I will share from time to time, videos that speaks to my heart as I come across them ..Hope you and I can contemplate their meaning for us today ...
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
December 2014: Interfaith commitment to fight against human trafficking
..2095
December 2014: Interfaith commitment to fight against human trafficking
November 2014: The Pope builds bridges with the Orthodox Church and Islam
He addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg and visited a mosque in Istanbul.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Monday, December 29, 2014
Sunday, December 28, 2014
March 2014: Pope Francis becomes the first Pope to go to confession in p...
March 2014: Pope Francis becomes the first Pope to go to confession in public. He also condemned the Italian mafia
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
The talk Pope Francis: Christmas greetings to Curia
Pope Francis: Christmas greetings to Curia
http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-christmas-greetings-to-curia
(Vatican
Radio) Pope Francis received the heads and other senior officials of
the departments of the Roman Curia on Monday, in their traditional
exchange of Christmas greetings. In remarks prepared for the occasion
and delivered Monday morning, the Holy Father focused on the need for
those who serve in the curia – especially those in positions of power
and authority – to remember and cultivate an attitude and a spirit of
service.
“Sometimes,” said Pope Francis, “[Officials of the Curia] feel themselves ‘lords of the manor’ [It. padroni] – superior to everyone and everything,” forgetting that the spirit, which should animate them in their lives of service to the universal Church, is one of humility and generosity, especially in view of the fact that none of us will live forever on this earth.
“It is good to think of the Roman Curia as a small model of the Church, that is, a body that seeks, seriously and on a daily basis, to be more alive, healthier, more harmonious and more united in itself and with Christ”.
“The Curia is always required to better itself and to grow in communion, sanctity and wisdom to fully accomplish its mission. However, like any body, it is exposed to sickness, malfunction and infirmity. …
I would like to mention some of these illnesses that we encounter most frequently in our life in the Curia. They are illnesses and temptations that weaken our service to the Lord”, continued the Pontiff, who after inviting all those present to an examination of conscience to prepare themselves for Christmas, listed the most common Curial ailments:
The first is “the sickness of considering oneself 'immortal', 'immune' or 'indispensable', neglecting the necessary and habitual controls.
A Curia that is not self-critical, that does not stay up-to-date, that does not seek to better itself, is an ailing body. …
It is the sickness of the rich fool who thinks he will live for all eternity, and of those who transform themselves into masters and believe themselves superior to others, rather than at their service”.
The second is “'Martha-ism', or excessive industriousness; the sickness of those who immerse themselves in work, inevitably neglecting 'the better part' of sitting at Jesus' feet.
Therefore, Jesus required his disciples to rest a little, as neglecting the necessary rest leads to stress and agitation.
Rest, once one who has brought his or her mission to a close, is a necessary duty and must be taken seriously: in spending a little time with relatives and respecting the holidays as a time for spiritual and physical replenishment, it is necessary to learn the teaching of Ecclesiastes, that 'there is a time for everything'”.
Then there is “the sickness of mental and spiritual hardening: that of those who, along the way, lose their inner serenity, vivacity and boldness and conceal themselves behind paper, becoming working machines rather than men of God. …
It is dangerous to lose the human sensibility necessary to be able to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice! It is the sickness of those who lose those sentiments that were present in Jesus Christ”.
“The ailment of excessive planning and functionalism: this is when the apostle plans everything in detail and believes that, by perfect planning things effectively progress, thus becoming a sort of accountant. …
One falls prey to this sickness because it is easier and more convenient to settle into static and unchanging positions. Indeed, the Church shows herself to be faithful to the Holy Spirit to the extent that she does not seek to regulate or domesticate it. The Spirit is freshness, imagination and innovation”.
The “sickness of poor coordination develops when the communion between members is lost, and the body loses its harmonious functionality and its temperance, becoming an orchestra of cacophony because the members do not collaborate and do not work with a spirit of communion or as a team”.
“Spiritual Alzheimer's disease, or rather forgetfulness of the history of Salvation, of the personal history with the Lord, of the 'first love': this is a progressive decline of spiritual faculties, that over a period of time causes serious handicaps, making one incapable of carrying out certain activities autonomously, living in a state of absolute dependence on one's own often imaginary views.
