Daily Lessons from Life 15 August 2014 - Pope warns of 'cancer' of despair in newly affluent Asia

"Pope warns of 'cancer' of despair in newly affluent Asia - AFP 15 August 2014

DANGJIN, South Korea - Pope Francis warned Friday of a "cancer" of despair in materially obsessed, outwardly affluent societies and urged South Korean Catholics to reject "inhumane economic models" in a stark message to wealthier Asian nations.

In an apparent reference to South Korea's high suicide rate he also warned 45,000 people at a mass in a World Cup stadium in Daejeon of the "culture of death" that can pervade countries where the quest for rapid growth marginalises the poor and vulnerable. The message, delivered on the first papal visit to the region in 15 years, was designed to resonate not just with South Koreans, but in other dynamic Asian economies where many are beginning to question the social consequences of rapid growth and rampant consumerism.

And he returned to the theme later in the day in an address to a gathering of 10,000 young Asian Catholics, when he spoke of the "idolatory of wealth, power and pleasure" and its unacceptably high human cost. "It is almost as though a spiritual desert is beginning to spread through our world. It affects the young too, robbing them of hope and even, in all too many cases, of life itself," he said.

Among the capacity crowd in the stadium were 38 survivors and relatives of victims of April's Sewol ferry tragedy in which 300 people died, most of them schoolchildren. Comfort for ferry victims Pope Francis offered a special prayer for the dead and their families and, before the mass, held a brief private audience with some of the relatives.

"I'm a Protestant but I believe the papal visit will help heal the wounds from the Sewol disaster," Kim Hyeong-Ki, a father of one of the victims, told AFP. The ferry tragedy has largely been blamed on a corrupt culture of regulatory negligence that placed profit over safety."

As I have said in the recent past, I like this Pope Francis. He speaks sense even though to be a true believer of any religion, you need to be totally irrational and totally emotional!

Lessons for me are:

1. material wealth does not bring happiness and contentment if one does not know WHAT those material wealth can do to their mental well being. If it made them craved for more and more, it can only consumed them to their death as insatiable desires lead to endless and tiring cycle of doing more and wanting more!;

2. when someone commits suicide, there are many reasons. Each will be unique though there are many with relatively common reasons. Loss of a loved one, failure of an intimate relationship, pressure of not making good at school or at work, money problems, etc. So, it is not necessarily due to the single-minded and blind pursuit of gaining more material wealth. BUT YET, many of those so-called woes that caused the people to commit suicide can be traced to misunderstood 'need to gain material wealth or power or both'. Of course, with the recent death of Mr Robin Williams, the world realised the battle against depression is a real one. Hopefully, this Papal message at this sad moment can save someone who maybe contemplating suicide as a way out. I am also sure that if we can turn back time, many who perished will still be with us as life is simply too precious to be taken away by your own hands;

3. without the religious element, perhaps the vast number of Chinese, without the interference of the Communist government, can take in what Pope Francis has to say about guarding being consumed by consumerism, material wealth, etc. Maybe it will help put back some integrity into the hearts of people besides the existing channels of communication and education on the need to have integrity, compassionate and zen-like attitude to life to influence FUTURE behaviours of the people. For the better.