Pope Francis during his recent visit to Thailand dedicated his sermon towards the Catholic youth.
He warned against the assimilation of technology and how globalization was making young people around the world to lose their uniqueness and cultural individuality.
He appealed to the youth to hold on to their cultures handed down by their ancestors and cherish their roots.
Pope Francis decried the growing trend of discrediting local values and cultures because of the continuous influence from Western institutions such as films, music, social media, etc, thereby imposing a unitary model for values on the youths.
At a meeting with leaders of other religions, he acknowledges the fact that technological innovations can create immense possibilities that make life easier, but it could also lead to the growth of consumerism and materialism.
Later in the day, Pope Francis led a mass for Thailand’s young believers, urging them to remain steadfast in the face of Western influences. He further tasked them to uphold their cultures and ancestral root and not to consider Christianity as a foreign religion.
The predominant culture in Thailand is closely tied to Buddhism, although the Catholic minority of fewer than 1per cent was generally treated well in contemporary times.
This comes at the heels of the call for adoption of technology Thailand to provide short skill courses, degree courses through a reality app such that students obtain degree courses without being obstructed by their living situations.
Pope Francis paid tribute to ‘saints’
The Pope also paid a visit to the predominantly Catholic village of Wat Roman on the outskirts of Bangkok where he met with priests and nuns in the village church.
Pope Francis paid tribute to saints or those killed for their faith in the past during this visit.
Among those who he paid tribute to were three teenage girls, who were killed by Thai police in 1940 in the northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom.
Those killed during the Second World War period and others killed and persecuted when the relationship between Buddhists and Catholics were considered hostile.
During the reign of Thailand’s King Narai 350 years ago, the Vatican formally established its “Mission de Siam”.
Thai and Catholic relations
Since the start of his pontificate in 2013, Francis has preached that the Church should grow by attraction and not by proselytizing, or conversion campaigns.
This has provoked criticism from some conservatives who favor an aggressive approach and largely oppose what is known as “inculturation,” or adapting Church teachings to local culture.
Pope Francis finally tasked priests and nuns to find more ways to talk about their religion in local terms, saying he had learned “with some pain, that for many people, Christianity is a foreign faith, a religion for foreigners”.
Pope Francis is visiting Thailand as part of a trip across Asia. It’s his first visit to the mainly Buddhist country. The Vatican says he’s trying to increase dialogue between the various religions as well as raise awareness on issues like protecting life and the environment.
Pope Francis left Thailand on Saturday after a three-day visit and headed to Japan, where he is to visit the ground zeros of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as part of his campaign against nuclear weapons.
Image: REUTERS/Jorge Silva
