madly chased his popemobile from the Shrine to the heliport where he took the helicopter back to Colombo.
Before finally ending the day the Pope made a very surprise visit to a Buddhist Temple and was very well received there.
Tomorrow Thursday morning the Pope will board the Alitalia to fly to the Philippines where he will arrive slightly before
5.30 pm local time and where millions of people are waiting for him.
Sri Lanka has been a tremendous success for Pope Francis and it will become a great place thanks, among other things,
to his words and actions of wisdom while there!

Dr G.H. Kkolokolo ( Paris / France )

--
Disclaimer:Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: ugandans-at-heart+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com or Abbey Semuwemba at: abbeysemuwemba@gmail.com.