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The seven Greek-Catholic bishops who were beatified on Sunday left a "precious" inheritance to the Romanian people, which we transpose in two words - freedom and mercifulness, Pope Francis told the 100,000 faithful who participated in the Holy Mass held on the Liberty Field in Blaj.
The seven Romanian Greek-Catholic bishops who were proclaimed Saints on Sunday are: Valeriu Traian Frentiu, Vasile Aftenie, Ioan Suciu, Tit Liviu Chinezu, Ioan Balan, Alexandru Rusu and Iuliu Hossu. They were tortured and hunted by the communist regime and died between 1950-1970.
"You suffered because of the discourses and actions that were based on vilification, which led to the expulsion and destruction of the ones who couldn't defend themselves, and actions that reduced to silence the dissonant voices," said Pope Francis.
The Sovereign Pontiff underscored that, faced with the "merciless" persecution of the regime, the seven bishop proved their faith and an "exemplary" love for their people.
"With great courage and inner strength, they preferred to suffer a tough detention regime and any kind of torture instead of denying their belonging to their beloved Church. These shepherds, witnesses of faith, regained for and left the Romanian people a precious inheritance that we can transpose in two words: freedom and mercifulness," said Pope Francis.
He also highlighted that the spot where the Holy Mass was held is very significant, as it evokes the union of the Romanian people, "which was achieved with all the diversity of the religious faiths."
"This belongs to the spiritual patrimony that enriches and characterizes the Romanian culture and national identity," he pointed out.
Pope Francis added that the martyred bishops fought "a tyrannic and oppressive ideological regime, in terms of the fundamental rights and liberties of the human beings."
"During that sad time, the life of the Catholic community was very hard because of the dictatorial and atheist: all Bishops and many faithful of the Greek-Catholic Church and the Catholic Church of the Roman Rite were hunted and imprisoned," reminded the Sovereign Pontiff.
He quoted one of the seven bishops proclaimed as Saints, Iuhiu Hossu, saying: "God sent us to this dark place of suffering to give forgiveness and pray for their all conversion."
"These words are the symbol and they synthesize the attitude these Saints had when trying to support the people in continuing to confess their faith, without giving up and without seeking for revenge. This attitude of mercifulness towards the tormentors is a prophetic message, for it's like an invitation today to all of us to defeat hatred through charity and forgiveness, while living in a coherent and courageous manner the Christian faith," said Pope Francis.
In the end of his preach, the Sovereign Pontiff spoke about our world today.
"Dear brothers and sisters, even today there are new ideologies that appear, in a subtle way, trying to impose and on and break people away from their rich cultural and religious traditions. Ideological Colonization despise the value of the person, of life, marriage or family (...) and damages, through damaging proposals, atheist, the same as in the past, especially our youth and children, leaving them without roots to grow from," underscored Pope Francis.
"These are voices that spread fear and division and they wish to wipe out and bury the most precious inheritance that these lands ever saw," said the Holy Father. he reminded the Turda Edict of 1586, "which sanctioned any kind of radicalism promoting instead religious tolerance, as one of the first documents of its kind in Europe."
Pope Francis urged everyone present to bring "the light of the Mass" and act against divisions.
"I would like to encourage you to bring the light of the Mass to our contemporaries and continue to fight, like these Saints, against these new ideologies that appear. And to be the witnesses of freedom and mercifulness, to promote brotherhood and dialogue over divisions," said the Sovereign Pontiff.
AGERPRES
