Francis Addresses the Asian Youth
“Keep talking to your parents and grandparents. Do not spend the whole day playing with your phone and ignoring the world around you!”
This was Pope Francis’ advice to the young people of Bangladesh on the last day of his visit to the country, December 2, 2017.
The pope saved his last rendezvous in Asia for the young people: he met with them around 3:20 p.m. on the sports field of the Notre Dame College in Dhaka.
The Holy Father’s final counsel to the young people was: “journey through life”, don’t wander “aimlessly”. “Our life is not without direction, it has a purpose given to us by God. He guides and directs us with his grace”.
The pope went on to compare God’s help to a “computer software” (sic), placed in each one of us, that:
...helps us to discern his divine programme and, in freedom, to respond. But like all software, it too needs constantly to be updated. Keep updating your programme, by listening to God and accepting the challenge of doing his will.
Catholic presence in Bangladesh is minimal, representing only 0.2% of a population that is 90% Muslim. “We need protection because of the presence of radical Muslims,” declared Niqun Nicholas Dafu, a seminarian from a diocese neighboring Dahka, in the columns of La Croix, during the pope’s visit to his country.
Sources: Zenit / La Croix / FSSPX.News
