The Pope Francis Thread

Where Fellowship and Camaraderie lives: that place where the CPS membership values fun and good fellowship as the cement of the community
Post Reply
User avatar
Wosbald
Sunday School Superintendent
Sunday School Superintendent
Posts: 993
Joined: 15 Nov 2022, 10:50
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 58 times

Amazon Synod

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Catholic prayer or Pachamama? [Analysis]

Image

Image
(Source: WPI)

Last night, I came across a live YouTube discussion of the prayer service that took place in October 2019. Michael Lofton invited Father Deacon Anthony Dragani, an Eastern Catholic deacon and professor of Religious Studies at Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, Pennsylvania, to join him on his Reason & Theology podcast to break down the video of the much-maligned prayer service.

Even though we have covered this topic extensively and repeatedly, this false narrative persists. So when I noticed a good number of people commenting on the video and saying that their minds were changed, I thought it might be a good idea to share it here.



The PACHAMAMA Ceremony at the Vatican Explained [YouTube: 91 min]
Image

The latest round of paganism accusations seems to have been sparked by the revelation that the late Cardinal George Pell was the author of the “Demos” memo. Originally published in March 2022, the memo provides a litany of accusations against Pope Francis, including, “Pachamama is idolatrous; perhaps it was not intended as such initially.”

Commentators of different stripes used this to once again promote the “Pachamama” falsehood. For example, Edward Pentin, writing about it in the National Catholic Register, states that in addition to promoting the “idolatry” narrative in his memo, “Cardinal Pell had often expressed revulsion at the veneration of the Pachamama statues in the Vatican during the Amazon Synod of 2019.”

Tracey Rowland gives a particularly offensive anecdote about Pell’s response to the controversy in a tribute to Pell in Catholic World Report. Rowland writes that when Pell met Alexander Tschugguel, the young Austrian who threw the figures (which Rowland describes as “black witches with engorged sagging breasts and a swollen belly”) into the Tiber, Pell “looked at him sternly and said words to the effect that he had done the wrong thing. After a comic pause of a couple of seconds the Cardinal changed his expression to a smile and said you should have burnt the things before you dumped them!”

It should also be noted that Cardinal Pell repeatedly expressed concerns about the Amazon Synod and about a re-emergence of paganism in his Prison Diaries. The idea that even highly-regarded Cardinal would fall for this error is very concerning, and it proves that this story continues to have legs. That is why we must continue to shed light on the truth.

One of the key moments in the video is when Deacon Dragani described the challenges he’s faced when trying to set the record straight on this controversy. He said:

I could see exactly what was taking place. It was very obvious to me. I recognized the event, and for me — as somebody who’s studied this stuff for years and teaches it — it was pretty simple what was going on. … They were praying for the Amazon and for the people of the Amazon. It was very clear to me, these people were Catholic. So when I heard [these accusations of idolatry], I thought I’d try and just calm people’s fears, and say, “Hey, wait a minute, I watched the video — it’s very clear that what’s going on here is a prayer service for the Amazon, in which these people are praying for the Amazon as a place and [for] the Amazonian people.

And I was met with a lot of very hostile opposition — people who were convinced of the narrative that it was idolatry and that Pope Francis sanctioned idolatry. Many of these people are are really good people — like really good, faithful, devout Catholics — including many priests and deacons that I know. Good, holy priests and deacons I respect were convinced that this was an act of idolatry. And when I tried to explain to them that it wasn’t … they didn’t want to hear it. They didn’t want to hear it. It’s almost like they wanted to believe that the pope was guilty of idolatry.


(Lightly cleaned up for clarity — Ed.)
Dragani notes two things that are important here. The first is that the people who took part in the service were Catholic. At another point in the interview, he says, “It wasn’t a ritual. It was a prayer service. And they’re being accused of being pagan idolaters, when these people were all actually devout Catholics. I feel bad for them. I think they were really slandered in this and that’s not fair to them at all.” This is the reason why this controversy — perhaps more than any other during this papacy — has been of central importance to the mission of Where Peter Is. It is one thing to attack this website, attack the pope, even to attack the Amazon Synod. It is another thing to slander and hurl falsehoods at a group of faithful, indigenous Catholic people whose land and livelihood are threatened by corporations, governments, and societal elites in order to score points against the pope.

