Pope Francis seeks Bolivians' forgiveness for colonial-era crimes

Yahoo – AFP, Kelly Velasquez, Moises Avila, 10 July 2015

Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia) (AFP) - Pope Francis, in a historic gesture of reconciliation, sought forgiveness Thursday from Bolivia's predominantly indigenous inhabitants for crimes committed centuries earlier in the name of the Catholic Church.

The Argentine-born pope, who has never been afraid to weigh into delicate issues both religious and political, made the comments on the second stop of a three-nation Latin America homecoming tour.

Pope Francis arrives at the square of Christ 

the Redeemer in Santa Cruz, Bolivia to 

officiate a holy mass on July 9, 2015 

(AFP Photo/Aizar Raldes Nunez)

"I want to tell you, and I want to be very clear: I humbly ask your forgiveness, not only for the offenses committed by our own church, but for the crimes committed by original inhabitants during the so-called conquest of America," Francis told a gathering of social activists, to sustained and enthusiastic applause.

"There have been many, very serious crimes committed again the native peoples of America in the name of God," the pontiff said, in what was, to date, one of the most powerful and moving moments of his weeklong South America visit.

His apology for colonial era crimes against the indigenous people of America was offered at a so-called World Meeting of the Popular Movements in the city of Santa Cruz.

All three of the countries Francis is visiting during this tour -- Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay -- are predominantly Catholic and have been marked by a long history of poverty and inequality mostly afflicting indigenous populations.

Beginning in the 1500s, Spanish conquerors, with the blessing of the Church, subjugated and enslaved indigenous peoples in the Americas, annihilating native cultures and forcing their conversion to Christianity.

Millions of people were killed by disease and millions more from a brutal system of forced labor that led to the destruction of their indigenous lands and their way of life.

One million faithful

Earlier on Thursday, Francis called on a million faithful to reject today's consumer society, at an open-air mass in the vast Christ the Redeemer Plaza in Santa Cruz, where many people had camped out overnight to see him.

Hundreds of indigenous representatives gathered to  greet Pope Francis 

and Bolivia's President Evo Morales finalizing the Second World Meeting

of the Popular Movements in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on  July 9, 2015 (AFP 

Photo/Lesly Moyano)

He also urged Bolivians against discarding the weakest and most vulnerable members of society, including the poor, voiceless and the disenfranchised.

He denounced what he called a "mentality in which everything has a price, everything can be bought, everything is negotiable. This way of thinking has room only for a select few," the 78-year-old told the crowd, estimated by authorities in Bolivia -- South America's poorest nation -- at one million strong.

The two-hour service featured religious hymns and chants. Hundreds of musicians also played Baroque works, introduced by Spanish Jesuit missionaries in the 18th century and still very popular in this country.

Thousands in the crowd were from Bolivia's indigenous majority and President Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous leader, was in the front row.

Around the plaza, dominated by the giant bronze Christ the Redeemer statue, big-screen TVs were erected for people to watch the religious service.

'As close as possible'

Since his election in 2013, Francis -- who hails from Argentina and is also the first Jesuit pope -- has cut a down-to-earth figure, which is going down well in Santa Cruz.

"We want to be as close as possible to receive the blessings that he is going to bestow," said one of the campers who waited overnight to see the pope, Nancy Camacho, her head wrapped in a thick scarf.

Francis arrived in Bolivia on Wednesday evening in the high-altitude Andean city of La Paz -- more than 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level.

Pope Francis waves goodbye as he prepares to depart Viru Viru airport in 

Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Friday, July 10, 2015. The pope is departing for Paraguay, 

as part of his three-nation tour of South America. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Concerned authorities had extra oxygen tanks on hand for the pope, who lost a lung during his youth, but he was not seen using it.

Francis has impressed people with his stamina as he walked amid crowds, kissed people and took selfies. Some of the journalists traveling with him had to stop and take a shot of oxygen.

Bolivia is destitute -- the minimum monthly wage is equivalent to about $240 a month -- but has made economic progress in recent years.

Alcohol sales and musical performances have been banned throughout the country during the pope's visit, and 17,000 police and soldiers have been deployed.

On Friday, Francis visits Bolivia's most notorious and dangerous prison, continuing his focus on the plight of the poor, the forgotten and the marginalized.

He will then head to Paraguay, the last stop on his tour of South America, which began in Ecuador.

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Pope Francis calls for peace, end to slavery in 2015

"Not Your Father's New Age" - Feb 14/15, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“…  Greetings, dear ones, I am Kryon of Magnetic Service. Twenty-five years ago, I discussed with you what is happening now. Back then, it was only a potential, but now it's your reality. This was not prophecy when I told you back then that there would be no Armageddon or World War Three. It was not prophecy, but a powerful potential. The entire reason for my being and the awakening of my partner was because of what you did. The victory it contains falls in the lap of the old soul, who has controlled the consciousness of the timing of it all.