We see this is those who have lost their recollection of their encounter with the Lord … in those who build walls around themselves and who increasingly transform into slaves to the idols they have sculpted with their own hands”.
“The ailment of rivalry and vainglory: when appearances, the colour of one's robes, insignia and honours become the most important aim in life. … It is the disorder that leads us to become false men and women, living a false 'mysticism' and a false 'quietism'”.
Then there is “existential schizophrenia: the sickness of those who live a double life, fruit of the hypocrisy typical of the mediocre and the progressive spiritual emptiness that cannot be filled by degrees or academic honours.
This ailment particularly afflicts those who, abandoning pastoral service, limit themselves to bureaucratic matters, thus losing contact with reality and with real people.
They create a parallel world of their own, where they set aside everything they teach with severity to others and live a hidden, often dissolute life”.
The sickness of “chatter, grumbling and gossip: this is a serious illness that begins simply, often just in the form of having a chat, and takes people over, turning them into sowers of discord, like Satan, and in many cases cold-blooded murderers of the reputations of their colleagues and brethren.
It is the sickness of the cowardly who, not having the courage to speak directly to the people involved, instead speak behind their backs”.
“The sickness of deifying leaders is typical of those who court their superiors, with the hope of receiving their benevolence.
They are victims of careerism and opportunism, honouring people rather than God. They are people who experience service thinking only of what they might obtain and not of what they should give. They are mean, unhappy and inspired only by their fatal selfishness”.
“The disease of indifference towards others arises when each person thinks only of himself, and loses the sincerity and warmth of personal relationships. When the most expert does not put his knowledge to the service of less expert colleagues; when out of jealousy … one experiences joy in seeing another person instead of lifting him up or encouraging him”.
“The illness of the funereal face: or rather, that of the gruff and the grim, those who believe that in order to be serious it is necessary to paint their faces with melancholy and severity, and to treat others – especially those they consider inferior – with rigidity, hardness and arrogance. In reality, theatrical severity and sterile pessimism are often symptoms of fear and insecurity”.
“The disease of accumulation: when the apostle seeks to fill an existential emptiness of the heart by accumulating material goods, not out of necessity but simply to feel secure. … Accumulation only burdens and inexorably slows down our progress”.
“The ailment of closed circles: when belonging to a group becomes stronger than belonging to the Body and, in some situations, to Christ Himself. This sickness too may start from good intentions but, as time passes, enslaves members and becomes a 'cancer' that threatens the harmony of the Body and causes a great deal of harm – scandals – especially to our littlest brothers”.
Then, there is the “disease of worldly profit and exhibitionism: when the apostle transforms his service into power, and his power into goods to obtain worldly profits or more power.
This is the disease of those who seek insatiably to multiply their power and are therefore capable of slandering, defaming and discrediting others, even in newspapers and magazines, naturally in order to brag and to show they are more capable than others”.
After listing these ailments, Pope Francis continued, “We are therefore required, at this Christmas time and in all the time of our service and our existence – to live 'speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love'”.
“I once read that priests are like aeroplanes: they only make the news when they crash, but there are many that fly. Many criticise them and few pray for them”, he concluded.
“It is a very nice phrase, but also very true, as it expresses the importance and the delicacy of our priestly service, and how much harm just one priest who falls may cause to the whole body of the Church
2014-12-22 Vatican Radio 1946
(Vatican
Radio) Pope Francis received the heads and other senior officials of
the departments of the Roman Curia on Monday, in their traditional
exchange of Christmas greetings. In remarks prepared for the occasion
and delivered Monday morning, the Holy Father focused on the need for
those who serve in the curia – especially those in positions of power
and authority – to remember and cultivate an attitude and a spirit of
service.“Sometimes,” said Pope Francis, “[Officials of the Curia] feel themselves ‘lords of the manor’ [It. padroni] – superior to everyone and everything,” forgetting that the spirit, which should animate them in their lives of service to the universal Church, is one of humility and generosity, especially in view of the fact that none of us will live forever on this earth.
“It is good to think of the Roman Curia as a small model of the Church, that is, a body that seeks, seriously and on a daily basis, to be more alive, healthier, more harmonious and more united in itself and with Christ”.