[…]

Every time someone says “idolatry” or “paganism” took place in the Vatican Gardens in October 2019, they are accusing indigenous Catholics from the Amazon region — faithful Christians who have kept the faith alive in their remote tribes and villages despite shortages of priests, little access to the sacraments, and limited resources and financial means — of being pagans. This is shameful. And the lack of willingness to listen to the truth smacks of racism.

The second thing that Deacon Dragani mentions is the hostility with which so many otherwise holy, reasonable Catholics respond whenever it is suggested that the event was not idolatrous. In my 2021 article, I quoted Pedro Gabriel (who was at the forefront of trying to set the record straight), who was baffled by this intransigence. He said:

What struck me most was how refractory people were to alternate explanations. As irrational as it may seem, many people are apparently more willing to entertain the idea that the pope hosted a pagan ceremony and streamed it on the internet for all to see than to believe the pope, the synod’s official spokespeople, or the people involved in the ceremony, all of whom stated clearly that there were no pagan intentions. Most of the people I have spoken to who succumbed to the Pachamama narrative have been unwilling to even listen to other explanations. In fact, they often become angry at the suggestion that the Pope actually may not have promoted idolatry in the Vatican. This is concerning, especially since as Catholics, we are invited to search for the truth.
I would like to reiterate Pedro’s final point. The record doesn’t need to be set straight because it “helps” Pope Francis. As Deacon Dragani says in the video, “I’m not a Pope Francis apologist.” The reason why we need to correct the false Pachamama narrative is because we believe in the truth. If you are concerned with the truth, you will evaluate the facts and abandon the false narrative.


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
Sunday School Superintendent
Sunday School Superintendent
Posts: 993
Joined: 15 Nov 2022, 10:50
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 58 times

The Pope Francis Thread

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Pope Francis: ‘The pope’s ministry is for life,’ resignation should not become ‘the normal thing’

Image

Image
Pope Francis holds hands and prays with a dozen Jesuits working in South Sudan during a meeting Feb. 4, 2023, in Juba. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope Francis has dismissed the idea that he could soon resign and stated clearly for the first time, “I believe that the pope’s ministry is ad vitam [for life]. I see no reason why it should not be so.” He added that it should not become “a fashion, a normal thing” for popes to resign.

He made this highly significant statement in conversation with the Jesuit community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when he met them at the nunciature in Kinshasa on Feb. 2.

He did so in response to a question from a Congolese Jesuit who said: “There has been talk of your possible resignation. Are you really intent on leaving the Petrine ministry? What about the General of the Society? In your opinion, should his post remain for life?”

Pope Francis replied first to the part of the question regarding the papacy and said:

Look, it’s true that I wrote my resignation [notice] two months after I was elected and delivered this letter to Cardinal Bertone. I don’t know where this letter is. I did it in case I had some health problem that would prevent me from exercising my ministry and I am not fully conscious and able to resign. However, this does not at all mean that resigning popes should become, let’s say, a “fashion,” a normal thing. Benedict had the courage to do it because he did not feel up to continuing due to his health.
“I for the moment do not have that on my agenda,” the pope said. “I believe that the pope’s ministry is ad vitam [for life]. I see no reason why it should not be so. [​I] think that the ministry of the great patriarchs is always for life! And the historical tradition is important. If, on the other hand, we are listening to the ‘chatter,’ well, then we should change popes every six months!”

He reminded his audience that “Pius XII also wrote a letter of resignation because of fear that Hitler would take him to Germany. That way, he said, they would only capture Eugenio Pacelli and not the pope.” He did not mention the fact that several of his predecessors had written similar letters of resignation, including Paul VI.

[…]

In his conversations with the Jesuits in Kinshasa, Francis spoke about the conflicts in the world today, not only in the D.R.C. and South Sudan but also in Yemen, Myanmar, Latin America and Ukraine, and said: “The whole world is at war …. I ask myself: Will humanity have the courage, the strength or even the opportunity to turn back? It goes forward, forward, forward to the abyss. I don’t know: That’s a question I ask myself. I’m sorry to say this, but I’m a bit pessimistic.”