Everything that has transpired during these years has been realized potential. That is to say that we see the potentials of what you might do, and report on that and only that. Much of what we see now is realized quickly. When we told you in 2012 there would be a new pope, 13 months later it happened. This was not prophecy, but rather a potential. We saw it coming because we have the overview and we knew of the anxiety of the existing pope, the health of the man, and we also knew of the potentials of a South American pope to come forward. All of these things should be a "connect the dots" for you. I come yet again, not with prophecy, but with information given with a congratulatory attitude of potential. …”

Pope and Welby joined by imams and rabbis for anti-slavery declaration

Religious leaders gather at the Vatican to commit to working together for the eradication of slavery by 2020

The Guardian, John Hooper in Vatican City, Tuesday 2 December 2014

Pope Francis and other religious leaders at the Vatican. Photograph: AP

It began with a 17-year-old Australian schoolgirl’s horrified discovery. And on Tuesday it brought together in the Vatican Jewish rabbis, turbaned Sunni imams and Shia ayatollahs, Pope Francis, the archbishop of Canterbury, a Hindu guru and the orange-robed Buddhist chief high priest of Malaysia, among others.

For a brief couple of hours, they found something on which they could agree: that slavery in its many contemporary forms is an unmitigated evil, “a disgrace to God, a dishonour to humankind,” as the Orthodox ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew called it.

The patriarch was speaking by video link. The others were present at the signing of a declaration in which they committed to working together for the eradication of what Francis has called a crime against humanity. They set a deadline of 2020.

That looks ambitious: according to the latest edition of the Walk Free Foundation’s Global Slavery Index, almost 36 million people are trapped in slavery of some kind. But the declaration is intended to give the issue a higher international profile, and is a tribute to the energy and determination of the Walk Free anti-slavery movement’s founder, the Australian mining tycoon Andrew Forrest.

His first contact with the issue came after his daughter, Grace, went on a school visit to Nepal. “I chose to work in a home for girls rescued from sex slavery,” she told the Guardian. “But when I went back, when I was 17, they had all gone.” They had been trafficked by the people who were meant to be looking after them.

“We started researching the supply chain,” her father said. “It led from Nepal to India to the Middle East.” His research led him to check his own group’s supply chains for other kinds of slavery. What he found was horrific, he said. One firm was using workers whose passports had been confiscated; the annual death rate among them was 20%. “Half were suicides,” he said.

“At the end of the chain was a British company. I rang the CEO who originally tried to deny it, and then said taking away people’s passports was legal.” Forrest gave him half an hour to agree to cut off relations with the company using slave labour, or else he would go to the media. When the British CEO complied, Forrest undertook not to divulge the name of his firm.

Seldom if ever has the Vatican seen such a varied gathering. The pope was flanked by a shaven-headed Vietnamese Zen nun, the Venerable Bhikkhuni Thich Nu Chan Khong, and an Indian holy woman wearing a nose stud, Her Holiness Mata Amritanandamayi, regarded by her followers as a saint and known to them as Amma, or “mother”.

She said finding traffickers was like trying to catch “a black cat in a dark room”, but practical steps could be taken. Children in poor countries were often ensnared using mobile telephones given to them by traffickers. She said she would like to see mobile operators mounting awareness campaigns.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, set out a number of other ways ahead, including consumer pressure for more information about supply chains.

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“.   New Tolerance

Look for a softening of finger pointing and an awakening of new tolerance. There will remain many systems for different cultures, as traditions and history are important to sustaining the integrity of culture. So there are many in the Middle East who would follow the prophet and they will continue, but with an increase of awareness. It will be the increase of awareness of what the prophet really wanted all along - unity and tolerance. The angel in the cave instructed him to "unify the tribes and give them the God of Israel." You're going to start seeing a softening of intolerance and the beginning of a new way of being.

Eventually, this will create an acknowledgement that says, "You may not believe the way we believe, but we honor you and your God. We honor our prophet and we will love you according to his teachings. We don't have to agree in order to love." How would you like that? The earth is not going to turn into one belief system. It never will, for Humans don't do that. There must be variety, and there must be the beauty of cultural differences. But the systems will slowly update themselves with increased awareness of the truth of a new kind of balance. So that's the first thing. Watch for these changes, dear ones. ...."

Vatican, Anglicans, Muslims unite to fight slavery

Google – AFP, 18 March 2014

from left : Anglican bishop, Sir David John Moxon, Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest,

 Catholic bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo and Professor Mahmoud Azab pose

 after the signature od the "Global Freedom Network" agreement on March 17,

2014 at the Vatican (AFP, Andreas Solaro)

Vatican City — Catholics, Anglicans and Muslims came together Monday to fight slavery with the launch of a global network to tackle human trafficking, forced prostitution and child labour.

