Pope’s message is relevant

Dear Editor,

I followed with interest Pope Francis’s recent visit to Asia. I was highly impressed with the message of peace and reconciliation by the Pope which is so relevant in today’s world in which there is so much tension and conflict.

His visit to Sri Lanka and the Phillipines generated extraordinary mass appeal and seemed to have resonated with Catholics and people generally, in particular his call for greater concern for underprivileged children and for the poor and needy.

According to media reports, over six million people attended papal mass in Manila which is a record number for any Pope. Tens of thousands of people lined the route to get a glimpse of the Pope as he made his way to and from the airport in Manila.

Pope Francis will certainly go down in history as someone who has championed the cause of the ordinary people and as someone who never lost the common touch. It was so refreshing to see the Pope driving in an open air vehicle and using an ordinary transportation mode. His simplicity, humility and pro-poor stance have connected with people all across the globe.

His call for a new global human order which put people ahead of profits is most timely and relevant in contemporary society in which the income gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider and where nearly half of the world’s population is condemned to a life of poverty because of the capitalist mode of production and distribution.

 

Yours faithfully,

Hydar Ally