“Today it really seems that the main problem is the production of weapons,” the pope said. “There is still so much hunger in the world, and we continue to manufacture armaments. It is difficult to come back from this catastrophe. And we are not talking about atomic weapons!” But, he added, “I still believe in the work of persuasion. We Christians have to pray a lot, ‘Lord, have mercy on us!’”

He said he is particularly struck “by the cruelty” in these conflicts, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ukraine. “Not only is there killing, but it is being done cruelly. This is something new to me. It gives me pause for thought.”

Responding to another Congolese Jesuit, who asked if he would call a synod for the Congo Basin like he did for Amazonia, Francis said “no.”

“The synod on the Amazon was exemplary,” he said. “Four ‘dreams’ were discussed there: social, cultural, ecological and ecclesial.” He said that those dreams “also apply to the Congo Basin” because “there is a similarity. The planetary balance also depends on the health of the Amazon and the Congo biomes.” He encouraged the Congolese bishops’ conference “to engage synodically at the local level with the same criteria but in order to pursue a discourse more related to the reality of the country.”

Asked by another Congolese Jesuit how the church is preparing for the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea in 2025, Pope Francis said that he and Patriarch Bartholomew, the first among equals in the Orthodox Church, “are preparing a meeting for 2025” and “we want to come to an agreement for the date of Easter, which just happens to be the same date for both churches in that year. Let’s see; if so we can agree for the future.”

“We want to celebrate this Council as brothers,” the pope said. “We are preparing for it.” He recalled that Bartholomew “was the first Patriarch after so many centuries to come to the inauguration of a pope’s ministry!”

In his conversations with the Jesuits, Francis talked about many other things, including that he had approved the four “universal apostolic preferences that the Society has developed” as a way forward for the Jesuits in this moment in history. He also talked about progress in the beatification of Pedro Arrupe, S.J., and his own prayer life.

A report on the conversations between Pope Francis and the Jesuits in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in South Sudan was published by the Jesuit journal La Civilità Cattolica in various languages, including English, today, Feb. 16. Its editor, Antonio Spadaro S.J., was part of the papal entourage and recorded both conversations.


Image
User avatar
Del
Usher
Usher
Posts: 2726
Joined: 11 Apr 2022, 22:08
Location: Madison, WI
Has thanked: 233 times
Been thanked: 372 times

The Pope Francis Thread

Post by Del »

Wosbald wrote: 16 Feb 2023, 10:18 +JMJ+
[Asked by another Congolese Jesuit how the church is preparing for the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea in 2025, Pope Francis said that he and Patriarch Bartholomew, the first among equals in the Orthodox Church, “are preparing a meeting for 2025” and “we want to come to an agreement for the date of Easter, which just happens to be the same date for both churches in that year. Let’s see; if so we can agree for the future.”

“We want to celebrate this Council as brothers,” the pope said. “We are preparing for it.” He recalled that Bartholomew “was the first Patriarch after so many centuries to come to the inauguration of a pope’s ministry!”
If Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew are able to move forward in the reconciliation dialogue of the Apostolic Church, it will be the defining accomplishment of Francis's papacy.

Not much else will be remembered, as he is very much just another a man of this time.
User avatar
Wosbald
Sunday School Superintendent
Sunday School Superintendent
Posts: 993
Joined: 15 Nov 2022, 10:50
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 58 times

Fratelli Tutti / Economics

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Pope Francis says he does not ‘condemn capitalism’ in new book

Image

Image
Pope Francis greets the crowd during the general audience on Oct. 13, 2021, at the Vatican. (CNS Photo/Paul Haring)

“I do not condemn capitalism in the way some attribute to me. Nor am I against the market [economy],” Pope Francis stated in El Pastor, a new book by the Argentine journalists Francesca Ambrogetti and Sergio Rubin just published in Buenos Aires. “Rather,” he explained, “I am in favor of what John Paul II defined as a social economy of the market. This implies the presence of a regulatory authority [pata reguladora], that is the state, which should mediate between the parties. It is a table with three legs: the state, capital, and work.”

“In no part of the Bible is there a commandment to produce poverty,” Pope Francis stated. He explained that the beatitude “Blessed are the poor in spirit” means “the person who is not attached to riches.” But, he added, “in no way is it bad to produce wealth for the good of all,” indeed, “to produce it is an act of justice. And for that justice to be complete, it has to be distributive.”

The book, El Pastor: Desafios, razones y reflexiones de Francisco sobre su pontificado (The Pastor: Challenges, Reasons and Reflections of Francis on His Pontificate) reviews many of the main issues to which Francis devoted his attention over the first 10 years of his pontificate, which will mark its anniversary on March 13.

Pope Francis clarified his position on the economy — a position that has been misunderstood by many commentators, especially in the United States — in conversations with the Mr. Rubin and Ms. Ambrogetti, who wrote the first interview-based book with him, titled El Jesuita, when he was still the archbishop of Buenos Aires and which became a best-seller when he was elected pope. This new book reviews several of the main events of this pontificate, enriched by the conversations of the journalists with Pope Francis over these past 10 years.

In the book, Francis identified the bigger problem with today’s economy as speculation in the financial world. “In a certain way, capitalism is almost a thing of the past,” Francis said. “Of course, one thing is the saving, the investment that is so important for production and for the creation of employment. But speculation is another thing that, in my opinion, is like the [contagious disease] of saving and investment (el sarampión del ahorro y la inversión).”

Pope Francis repeated what he has said many times before: “The devil enters through the pocket, corruption begins with money, and with money consciences are bought.” He said this also happened in the church, “to say it in a clear way, in the I.O.R. [the Vatican bank] I had to cut off heads.”

He affirmed that state aid to the unemployed should be such as “to not affect the culture of work,” emphasizing that “work gives dignity to people.”

“It is one thing to live from charity and another to earn one’s living with one’s own effort,” the pope said.

Francis remarked that “the middle class is is in extinction in many countries” and recalled that in the past this social group included “the worker who had a job and wanted his son to go on to study.” But, he noted, this aspiration has become more complicated “when there is a brake on social mobility.”

In addition to economic themes, Francis also spoke about the defense of life, abortion, the family, migration, politics, care of our common home, trade unions, the impact of the reform of the Roman Curia, the opposition to his leadership in the church, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

In the book, Francis responded to allegations frequently made against him in Argentina by political operatives or in the media and flatly denied that he was a Peronist. “I was never affiliated to the Peronist party, nor was I a militant or sympathizer of Peronism,” he said. “To affirm that is a lie.”

At the same time, he raised the question: “But what is bad about having a Peronist conception of politics?” To those who accuse him of receiving many Peronists in audience in the Vatican, Francis responded: “I received them, and I also receive everyone. But, sometimes, there are some who make political gain out of this.” He mentioned the example of one candidate for political office who attended his Mass in Santa Marta and afterward asked if he could have a photo with him. Francis said he agreed on condition he would not exploit the photo. The man assured him he only wanted it to share with his family. Afterward, however, he said photos of their meeting were plastered across Buenos Aires as part of the candidate’s political campaign.

[…]

Francis recalled that earlier, when he was about to be made cardinal in 2001, Mr. Rubin and Ms. Ambrogetti had asked him what he thought the profile of the next pope should be. He said, “I responded without hesitation: a pastor.” He added, “It was difficult to imagine at that moment that 12 years later, I would become that pastor!”

He explained that to be a pastor means “to be the one who is at the head of the people to indicate the way, in the midst of the people to live their experience, and behind the people to help the stragglers and, sometimes, to respect their intuition for finding the best pastures.”

Pope Francis added: “This is what I have tried to do since I was ordained a priest and in these years of the pontificate, always with the firm purpose of being faithful to God and to the church and helpful to Catholics and to all people of good will. By explaining, proposing, listening, asking pardon when appropriate, and serving. And fundamentally, always, with the closeness of heart. And throughout all these years, by means of the Holy Spirit, peace never left me.”

=========================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

Translation from the Spanish by the author, based on extracts of the book that were available at time of writing.


