Pope Francis stressed the importance of dialogue during an audience with a group of Japanese high school students from Japan today. Teachers and students from the Seibu Gauken Bunri Junior High School in Tokyo met with the Holy Father in the St. Damasus Courtyard of the Vatican.
The Pope expressed his joy at their visit and hope that their exposure to another culture will help them grow in their own lives. The Holy Father explained that if one becomes in isolated, then it is impossible to grow culturally.
“If we go in search of other people, other cultures, other ways of thinking, other religious, we come out of ourselves and begin that beautiful adventure that is called ‘dialogue’,” the Pope said.
“Dialogue is very important for one’s maturity, because in relation with other people, relations with other culture, also in healthy relations with other religions, one grows; grows, matures.”
However, Pope Francis warned, there is a danger if one closes themselves and fights in dialogue with another. Such fights, he continued, can be prevented if dialogue is founded in
“Meekness, Pope Francis said, is “the ability to find people, to find culture, with peace; the ability to make intelligent questions.” Differences in opinions should not be a catalyst for animosity between two parties.
The Holy Father emphasized as well that peace cannot be achieved without dialogue. ‘All wars, all struggles, all problems that are not resolved, with which we face, are due to a lack of dialogue,” the Pope told the Japanese students.
“When there is a problem, dialogue: this makes peace. And this is what I wish for you in this journey of dialogue: that you may know how to dialogue; how this culture thinks.”
Pope Francis concluded his address by expressing his hope that the students will continue grow culturally in their journey in Rome.
