COLOMBO, Sri
Lanka (AP) -- Pope Francis pressed his call for Sri Lankan
reconciliation Wednesday by canonizing the country's first saint as a
model for national unity and visiting the war-ravaged north to pray at a
shrine revered by both Sinhalese and Tamil faithful.
More
than a half-million people packed the capital's seafront park for the
Mass, with some spending the night under the stars to ensure a good
spot. Seemingly rested after a grueling first day of his Asian tour,
Francis arrived well ahead of time to greet the crowd, getting off his
popemobile to kiss the sick and handicapped.
Bells
rang out and the crowd erupted in applause when Francis declared the
Rev. Joseph Vaz a saint at the start of the service. Vaz was a 17th
century Indian missionary who revived the faith in Sri Lanka during a
time of anti-Catholic persecution by Dutch colonists, who were
Protestant Calvinists.
The Catholic Church
considers Vaz a great model for today's faithful, ministering to the
faithful of both of Sri Lanka's main ethnic groups and putting himself
at great risk to spread the faith.
Francis
told the crowd that Vaz lived at a time - like today - when Catholics
were a minority and often persecuted, and yet he ministered to all,
regardless of their ethnic or religious background.
"St.
Joseph shows us the importance of transcending religious divisions in
the service of peace," Francis said in his homily, delivered in English
and then translated for the crowd in both Sinhalese and Tamil. "As the
life of St. Joseph Vaz teaches us, genuine worship of God bears fruit
not in discrimination, hatred and violence, but in respect for the
sacredness of life, respect for the dignity and freedom of others, and
loving commitment to the welfare of all."
He
said the Sri Lankan church today only wants to continue Vaz's legacy of
service to all, asking only for the freedom to preach in return.
"Religious freedom is a fundamental human right," he said.
To
underscore that point, Francis gave Sri Lanka's bishops a replica of a
17th century decree from the then-king of Kandy allowing Catholic
conversions of Buddhists - a somewhat provocative message given the
recent upswing in violence against Muslims and some Protestant churches
by Buddhist extremists who want Sri Lanka exclusively Buddhist.
After
Mass, Francis was heading by helicopter to the northern city of Madhu
to pray at the Our Lady of Madhu shrine, a Catholic pilgrimage site that
is a destination for people of other faiths as well. The visit is the
first by a pope to the northern Tamil territory that was devastated by
Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war, which erupted with Tamil demands for an
independent homeland because of perceived discrimination by the
Sinhalese majority.
Francis is expected to
call again for reconciliation between Sinhalese and Tamils, and people
of different faiths, to overcome the wounds of the war.
Upon
his arrival in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, Francis called for reconciliation
but also for the truth to come about injustices committed during the
conflict, which ended in 2009 with the army's violent crushing of the
Tamil Tiger rebels.
Catholics make up slightly
more than 6 percent of Sri Lanka's population of 21 million. They are
by far the largest Christian denomination in the country, but are a
distinct minority compared to Buddhists, who make up about 70 percent,
with Hindus comprising 13 percent. Muslims make up about 10 percent of
the population.
Most Sinhalese are Buddhist
and most Tamils Hindu, but the Catholic Church counts both ethnic groups
as its members, and as a result considers itself a source of unity for
the country.
Wednesday morning's Mass drew
people from across the teardrop-shaped Indian Ocean island nation, eager
to see the first pope to visit since St. John Paul II in 1995. In fact,
it was during that brief visit that John Paul beatified Vaz, using the
same altar that Francis used Wednesday to make Vaz a saint.
The
crowds poured off buses and out into the street from the nearby railway
station. Security was tight, and everyone had to walk the last few
hundred meters (yards) to the Galle Face Green, but the atmosphere was
festive and ordered. Taxi drivers handed out free cups of tea and the
crowd was treated to traditional dancing and music.
The
park has a capacity of 500,000 and the Vatican spokesman, the Rev.
Federico Lombardi, said the crowd more than surpassed the half-million
mark.
"My son can't understand what's going
on, but I will take photographs and show him when he grows up how he
attended this Holy Mass," Pradeep Niroshan, a 31-year-old insurance
agent, said as he carried his 2-year-old son to the service. "It will be
memorable for him, because the next pope to come to Sri Lanka may be
after 20 years."
On Thursday, Francis flies to the Philippines for the second and final leg of his Asian pilgrimage.