Leading around 150,000 people in prayer, Francis said the fertile green fields and snow-capped mountains of Araucania were both blessed by God and cursed by man, having been the site of “grave human rights violations” during General Augusto Pinochet’s 1973-1990 dictatorship.
He said: “We offer this Mass for all those who suffered and died, and for those who daily bear the burden of those many injustices.”
Francis also referred to the more recent violence that has flared in southern Araucania as radical Mapuche factions press for the return of their lands, including a recent spate of church burnings that preceded his visit.
No-one has claimed responsibility for the 10 firebombs that have damaged, or in some cases burned churches to the ground, in recent days.
The Argentine Jesuit pope took those factions to task, saying violence was not the answer to their grievances.
“You cannot assert yourselves by destroying others, because this only leads to more violence and division,” he admonished in his homily.
“Violence begets violence, destruction increases fragmentation and separation. Violence eventually makes a most just cause into a lie.”
At the same time, he demanded that the government not just negotiate “elegant” agreements with the indigenous people, but actually implement them.
The Argentine pope is particularly attuned…
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