POPE Francis described himself as walking in the footsteps of the first missionaries as he set foot on the “blessed” roots of Christianity after arriving in Cyprus yesterday.
He said he was coming to them with joy and following the lead of Sts Paul and Barnabas.
“It is good to return to the origins and it is important for the Church to rediscover the joy of the Gospel,” he said.
He told leaders of the Cypriot Church that a “patient” Church was best prepared for the reality in Cyprus.
The Church in Cyprus, which is a mix of Latin and Maronite rites, is relatively small compared to the Greek Orthodox population and is at risk of disappearing in the next generations.
Pope Francis reflected on the country’s patron, St Barnabas, and said he was a man of faith, wisdom and utmost patience.
“The patience to keep moving forward; the patience to enter into the lives of hitherto unknown individuals; the patience to accept what was new without rushing to judgment,” he said.
St Barnabas, he said, had the patience of discernment, the patience to “study” other cultures and traditions, the patience of accompaniment, shown by how he accompanied newcomers to the faith by taking them by the hand and dialoguing with them.
His message, he said, applied to wider Europe too, which he characterised as suffering from a crisis of faith.
“It does little good to be impulsive and tempestuous, nostalgic or querulous; instead, we do well to march forward, reading the signs of the times as well as the signs of the crisis,” he said.
He asked them to cultivate a culture of forgiveness and mercy and the capacity to have open ears and hearts for different spiritual sensibilities, different ways of expressing the faith, different cultures.
The Church, he said, “does not want to reduce everything to uniformity, but to integrate with patience.”
Pope Francis’ visit to Cyprus will be followed by a visit to Greece, before he returns to Rome on Monday.
