Australian Aboriginal culture must not be allowed to disappear, Pope Francis wrote Friday on the 30th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's November 1986 visit to the Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in Alice Springs, Australia.
Francis expressed his "spiritual closeness" to the Aborigines and his "profound esteem" for their "ancient cultural heritage", which he called an expression of their "genius and dignity".
He also quoted John Paul II's address to the Aborigines in Australia: "Do not think that your gifts are worth so little that you should no longer bother to maintain them. Share them with each other and teach them to your children. Your songs, your stories, your paintings, your dances, your languages, must never be lost." The pope's message was sent to Torres Strait Islands Aboriginal Chief John Lochowiak by the apostolic nuncio in Canberra, Monsignor Adolfo Tito Yllana, Vatican Radio reported.
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