Pope Francis: We are called to be champions of love in the great Olympics of life

While holding a meeting today with people cared for by charitable organizations, at the headquarters of the Indonesian Episcopal Conference, Pope Francis assured that we are all “called to become champions of love together in the great Olympiad of life.”

The Holy Father arrived around 10:45 am (local time) on September 5, after holding an interreligious meeting at the Mosque.Independence” in Jakarta (Indonesia).

Once at the headquarters of the Indonesian Episcopate, the Pope heard the testimony of Mimi Lusli and Mikail Andrew Nathaniel, people with disabilities who receive support from the Catholic Church in the country.

Jesus, “beacon of hope”

Mimi told him that “I lost my sight when I was 17” and, “as a young Catholic, I found solace in the Via Crucis. This is where I met Jesus. He did not abandon me, but rather taught me how to navigate life without my physical sight.”

“Jesus, our beacon of hope, has always supported the needs of people with disabilities,” he said, ensuring that “I firmly believe that God created humans with unique abilities to enrich the diversity of our world, and disability is just one of these unique aspects.”

For Mimi, “the role of the Church is crucial to guarantee the dignity of the human person. We must take responsibility and actively support the rights of the disabled.”

For his part, Andrew, 18, shared with the Holy Father that he was diagnosed with “a mild autism spectrum disorder and now I have been diagnosed with a mild intellectual disability. “I go to therapy so my body and brain can function properly.”

“My parents love me unconditionally. “They provide me with the best therapist and expert in the city,” he said, later highlighting that he has been “selected as the East Jakarta contingent for the Paralympic Swimming Games.”

“I want to be an independent person, so I started a barista course and guitar and drum classes,” he added. Then he thanked Pope Francis “for listening to my story, for visiting us and blessing us all. Please bless my wonderful parents and all parents with special children, all over the world.”

Each one is unique in the eyes of God

After listening to the testimonies, the Pope expressed his gratitude and congratulations to Mimi and Andrew. “And in this sense I want to emphasize that I totally agree with what Mimi said: God created human beings with unique abilities to enrich the diversity of our world.”

The Holy Father noted that “facing difficulties together, giving the best of ourselves, each one making his unique contribution, enriches us and helps us discover day by day how much our being together is worth, in the world, in the Church, in the family”.

“We all need each other and this is not bad: it helps us, in fact, to understand better and better that love is the most important thing in our existence, to realize how many good people there are around us.”

“Then he reminds us how much the Lord loves us all, beyond any limits and difficulties. Each one of us is unique in his eyes, in the eyes of the Lord, and He never forgets us: never. Let us remember it to keep our hope alive and commit ourselves, without ever getting tired, to making our lives a gift for others,” he expressed.

At the end of the meeting, the Holy Father gave his blessing to those present, gave an initial stroke to a painting and signed the marble plaque of the headquarters of the Indonesian Episcopal Conference.

According to the Vatican Press Office, Pope Francis gave the Episcopate an image of the Virgin Mary known as “Portaitissa”, which shows the Mother of God holding the baby Jesus, in a work that tradition considers to have been painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist.