Pope's Visit Sri Lanka

Galle Road, this city’s main thoroughfare was closed to traffic. Rather than the usual cacophony of blaring horns and veering tuk-tuks, streams of pilgrims flowed along the asphalt to the hypnotizing sound of hymns broadcast from PA systems and floating over the surrounding office blocks and hotels. It was peaceful.

By contrast, the pilgrims’ final destination, Galle Face Green, was absolutely jammed with humanity. This 12-acre lawn situated between the city and the Indian Ocean held an estimated 500,000 people, which is extraordinary considering Catholics make up perhaps 6% of Sri Lanka’s population, or just over 1 million people.

That’s when one could realized Pope Francis’s visit – the first papal visit to Sri Lanka since John Paul II’s in 1995 — had transcended faith. Looking around, there was an evidently mixed crowd. There were Sinhalese, Tamils, Eurasians, Muslims, and a sprinkling of foreigners.

Driven by faith and determined to see Pope Francis on his historic visit to this island last week, they came in their numbers, undaunted by the prospect of a long wait. That they would not have much by way of food and shelter or that the ground beneath them was hard and stony did not matter. The Pope would celebrate Mass the next morning and they were determined to secure their place on the Galle Face Green as near as possible to the Holy Father.

Each person on the Green had a special reason to be there. Many of them had come seeking the blessings of the Holy Father, while some of them anticipated a miracle by his mere presence, others seeking a release from pain and ill-health.

Speaking at the mass to canonize St. Joseph Vaz, a 17th-century Goan missionary, the Pontiff made an impassioned call for reconciliation in Sri Lanka following its 26-year civil war.

St Joseph Vaz lived as a beggar to preach among Sri Lanka’s poor at a time when, as now, religious minorities in the country were persecuted.

Pope Francis said Sri Lankans should look to St Joseph as an example of devotion in troubled times, but also one of “transcending religious divisions in the service of peace”.

His ministry to all regardless of race or creed continues to inspire the Catholic Church in its charity and educational work in Sri Lanka today.

“His undivided love for God opened him to love for his neighbor; he ministered to those in need, whoever and wherever they were”, Pope Francis said. He defended the church’s religious freedom to minister to all as a “fundamental human right.”