Image
User avatar
Del
Usher
Usher
Posts: 2726
Joined: 11 Apr 2022, 22:08
Location: Madison, WI
Has thanked: 233 times
Been thanked: 372 times

Fratelli Tutti / Economics

Post by Del »


One of the first things we discovered about Pope Francis is that he reads and admires GK Chesterton. So this comes as no surprise to anyone who has tried to be fair to Francis.

Capitalism is a wonderful system due to its emphasis on freedom, innovation, giving customers what they desire, and creating wealth and jobs. No economic system has been as effective as capitalism toward lifting the most people out of poverty and improving lives.

But capitalism also has some weaknesses, which no Christian should ignore. Francis is not "opposing capitalism" when he points these out.

There is a body of Catholic teaching regarding just economic and political behavior. It looks a lot like capitalism -- but it favors small family businesses over multinational corporations, and it favors local governance over federal regulation. It is strongly opposed to "imperialism," "globalism," and rule by elites. It balances strongly defended borders with compassion toward migrants and asylum seekers.

Francis gets all this. But anytime the guy calls for balance, he is attacked on all sides by extremists. Or used as a weapon by some extremists to cudgel extremists on the other side.
User avatar
Del
Usher
Usher
Posts: 2726
Joined: 11 Apr 2022, 22:08
Location: Madison, WI
Has thanked: 233 times
Been thanked: 372 times

The Pope Francis Thread

Post by Del »

From Daily Wire, a conservative news/opinion source:

Pope Francis Finally Responds To Murder Of Bishop

For my part, I don't blame Pope Francis for waiting until the actual facts surrounding this case were reliably reported.

Daily Wire does their own original investigative reporting. In this link, they were able to gather comments and insights from Bishop Robert Barron, who was a personal friend of the murdered Bishop O'Connell.
User avatar
Wosbald
Sunday School Superintendent
Sunday School Superintendent
Posts: 993
Joined: 15 Nov 2022, 10:50
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 58 times

Laudato Si' / Integral Ecology

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Science institute partners with Vatican on guide to protect 'our living planet'

Image

Image
(Credit: CNS/Screenshot from SEI)

A new collaboration of faith and science looks to equip Catholics with the knowledge and means to turn prayers into actions on the multitude of environmental challenges around the globe, from climate change and pollution, to the rapid loss of species and ecosystems.

Our Common Home: A Guide to Caring for Our Living Planet is a just-released digital and print resource to help Catholic communities respond to Pope Francis' calls to protect the created world and develop a more sustainable future. It was the result of a joint initiative between the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Stockholm Environment Institute, a scientific research and policy organization headquartered in the Swedish capital. The idea was first raised in 2020 by the Swedish embassy to the Holy See. The embassy funded the project.

The new guidebook provides a straightforward scientific overview of seven environmental topics:
  • Climate
  • Biodiversity
  • Water
  • Air Pollution
  • Food Production
  • Sustainable Consumption
  • Environmental and Social Justice
For each, it offers a summary of the topic paired with a passage from Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home — Francis' 2015 encyclical on ecology — along with brief descriptions of what is required to address the problem and suggested reflections and action steps for people to take.

Image
The cover of "Our Common Home: A Guide to Caring for Our Living Planet." (CNS/Screenshot from SEI)

Cardinal Michael Czerny, head of the integral human development office, said the "Our Common Home" booklet merges faith and science to "empower" people to take values-driven actions in their local communities to combat climate change and environmental destruction and protect vulnerable people and the ecosystems to which they belong.

"We are at a critical historical moment where actions today will determine the fate of generations to come," he said at a virtual launch event Feb. 14.

"The challenge ahead is monumental; we need nothing short of a 'bold cultural revolution' to respond to it adequately," Czerny said, referencing a line from Laudato Si'. "And bold, indeed, is this booklet." While slim at 20 pages, "it is packed with action suggestions that promise to bring about just and sustainable transitions."

[…]

The Our Common Home booklet is accessible online, and the dicastery has more than 500,000 print copies ready for distribution around the world. It is available in English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

A dicastery spokesman told EarthBeat it has informed bishops' conferences about the booklets, with 5,000 already postmarked for Brazil, and that requests for print copies can be made with its office. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops did not respond to questions about whether it planned to distribute the booklet.

