We were greatly anticipating Pope Francis’ visit to Belgium, but there was also a great deal of anxiety, given the organizational difficulties. Until a few days before, it was unclear whether and how it would be possible to participate in the various events planned, especially the Sunday Mass. This was then compounded by the prejudiced reactions of the press and part of civil society to some of the Holy Father's words and gestures; almost as if to extinguish our expectation and desire for this event. Indeed, no Pope has visited the country since 1995.

The Beginning Day of the Belgium and Dutch communities, held near Brussels on the Saturday before the Mass with the Pope, helped us not get lost in the twists and turns of interpretations, our own and others'. The episode of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman helped us understand and judge the experience we had the next day: the encounter with a Presence that¬, as Francis said at the beginning of the visit, ¬“offers people, families, societies and nations an ancient and ever new hope; a presence that helps everyone to face challenges and trials, without facile enthusiasm or dark pessimism, but with the certainty that the human being, loved by God, has an eternal vocation of peace and goodness and is not destined for dissolution and nothingness.”

What follows is the testimony of some of our friends, each according to their context and the point of the journey at which they find themselves, of this encounter with the Presence that the Pope has brought among us.

Marco, a PhD student, was able to take part in Saturday's meeting with students in the Great Hall of the Université Catholique de Louvain. He was moved to see “a man who was able to combine an ability to embrace and value people, even those with opinions or sensibilities very different from his own, with a clarity of judgment that left no room for interpretation. The Pope responded firmly and kindly to the topics discussed – ecology, the role of women, how, why and for whom to study ¬– and valued all those who read the letters and questions prepared by the students. At no time was there any tone of reproach or disapproval in his gaze, on the contrary! I had gone to support him and encourage him in a context that is not Catholic, and I was amazed by a man who is a school of openness and dialogue.”

Davide woke up at 5 a.m. to take the tram to the stadium where Mass was being celebrated and was struck by the happy faces of friends who, stop after stop, got on and took a new selfie to immortalize everyone. “I was surprised to think that it is a living metaphor for the dynamic of our companionship: at each step in life, someone is added to walk with you towards Destiny. What is it that moved us? The question multiplied in the nearly three hours of waiting to get in, surrounded by all kinds of people, and seeing the stands packed with happy people, despite possible prejudices (some serious and based on real reasons, such as the issue of abuse). For the first time, I saw the the Belgian Church as a people who, however small, were there above all to see that 87-year-old man in a wheelchair, as was evident from the standing ovation when the Pope entered, and to experience the Mass with him, as was evident from the way people participated. What did they look forward to? What did these 35,000 people see? What made this enthusiasm possible, acknowledged even by the press, despite criticism? I could see the same enthusiasm in myself and in my friends who accompanied us all the way home.”

Antonella left Mass with an elderly woman she had met by chance in the crowd. “A beautiful encounter where we started talking about our lives, about the difficulties of educating children in the faith in a secularized country. She had grown up in a lively parish, which her children were not able to experience, which is why they distanced themselves from the Church. We both recognized that there is a need for a place to experience faith. In her, I saw the same certainty that we have encountered Christ and that the Church is a place where we are continually educated to recognize Him. At the end we promised each other, with a visible gladness, to pray for each other.”

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Finally, Milena, who sang at the Mass with the University Choir of the Catholic University of Leuven that is made up of students from different countries, faculty and administrative staff, spoke of how the rehearsals had required “a huge time commitment: on Sundays we gathered from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. But everything always marked by joy, even when we could not take it anymore and our teachers were saying, ‘You do not have to read the notes, you have to make music, make beauty, we want your heart wide open’; or, 'Think about what is happening to you.’ Or ‘Trust!’ Trust whom? Each of us gave a different answer.... On the day of the Mass, our emotions were indescribable: a mix of overflowing joy at being there, the awareness that something great is happening to you, and the desire for our music to help everyone deeply experience the totality of that gesture .”

“After the Mass,” Milena added, ”I asked one of the choir coordinators why he was so happy. He immediately explained that he was not a believer – at the start! But he had come to sing because his soul is searching, although he did not know what and did not want to give names or ‘labels’ to the eventual answer. However, he thought that in communion with us, in this context, his search might widen. The experience has marked him deeply and his search now continues, with even more determination.”

Luciano, Brussels, Belgium