“The Curia is always required to better itself and to grow in communion, sanctity and wisdom to fully accomplish its mission. However, like any body, it is exposed to sickness, malfunction and infirmity. …
I would like to mention some of these illnesses that we encounter most frequently in our life in the Curia. They are illnesses and temptations that weaken our service to the Lord”, continued the Pontiff, who after inviting all those present to an examination of conscience to prepare themselves for Christmas, listed the most common Curial ailments:
The first is “the sickness of considering oneself 'immortal', 'immune' or 'indispensable', neglecting the necessary and habitual controls.
A Curia that is not self-critical, that does not stay up-to-date, that does not seek to better itself, is an ailing body. …
It is the sickness of the rich fool who thinks he will live for all eternity, and of those who transform themselves into masters and believe themselves superior to others, rather than at their service”.
The second is “'Martha-ism', or excessive industriousness; the sickness of those who immerse themselves in work, inevitably neglecting 'the better part' of sitting at Jesus' feet.
Therefore, Jesus required his disciples to rest a little, as neglecting the necessary rest leads to stress and agitation.
Rest, once one who has brought his or her mission to a close, is a necessary duty and must be taken seriously: in spending a little time with relatives and respecting the holidays as a time for spiritual and physical replenishment, it is necessary to learn the teaching of Ecclesiastes, that 'there is a time for everything'”.
Then there is “the sickness of mental and spiritual hardening: that of those who, along the way, lose their inner serenity, vivacity and boldness and conceal themselves behind paper, becoming working machines rather than men of God. …
It is dangerous to lose the human sensibility necessary to be able to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice! It is the sickness of those who lose those sentiments that were present in Jesus Christ”.
“The ailment of excessive planning and functionalism: this is when the apostle plans everything in detail and believes that, by perfect planning things effectively progress, thus becoming a sort of accountant. …
One falls prey to this sickness because it is easier and more convenient to settle into static and unchanging positions. Indeed, the Church shows herself to be faithful to the Holy Spirit to the extent that she does not seek to regulate or domesticate it. The Spirit is freshness, imagination and innovation”.
The “sickness of poor coordination develops when the communion between members is lost, and the body loses its harmonious functionality and its temperance, becoming an orchestra of cacophony because the members do not collaborate and do not work with a spirit of communion or as a team”.
“Spiritual Alzheimer's disease, or rather forgetfulness of the history of Salvation, of the personal history with the Lord, of the 'first love': this is a progressive decline of spiritual faculties, that over a period of time causes serious handicaps, making one incapable of carrying out certain activities autonomously, living in a state of absolute dependence on one's own often imaginary views.
We see this is those who have lost their recollection of their encounter with the Lord … in those who build walls around themselves and who increasingly transform into slaves to the idols they have sculpted with their own hands”.
“The ailment of rivalry and vainglory: when appearances, the colour of one's robes, insignia and honours become the most important aim in life. … It is the disorder that leads us to become false men and women, living a false 'mysticism' and a false 'quietism'”.
Then there is “existential schizophrenia: the sickness of those who live a double life, fruit of the hypocrisy typical of the mediocre and the progressive spiritual emptiness that cannot be filled by degrees or academic honours.
This ailment particularly afflicts those who, abandoning pastoral service, limit themselves to bureaucratic matters, thus losing contact with reality and with real people.
They create a parallel world of their own, where they set aside everything they teach with severity to others and live a hidden, often dissolute life”.
The sickness of “chatter, grumbling and gossip: this is a serious illness that begins simply, often just in the form of having a chat, and takes people over, turning them into sowers of discord, like Satan, and in many cases cold-blooded murderers of the reputations of their colleagues and brethren.
It is the sickness of the cowardly who, not having the courage to speak directly to the people involved, instead speak behind their backs”.
“The sickness of deifying leaders is typical of those who court their superiors, with the hope of receiving their benevolence.
They are victims of careerism and opportunism, honouring people rather than God. They are people who experience service thinking only of what they might obtain and not of what they should give. They are mean, unhappy and inspired only by their fatal selfishness”.
