Catholics from Central Asia and Russia travelled to Nur-Sultan to take part in the papal Mass. Inspired by the meeting between the world’s religious leaders, the pontiff calls for a Church open to God’s future, never brandishing “the cross of Christ against our brothers and sisters for whom he gave his life!” He ended the service, appealing for peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the wake of the latest fighting.
Nur-Sultan (AsiaNews) – The second day of Pope Francis’s stay in Kazakhstan was centred on interfaith dialogue, the main reason for the visit, and meeting local Catholics, for whom he celebrated Mass on the grounds of the 2017 International Exhibition on Future Energy, a topic, future, the pontiff cited a few times.
The Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which gave Francis an opportunity to come to Nur-Sultan, is held every two to three years in the Kazakh capital, to solemnly confirm the vocation of its people to dialogue and overture.
Former President Nursultan Nazarbayev came up with the idea in the 1990s, then set out to implement it over the following 20 years in order to boost the capital’s symbolic value. Then called Astana, the city was renamed in his honour last year. And behind the scenes, he still plays a role in the country’s political and social life.
For such a special meeting, a special place was needed: the great "pyramid" of the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, a structure inspired by Nazarbayev himself. Created by British architect Norman Foster, it was built for the 2nd Congress held in 2006.
The palace covers an area of 28,000 square metres, but this year it was considered inadequate for the meeting. In the past, the leaders met in the hall at the top of the building, in a mystical-elitist ambiance, while this time, feelings of democratic sharing led to another location.
For this reason, the Congress is taking place in the Palace of Independence, not far from the pyramid. In fact, all of Nazarbayev’s post-modern buildings are in fact visible from each other, with nothing to block the view, since residential areas are all rise around the city’s “centre”, an endless space for celebrations of the new temporal and spiritual power of the post-Soviet era.
The Palace is centred on a hall where religious leaders sit around a large roundtable, surrounded by the various delegations. Outside the hall, other halls and rooms allow leaders to meet one-on-one.
Today’s session began with a silent prayer in front of a great memorial wall immortalising the sacrifices made by the people of Kazakhstan in their struggle to achieve independence and their long history of suffering and division.
Francis turned to local history in his first address, metaphorically referring to the dombra, a two-stringed instrument played by the nomads of the steppes, and cited the country’s national poet Abai Qunanbaiuly, a master of harmony and beauty.
Comparing him to Italy’s Giacomo Leopardi, author of “Night Song of a Wandering Shepherd in Asia”,[*] Francis noted that the true spirit of religiosity disregards earthly interests and offers the entire human community the foundations for a shared life in society.
Memory and shared communion are the two strings of the "papal dombra", which also echoed during the festive celebration by the local Catholic community. Local bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, seminarians, and pastoral workers from Kazakhstan’s three dioceses (Astana, Karaganda and Almaty) were invited to take part in the papal Mass, joined by pilgrims from other Central Asia countries, as well as Russia, from both sides of the Urals, who arrived by bus especially for the pope.
Back in 2001, John Paul II visit to Kazakhstan was reportedly organised as a way to compensate for his inability to go to Moscow, something he had entertained for more than a decade. But history goes on, especially in our tense times as the war in Ukraine attests. Kazakhstan’s large Russian community still feel at home in Kazakhstan, but now its Catholics can also feel at ease, finally, for the Holy Father has come from Rome.
The two strings in the pope’s "Catholic dromba” rest on the notes of dialogue – on the “legacy and pledge” inspired by the persecution experienced by the Poles and Germans deported to the country, together with so many other victims of the Soviet Union’s atheistic regime – as well as on Christianity’s ancient ecumenical roots in these lands, trodden by missionaries and evangelisers since apostolic times.
Yet, for the pontiff, one cannot turn to nostalgia or self-centredness. “Grace hides in a small Church, a small flock", a model for the whole universal Church, but is “open to God’s future, lit by the fire of the Spirit.”
“The outstretched arms of Jesus are the embrace of tender love with which God wishes to embrace us. They show us the fraternal love that we are called to have for one another and for everyone.”
“They show us the way, the Christian way. It is not the way of imposition and force, of power and status; it never brandishes the cross of Christ against our brothers and sisters for whom he gave his life! Jesus’ way, the way of salvation is different: it is the way of a humble gratuitous and universal love, with no ‘ifs’, ‘ands’ or ‘buts’.”
While the pope’s message is for local Catholics, who are often tempted to "turn inward, into their own shell”, proud and often very factional and traditional, as is often the case in peripheral missions and ethnic diasporas, it is also for everyone, inside and outside every country and the Church herself.
In today’s times of wars and invasions, Francis urges all to actively commit themselves to peace, a theme he reaffirmed at the end of the liturgical service, openly citing Ukraine but also the new violence between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“May we never grow accustomed to war, or resigned to its inevitability. Let us come to the aid of those who suffer and insist that genuine efforts be made to achieve peace. What still needs to happen, and how many deaths will it still take, before conflict yields to dialogue for the good of people, nations and all humanity?”
“I am troubled to learn that in these very hours there have been new outbreaks of tension in the Caucasus region. [. . .] Let us continue to pray that, in these lands too, peaceful discussions and concord will prevail over disagreements. May our world learn how to build peace, not least by limiting the arms race and converting the enormous sums spent on war into concrete assistance to peoples.”
[*] Canto notturno di un pastore errante dell'Asia.