Pope Francis Highlights the Power of Witness and Hope During Jubilee Year Catechesis
During a catechesis lesson delivered on November 8th to Jubilee year pilgrims and a global audience, Pope Francis emphasized that true hope arises from recognizing God’s surprising nature and living out that recognition in daily life. He framed the Jubilee year as a time of grace, offering the possibility for transformative change, echoing the prayer “as in heaven, so on earth.”
The Pope drew inspiration from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians,noting how the apostle observed God elevating the humble and powerless within the early Christian community (1 Cor 1:26-27). He described this as a “spiritual earthquake” that awakens conscience and affirms the dignity of every person, embodied in the message of the cross.
Illustrating this principle, Pope Francis shared the story of Isidore Bakanya, a Congolese layperson born in 1885 during Belgian colonial rule. Despite lacking formal education, Isidore embraced his Christian faith through the influence of Trappist monks. He endured persecution and torture from a landowner hostile to Christianity and protective of colonial abuses, refusing to remove his scapular bearing the image of the Virgin Mary.
“He did not lose hope,” the Pope affirmed,stating that Isidore’s unwavering faith exemplified the very essence of hope – bearing witness to a changed reality. Even facing death, Isidore expressed forgiveness and promised to pray for his persecutors.
Pope Francis declared this act of grace “the name of the Cross,” a force that breaks cycles of evil and demonstrates a power that “confounds the proud and dethrones the mighty.” He further noted the vital role of the emerging Churches, notably in Africa, in reminding the established Churches of the “old world” to jointly strive for the “kingdom of God, which is the kingdom of justice and peace.” He specifically highlighted the vibrant faith of young africans as a powerful source of witness.
Concluding his address, Pope Francis reiterated that to hope is to testify to the possibility of earthly life mirroring the divine, and that this is the central message of the Jubilee year.
