In the lead up to the Pope's trip, a number of the Mapuche had protested the use of the airport for the papal Mass given the serious human rights violations that took place there, arguing that the land belongs to them and not the government. Two more attacks on churches took place shortly before the Pope's arrival to Temuco, however, no one has claimed responsibility for these either.
In his homily, Pope Francis recognized that in the past, the airport had been the site of "grave violations of human rights," and said he was offering the Mass for "all those who suffered and died, and for those who daily bear the burden of those many injustices." He paused in a moment of silence for all who died.
"The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross bears all the sin and pain of our peoples, in order to redeem it," he said, and pointed to the day's Gospel reading from John, in which Jesus prays for the unity of his disciples.
Unity is a gift which must be "persistently sought" for the good of all, and for future generations, he said, but cautioned against what he named as two temptations that can "poison the roots" of this unity.
First, Francis warned against the temptation to confuse unity with uniformity, saying "Jesus does not ask his Father that all may be equal, identical, for unity is not meant to neutralize or silence differences."
"Unity can never be a stifling uniformity imposed by the powerful, or a segregation that does not value the goodness of others," he said. Rather, the unity that Jesus refers to is a "reconciled diversity" which recognizes the value of the individual contribution of each tradition and culture.
This unity "will not allow personal or community wrongs to be perpetrated in its name," the Pope said, adding that "we need the riches that each people has to offer, and we must abandon the notion that there are higher or lower cultures."
It also requires both listening to and esteeming one another, which in turn builds solidarity. And solidarity, he said, is the most effective weapon against "the deforestation of hope."
He also warned against the temptation to obtain unity with the use of violence, and cautioned against two forms of violence which he said stifle the growth of unity and reconciliation rather than encouraging them.
The first, he said, are the "elegant agreements that will never be put into practice." They consist of nice words and detailed plans, and while these are needed, they end up "erasing with the elbow what was written by the hand" when they go unimplemented, he said, explaining that this is a form of violence "because it frustrates hope."
Second are the actual acts that take place, he said, insisting that "a culture of mutual esteem may not be based on acts of violence and destruction that end up taking human lives."
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"You cannot assert yourself by destroying others, because this only leads to more violence and division," he said. "Violence begets violence, destruction increases fragmentation and separation. Violence eventually makes a most just cause into a lie."
Rather than using these two avenues, which are "the lava of a volcano that wipes out and burns everything in its path," the Pope urged attendees to pursue a path of "active non-violence" as a political style, and told them to never tire of promoting true and peaceful dialogue for the sake of unity.
After Mass, Pope Francis will head to the mother house for the Sisters of the Holy Cross order, where he will each lunch with around 11 people, eight of whom will be Mapuche.
Elise Harris was senior Rome correspondent for CNA from 2012 to 2018.