“The disease of indifference towards others arises when each person thinks only of himself, and loses the sincerity and warmth of personal relationships. When the most expert does not put his knowledge to the service of less expert colleagues; when out of jealousy … one experiences joy in seeing another person instead of lifting him up or encouraging him”.
“The illness of the funereal face: or rather, that of the gruff and the grim, those who believe that in order to be serious it is necessary to paint their faces with melancholy and severity, and to treat others – especially those they consider inferior – with rigidity, hardness and arrogance. In reality, theatrical severity and sterile pessimism are often symptoms of fear and insecurity”.
“The disease of accumulation: when the apostle seeks to fill an existential emptiness of the heart by accumulating material goods, not out of necessity but simply to feel secure. … Accumulation only burdens and inexorably slows down our progress”.
“The ailment of closed circles: when belonging to a group becomes stronger than belonging to the Body and, in some situations, to Christ Himself. This sickness too may start from good intentions but, as time passes, enslaves members and becomes a 'cancer' that threatens the harmony of the Body and causes a great deal of harm – scandals – especially to our littlest brothers”.
Then, there is the “disease of worldly profit and exhibitionism: when the apostle transforms his service into power, and his power into goods to obtain worldly profits or more power.
This is the disease of those who seek insatiably to multiply their power and are therefore capable of slandering, defaming and discrediting others, even in newspapers and magazines, naturally in order to brag and to show they are more capable than others”.
After listing these ailments, Pope Francis continued, “We are therefore required, at this Christmas time and in all the time of our service and our existence – to live 'speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love'”.
“I once read that priests are like aeroplanes: they only make the news when they crash, but there are many that fly. Many criticise them and few pray for them”, he concluded.
“It is a very nice phrase, but also very true, as it expresses the importance and the delicacy of our priestly service, and how much harm just one priest who falls may cause to the whole body of the Church
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Apostolic Nuncio's Christmas message 2014
Bloggers note: I visited the Apostolic Nunciature 2012 Photos https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151290402661543.488053.516476542&type=1&l=a7d00d9373
http://www.nuntiatura.ca/office_en.html
1916
Christmas, 2014
To welcome and to share the abundance of God
We are just at the threshold of Christmas, a great event which – if we welcome it – is capable of changing our lives. A story by Tolstoy which I learned and owe to Pope Benedict XVI helps me to share the light and life that springs from Christmas:
Leo Tolstoy, the Russian writer, tells in a short story of a harsh sovereign who asked his priests and sages to show him God so that he might see him. The wise men were unable to satisfy his desire.
Then a shepherd, who was just coming in from the fields, volunteered to take on the task of the priests and sages. From him the king learned that his eyes were not good enough to see God. Then, however, he wanted to know at least what God does. "To be able to answer your question," the shepherd said to the king, "we must exchange our clothes."
Somewhat hesitant but impelled by curiosity about the information he was expecting, the king consented; he gave the shepherd his royal robes and had himself dressed in the simple clothes of the poor man. Then came the answer: "This is what God does." Indeed, the Son of God, true God from true God, shed his divine splendor: "he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men; and being found in human form he humbled himself…even unto death on a cross" (cf. Phil. 2:5ff).
At Christmas, as the Fathers say, God worked the sacrum commercium, the sacred exchange: he took on what was ours, so that we might receive what was his and become similar to God. Hence the exclamation that resonates from the first years of the Christian era: "Christian, recognize your dignity and, now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return to your former base condition by sinning" (From a Homily on Christmas by Pope St. Leo the Great).
What is this dignity? It is to have received the vesture of God. The vesture of God is love. "God is love" (1 John 4:8). In becoming man – in the mystery of Christmas – God has clothed everyone with his own vesture. He has placed within us his love. Yes, in you, in me, in every one of us there is not only our own love, that human capacity to love, that sometimes, or often, turns itself into egoism and hatred. Precisely by assuming our human nature and becoming one of us – this is Christmas – God has sown abundantly in every one of us his love, that love of God which is able to win all battles, overcome all difficulties, enabling us to live in peace with God, with ourselves and with each other. How can I not be able to forgive if the love of God is in me, that love which has the strength of the mercy of God?
