VATICAN (CNS): The theme of Pope Francis’ visit to Thailand is focused on mission, but in a country where Catholics are a tiny minority, that mission is less about proclamation and more about witness, service and dialogue.
The pope’s visit is scheduled for November 20 to 23 and he will also celebrate the 350th anniversary of the establishment of the Apostolic Vicariate of Siam Mission, the first Catholic jurisdiction in what was to become Thailand.
Today the country has 11 dioceses and some 389,000 Catholics. Although Catholics make up less than one percent of the population, the Church runs hundreds of schools and dozens of hospitals, clinics, homes for the elderly and orphanages. Women religious are also actively involved in combatting human trafficking, especially trafficking for prostitution.
Fernando Cardinal Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, visited Thailand in May to help celebrate the anniversary and told Thai Catholics “the first form of evangelisation is witness. The witness of a Christian life is the first and irreplaceable form of mission.”
He said, “interreligious dialogue is a part of the Church’s evangelising mission.” That does not mean hiding one’s Catholic identity or faith in Jesus as saviour, but it does mean respecting the faith of others, promoting religious freedom for all and cooperating in projects that respond to the faiths’ calls to promote peace and the common good.
In that way, the cardinal said, dialogue also “contributes to explaining the social dimension of the gospel message to those who do not know Christ and his teachings.”
More than 90 per cent of Thais are Buddhist and close to five per cent are Muslim. All Christian denominations together make up just over one per cent of the population. And there are large communities of Hindus and Sikhs. Pope Francis is scheduled to meet with leaders from all the communities on November 22 at Chulalongkorn University.
Reacting to the multi-religious, multicultural reality of Thailand, Pope Francis is expected to refer to the Document on Human Fraternity, which he signed in February with Egyptian Sheikh Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, a leading authority for many Sunni Muslims. The document condemns violence and urges Christians and Muslims to respect each other’s rights and promote dialogue.