The Common Home guidebook is the latest resource to assist participants in the Laudato Si' Action Platform, the Vatican initiative to mobilize faith-inspired ecological actions across the global Catholic Church. To date, nearly 7,000 individuals and church institutions, including schools, parishes, dioceses, congregations and businesses, have enrolled in the Laudato Si' Action Platform.

Image
An illustrated page from a new publication by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development released Feb. 14. The 20-page guide, titled "Our Common Home: A Guide to Caring for our Living Planet," connects the science of climate change, biodiversity and sustainable resource use with the messages of Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical, "Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home." (CNS/Screenshot from SEI)

[…]

Added Czerny, "Current modes of economic development rely on the unsustainable burning of fossil fuels; the current market pushes harmful levels of consumption that pollute the environment with garbage as well as our souls and spirits with insatiable greed. But this wild license to consume is enjoyed by a shrinking minority of the global population that hoards power and wealth and ignores any sense of the genuine common good."

Image
Ducks swim past plastic bottles and other debris floating on the Tiber River in Rome July 28, 2019. In his 2015 encyclical, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home," Pope Francis said that "the earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth." (CNS/Paul Haring)

The cardinal said it was essential for economic priorities to shift "from raw GDP growth toward integral human development," stressing the importance of Indigenous peoples, women and youth in all decision-making.

In many cases, the "Our Common Home" booklet highlights how environmental issues are interrelated, and reflect the principles of integral ecology and integral human development. For instance, it explains that burning fossil fuels is a main source of air pollution that threatens the health of people and ecosystems while also raising global temperatures, which in turn contributes to water and food shortages.

John Mundell, director of the Laudato Si' Action Platform, expressed excitement for the new guide, saying it provides clear explanations of environmental issues with practical ways to respond in easily understandable language.

"The time to respond is not tomorrow, it is today. The time for polite conversations and speeches is past," he said. "Only dramatic changes beginning today, right now, in both our personal lifestyles and choices as well as our communal policies and governance will head off the rising temperatures and their devastating consequences."

Image
Molly Burd, project lead for the Stockholm Environment Institute for the "Our Common Home" guidebook, previews one of its pages during a virtual launch event Feb. 14. The institute collaborated on the book with the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. (NCR screenshot)

Mundell, a scientist and environmental engineer based in Indianapolis, shared that since it formally launched in November 2021, registrations for the Laudato Si' Action Platform have totaled 150 dioceses, 540 religious congregations, 700 religious communities, 385 parishes, more than 1,000 schools, 800 hospitals, businesses and organizations, and more than 3,000 families and individuals. Together, he said the groups represent 4 million people worldwide, a small sliver compared to the total 1.3 billion Catholics.

During a January webinar hosted by Catholic Climate Covenant, Mundell said that dioceses represent just 5% of sign-ups worldwide so far for the Laudato Si' Action Platform. In the U.S., 17 have done so, and only one — Chicago — is among the 10 largest dioceses in the country. Encouraging more dioceses to join will be a focus this year, he added, along with recruiting additional sign-ups overall and having those already on board submit reflection and action plans.

"Part of that is engaging our dioceses and our parishes, because they represent a large leadership component for our church. We know that if they're active, if they engage, the rest of the Catholic world will engage," Mundell said.

The launch of the new "Common Home" guidebook is the latest effort by the Vatican to provide people tools and resources to put Francis' messages around environmental responsibility and sustainability into action. That includes a documentary film on the encyclical, The Letter, that debuted in October on YouTube and has drawn more than 8 million views to date.

Earlier in February, the Vatican Governorate announced that Castel Gandalfo, long the traditional papal summer residence south of Rome, will now house the Borgo Laudato Si' project, which will promote ecological conversion through education and training activities amid the villa's famous gardens.

According to Vatican News, the project will focus on integral ecology, circular and generative economy and environmental sustainability, and will be overseen by the Laudato Si' Centre for Higher Education, which Francis formally established by papal decree on Feb. 2.