Abundance. It is true, many are poor, and many have to contend with a shoestring budget to reach the end of the month. Economic abundance is not for everyone. But there is an abundance that all of us have, an abundance that does not cost a cent, it is the most valuable and is available to all. It is the abundance of love. That love which God gives to us and that we can share with one another.
O Lord: in this Christmas Season help us to be aware of the abundance that you have placed into our hands! It is the abundance of love, the capacity of giving ourselves, and bringing cordiality, joy and happiness to our brothers and sisters. Each of us is a rich person, carrying within ourselves the abundance of love that can be distributed to others. The world is poor and suffering because this abundance is kept in the safe, rather than given and shared. "Giving of ourselves" is the way to be at Christmas. Lord, help us to wear that vesture you give to us, and to share your love.
Then every day will be Christmas, a beautiful Christmas.
Luigi Bonazzi
Apostolic Nuncio
http://www.nuntiatura.ca/office_en.html
1916Apostolic Nuncio
Saturday, December 20, 2014
He has returned the Vatican to the centre of the world stage
1906
U.S.-Cuba normalization marks Vatican’s most significant diplomatic victory in generation
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/12/19/god-politics-u-s-cuba-normalization-marks-vaticans-most-significant-diplomatic-victory-in-generation/
U.S.-Cuba normalization marks Vatican’s most significant diplomatic victory in generation
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/12/19/god-politics-u-s-cuba-normalization-marks-vaticans-most-significant-diplomatic-victory-in-generation/
AP Photo/Gabriel Bouys, File PoolPope Francis and President Barack Obama smile as they meet at the Vatican Thursday, March 27, 2014.
Last
summer, Jorge Mario Bergolio, a middle-class Jesuit from Buenos Aires,
better known to most of the world as Pope Francis, sat down in his
Vatican office to write two extraordinary letters.
His Holiness had a simple message: To the leaders of the United States and Cuba, he urged rapprochement, an end to conflict and a move toward some kind of peace.
Remarkably, four months later, on Dec. 17, the Pope’s wish came at least partially true. In a surprise press conference this week, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a new, normalized relationship with Cuba.
Next year, for the first time since 1961, the U.S. will open an embassy in Havana. Travel restrictions between the two countries will be eased and commercial ties fostered.
In separate speeches, Mr. Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro praised the pontiff’s intervention. Pope Francis hosted talks between the two sides in the Vatican. More importantly, he served as a key moral and political guarantor for both parties.
“I want to thank His Holiness Pope Francis, whose moral example shows us the importance of pursuing the world as it should be, rather than simply settling for the world as it is,” Mr. Obama said.
The deal represents the most significant diplomatic victory for the
Vatican in a generation. And it came about in no small part because of
the Pope’s enormous personal popularity.
“It’s hard to say no to him,” said Fr. Thomas Reese, a senior analyst at the National Catholic Reporter.
In less than two years as pontiff, Pope Francis has shifted the way much of the world thinks about the Roman Catholic Church.
After years church leaders obsessing over abortion, contraception and opposition to gay rights, the pope has set them talking about poverty, economics and peace.
“What I would say is that he’s rebranding the Catholic Church,” said Fr. Reese.
In the process, Pope Francis may be upending a long-time relationship between God and politics in the Western world.
The first Jesuit pontiff is opening up space for progressives to embrace the church and its teachings, to use Catholic doctrine as a moral cudgel on the left after decades in which “God” and “conservative” have been near synonyms in the political sphere.
But as a new biography of Pope Francis makes clear, he is no radical or socialist. What he is, instead, is deeply skeptical of fixed ideologies, right, left or otherwise.
“He sees himself as defending ordinary people against the elites. And in a way the left and right thing is an elite argument,” said Austen Ivereigh, author of The Great Reformer, a comprehensive look at the pope’s background and early years.
“He wants to root himself and the church in the ordinary concerns of the poor.”
That hasn’t stopped some from trying to brand Pope Francis as a liberal or a Marxist. In fact, one of the reasons Mr. Ivereigh said he wrote the book was to try to correct what he sees as a widespread misinterpretation of the pope’s message.
Pope Francis hasn’t changed church doctrine on the most divisive questions of the age.
“He’s not in favour of gay marriage. He’s not in favour of abortion,” said Mr. Reese. What he’s done instead is re-order some public priorities. “He believes the church should stress firstly mercy,” said Mr. Ivereigh. He also thinks church leaders need to spend more time listening to ordinary people.
That said, while he is no communist, Pope Francis is clearly critical of capitalism.
“He just doesn’t buy the trickle-down theory,” said Fr. Reese. As a bishop in Buenos Aires, he became famous for taking the bus to the slums and visiting the homes of the poor.
“I think he developed a great sckpticism of capitalism and globalization [there]. Maybe Argentina was getting richer at one time, but he didn’t see the poor getting richer.”
Perhaps because he is so hard to pin down ideologically, Pope Francis
has become a lightning rod for criticism from both the left and the
right at various times in his career.
In his book, Mr. Ivereigh recreates with painstaking detail the role Fr. Bergolio, then head of the Jesuits in Argentina, played during the “Dirty War” in Argentina. When he first became pope, critics accused him of collaborating with the military junta. Some even said he served up two of his colleagues for assassination.
Mr. Ivereigh believes that account isn’t fair or accurate. It is true Fr. Bergolio did not speak out publicly against the junta. He also opposed the “liberation theologists,” church figures who mixed Catholic theology with Marxist teaching and who were active in Latin America at the time.
But he worked behind the scenes to help potential government targets flee Argentina. According to the account in The Great Reformer, he sheltered many in Jesuit-owned facilities and used Jesuit contacts across South America to smuggle dozens to safety.
To achieve that task, he relied on two things that shape him to this day: secrecy and connections.
“He’s a very canny strategist and he keeps his cards very close to his chest,” said Mr. Ivereigh. “He operates through relationships and quite informally, so there’s never much of a paper trail.”
That tendency was on also display in the recent negotiations.
“The restoration of U.S.-Cuba relations came as in incredible surprise,” he added. “It was huge news and very people knew about it. That’s very typical of him.”
Whatever happens behind closed doors, though, Pope Francis clearly intends to keep speaking out publicly on issues usually associated with the political left.
Fr. Reese, a fellow Jesuit, said the pontiff is planning to release an encyclical — a kind of authoritative letter — on the environment in 2015. And as events this week have shown, when this pope speaks, people listen.
“He has returned the Vatican to the centre of the world stage,” Mr. Ivereigh said.
National Pos
His Holiness had a simple message: To the leaders of the United States and Cuba, he urged rapprochement, an end to conflict and a move toward some kind of peace.
Remarkably, four months later, on Dec. 17, the Pope’s wish came at least partially true. In a surprise press conference this week, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a new, normalized relationship with Cuba.
Next year, for the first time since 1961, the U.S. will open an embassy in Havana. Travel restrictions between the two countries will be eased and commercial ties fostered.
In separate speeches, Mr. Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro praised the pontiff’s intervention. Pope Francis hosted talks between the two sides in the Vatican. More importantly, he served as a key moral and political guarantor for both parties.
“I want to thank His Holiness Pope Francis, whose moral example shows us the importance of pursuing the world as it should be, rather than simply settling for the world as it is,” Mr. Obama said.
“It’s hard to say no to him,” said Fr. Thomas Reese, a senior analyst at the National Catholic Reporter.
In less than two years as pontiff, Pope Francis has shifted the way much of the world thinks about the Roman Catholic Church.
After years church leaders obsessing over abortion, contraception and opposition to gay rights, the pope has set them talking about poverty, economics and peace.
“What I would say is that he’s rebranding the Catholic Church,” said Fr. Reese.
In the process, Pope Francis may be upending a long-time relationship between God and politics in the Western world.
The first Jesuit pontiff is opening up space for progressives to embrace the church and its teachings, to use Catholic doctrine as a moral cudgel on the left after decades in which “God” and “conservative” have been near synonyms in the political sphere.
But as a new biography of Pope Francis makes clear, he is no radical or socialist. What he is, instead, is deeply skeptical of fixed ideologies, right, left or otherwise.
“He sees himself as defending ordinary people against the elites. And in a way the left and right thing is an elite argument,” said Austen Ivereigh, author of The Great Reformer, a comprehensive look at the pope’s background and early years.
“He wants to root himself and the church in the ordinary concerns of the poor.”
That hasn’t stopped some from trying to brand Pope Francis as a liberal or a Marxist. In fact, one of the reasons Mr. Ivereigh said he wrote the book was to try to correct what he sees as a widespread misinterpretation of the pope’s message.
Pope Francis hasn’t changed church doctrine on the most divisive questions of the age.
“He’s not in favour of gay marriage. He’s not in favour of abortion,” said Mr. Reese. What he’s done instead is re-order some public priorities. “He believes the church should stress firstly mercy,” said Mr. Ivereigh. He also thinks church leaders need to spend more time listening to ordinary people.
That said, while he is no communist, Pope Francis is clearly critical of capitalism.
“He just doesn’t buy the trickle-down theory,” said Fr. Reese. As a bishop in Buenos Aires, he became famous for taking the bus to the slums and visiting the homes of the poor.
“I think he developed a great sckpticism of capitalism and globalization [there]. Maybe Argentina was getting richer at one time, but he didn’t see the poor getting richer.”
SABCU.S.
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Cuban President Raul Castro in
Soweto, South Africa, in the rain for a memorial service for former
South African President Nelson Mandela in December 2013.
In his book, Mr. Ivereigh recreates with painstaking detail the role Fr. Bergolio, then head of the Jesuits in Argentina, played during the “Dirty War” in Argentina. When he first became pope, critics accused him of collaborating with the military junta. Some even said he served up two of his colleagues for assassination.
Mr. Ivereigh believes that account isn’t fair or accurate. It is true Fr. Bergolio did not speak out publicly against the junta. He also opposed the “liberation theologists,” church figures who mixed Catholic theology with Marxist teaching and who were active in Latin America at the time.
But he worked behind the scenes to help potential government targets flee Argentina. According to the account in The Great Reformer, he sheltered many in Jesuit-owned facilities and used Jesuit contacts across South America to smuggle dozens to safety.
To achieve that task, he relied on two things that shape him to this day: secrecy and connections.
“He’s a very canny strategist and he keeps his cards very close to his chest,” said Mr. Ivereigh. “He operates through relationships and quite informally, so there’s never much of a paper trail.”
That tendency was on also display in the recent negotiations.
“The restoration of U.S.-Cuba relations came as in incredible surprise,” he added. “It was huge news and very people knew about it. That’s very typical of him.”
Whatever happens behind closed doors, though, Pope Francis clearly intends to keep speaking out publicly on issues usually associated with the political left.
Fr. Reese, a fellow Jesuit, said the pontiff is planning to release an encyclical — a kind of authoritative letter — on the environment in 2015. And as events this week have shown, when this pope speaks, people listen.
“He has returned the Vatican to the centre of the world stage,” Mr. Ivereigh said.
National Pos
Friday, December 19, 2014
Monday, December 15, 2014
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Pope Francis: God's grace is not for sale
In his Thursday morning Mass, Pope Francis talked about God's love. In his homily, he said that God's love and grace cannot be controlled or even accumulated like merchandise.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Catholic and Orthodox Church: A look at why the Pope's visit with Bartho...
Catholic and Orthodox Church: A look at why the Pope's visit with Bartholomew was key
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
It's estimated that over 36 million people around the globe, live under some type of slavery, most commonly, forced prostitution or forced labor
It's estimated that over 36 million people around the globe, live under some type of slavery, most commonly, forced prostitution or forced labor.
1771
1771
Pope Francis joins religious leaders of different faiths, in fight again...
It's estimated that over 36 million people around the globe, live under some type of slavery, most commonly, forced prostitution or forced labor.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Pope: To end Islamophobia, Muslim leaders must condemn terrorist attacks
Pope: To end Islamophobia, Muslim leaders must condemn terrorist attacks
Pope to Ecumenical Patriarch: Christians must have a presence in the Mid...
As Brothers
During his visit to Turkey, Pope Francis celebrated the Feast Day of St. Andrew along with Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew. The celebration was held in the Church of St. George in the city of Istanbul.
During his visit to Turkey, Pope Francis celebrated the Feast Day of St. Andrew along with Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew. The celebration was held in the Church of St. George in the city of Istanbul.
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