The Global Freedom Network, the brainchild of billionaire Australian magnate Andrew Forrest, will pressure governments and businesses to free millions of men, women and children held in bondage around the world by 2020.

"Today, the economic exploitation of our fellow human beings causes almost 30 million people to be enslaved, more than at any time in human history," Forrest said at the launch.

The Vatican, the Anglican Communion and Cairo's Islamic al-Azhar University are leading the initiative, which "brings together faith communities of almost three billion people -- nearly half of the world's population -- and will invite all faiths to join its leadership," he added.

Overcoming strained relations between the Vatican and al-Azhar -- which deteriorated during the papacy of pope Benedict XVI -- the network brings together Pope Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb.

Representatives of all three met at Vatican to sign up to the initiative, which Forrest said would bring together "millions of churches and mosques to gather in one great army to fight the war against slavery."

The network will call on the world's 50 biggest corporations to root out exploitation of workers in their supply chains and ask the Group of 20 most advanced nations to set up a global fund to finance programmes tackling slavery.

"There are forms of slavery in all industrial sectors," said Forrest, who has secured the support of fellow billionaires Bill Gates and Richard Branson.

Mahmoud Azab, on behalf of al-Azhar, told AFP the network is a "strong appeal against the egotism of rich countries, against materialistic societies which must stop all forms of aggression against the human being".

"Modern slavery and human trafficking are one of the greatest scandals and a tragedy of our age, which touches every part of the world in some way," said David John Moxon, who represented Welby.

In 2013, the Walk Free Foundation published a Global Slavery Index, covering all forms of bondage from people trafficking to children forced to wed, which estimated that 29.8 million people live in slavery worldwide.

The west African nation of Mauritania ranked worst for slavery, followed by Haiti and Pakistan.

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Archangel Michael on the World’s Movement into the Golden Age, March 24, 2013 – Part 1/2  (An Hour with an Angel with Archangel Michael)

goldenageofgaia.com, Steve Beckow,  March 24, 2013

“… GW: Well, let’s move over to Italy, then. And Pope Francis met with leaders of the various world faiths in this last week. In his humble style that he is becoming noted for, he chose not to sit on the usual papal throne, but rather in a simple armchair, a beige armchair.

Some of the other leaders had expressed optimism in the change of style of Francis. Are the other religious leaders now aware of the information that Francis is aware of? The higher information. And will they collectively be starting to change the tune of religious faiths around the world? Will this become a song sung by Francis and the faiths?

AAM: It has begun. They are humming. They are finding that it is a catchy tune, that is attractive, that it has a beautiful melody and refrain that sings in their hearts. Francis has basically thrown away the throne. He is not over-lighted to proceed in such a manner.

And what he is first and foremost doing is that he is reminding those others of all faiths that their role is to serve and that leadership is service, that they are shepherds of all ilks, all stripes, all colors. But their role is to collect and to show the way, in humility and patience, in forgiveness and compassion.

So, what Francis has begun to do is to say we do not need to be in control. We cannot find the middle way, the pathway of peace and true brotherhood and sisterhood through trying to control people. And this has been a gift. Oh, and dear heart, he has only just begun.

You have been asking for signs. Well, you are seeing them, are you not, on many fronts. But pay attention to this one. And might I give you a hint? Follow the money.

GW: Hmm. Intriguing. Okay. Well, at this point, then, now you have said previously, or it has been said previously, that Francis is over-lighted with the soul of St. Francis, and that he will be stepping forward in his role and that he is aware of and in contact with our galactic family.

That wasn’t clear previously; maybe you can clarify that. Has that knowledge and awareness been imparted to the leaders of the other faiths at this time? Are they aware of that and openly embracing that?

AAM: It has not been fully disclosed. It has been fully implied. And so… [laugh] I’m sorry. I laugh because it is a beautiful time that we have waited for. Now, let me suggest to you — no, let me simply tell you flat out, my friend, because you are a newsman. There were several galactics present at this gathering. The presence of the galactics was fully implied. And in side conversations it was a full point of discussion.

But the first focus of Francis is not to push the agenda of the galactics, but simply rather to let everybody know that they have been part of this enclave and part of the knowledge of the papacy for a long time. But his first agenda is bringing communion, community and peace amongst the different faiths and sects, amongst the human beings.

So that is his primary agenda. But he is weaving many things into it. Is he aware of the galactics? He has been aware of them for a very long time. He has been aware of them most of his life, actually. And so it is not that it is not on his agenda; it is. It is just not the first thing on his agenda.  …”