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
Sunday School Superintendent
Sunday School Superintendent
Posts: 993
Joined: 15 Nov 2022, 10:50
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 58 times

Pope Francis @ 10 Yrs

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

All the pope's Jesuit men: 10 years of Ignatian influence under Francis

Image

Image
With the seal of the Society of Jesus on his vestments, Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Jesuit Church of the Gesù in Rome Jan. 3, 2014. The Mass was celebrated on the feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus in thanksgiving for the canonization of St. Peter Faber. (CNS/Paul Haring)

The Ignatian DNA of this papacy is undeniable, in Francis' spirituality and church governance.

Soon after Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013 — becoming not only the first ever pontiff from the Global South, but also the first Jesuit to assume the role — Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, then the Vatican spokesman, told reporters he was "shocked."

Image

"Jesuits resist being named bishop or cardinal. To be named pope — wow," Lombardi said. "Jesuits think of themselves as servants, not authorities in church."

Bergoglio, who took the name of Francis upon his election, recently admitted to his fellow Jesuits in the Democratic Republic of Congo that he had twice declined being made a bishop, before eventually relenting in May 1992 to become auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

But despite the fact that Jesuits, including Bergoglio, have historically shied away from roles of authority in the Catholic Church, over the last 10 years, Francis has increasingly turned to his Jesuit confreres to take on key positions during his decadelong papacy.

Among the Jesuits tapped for major Vatican roles are:
  • Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Integral Human Development (2021–present)
  • Cardinal Luis Francisco Ladaria, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (2017–present)
  • Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg since 2011, elevated to the rank of cardinal by Francis in 2019 and named relator general of the Synod of Bishops (2021–present)
  • Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University and drafter of the Vatican's new constitution, Praedicate Evangelium (2022)
  • Fr. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, prefect of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy (2020–2022)
Francis has relied on the Czechoslovakian-born Canadian Czerny to reform and run the Vatican's mega-department that oversees the church's global peace and justice initiatives. With Ladaria, the pope entrusted the Spanish Jesuit to pivot the Vatican's once all-powerful doctrinal office away from its centurieslong reputation for scrutinizing theologians.

Image
Cardinal Michael Czerny looks on as Pope Francis delivers his Easter message and blessing urbi et orbi ("to the city and the world") from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican April 17, 2022. (CNS/Paul Haring)

In Hollerich, the pope has placed the responsibility of drafting the eventual outcome document for the church's ongoing synod process — a signature project of the Francis papacy, meant to return the church to embracing the Second Vatican Council's call to listen to all of the church's members.

Ghirlanda, one of the church's top canon law experts, has been the architect of a number of the pope's constitutional reforms, which allow for greater lay leadership at the Vatican and beyond. And the pope deputized Guerrero with the unenviable task of managing Vatican budgets and making its financial dealings more transparent.

Elsewhere, both in Rome and around the world, Francis is relying on fellow Jesuits to oversee key elements of his agenda.

Image
Pope Francis greets Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg during the cardinal's ad limina visit to the Vatican Feb. 14, 2022. (CNS/Vatican Media)

[…]

Turning to the Jesuits for help

The Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, was founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1534. Although Jesuits pledge not to seek a higher office, they also take a vow of loyalty to the pope.

Veteran Vatican analyst Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese offered a blunt assessment of Francis' reliance on members of their shared religious order: "I never like it when a Jesuit is named bishop."

Image
Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese moderates a discussion on economic justice in 2015. (CNS/Nancy Wiechec)

But Reese told NCR that he had to admit that Francis' picks have "been good for the church," even if they may have removed some of "the best guys" from the order, since once tapped for higher office they are no longer under obedience to any Jesuit superior.

St. Ignatius, according to Reese, opposed Jesuits being made bishops for two primary reasons. First, he feared that the then-nascent religious order would be diminished when some of their most skillful members were stripped away and made bishops. Secondly, at the time, such positions were the equivalent of being princes or nobles, and Ignatius wanted Jesuits to live a simple lifestyle.

Reese believes that one of the reasons Francis has turned to Jesuits so frequently over the past 10 years is that top cardinals have not helped with recruitment by identifying like-minded priests and bishops who share in his pastoral agenda.

"So, he turns to Jesuits for help," Reese observed.

For many Jesuits, having a member of their religious order elected pope was a bit of whiplash, given both the order's recent history in Rome, as well as Bergoglio's own history with the order.

Image
Pope Francis poses for a photo with faculty and staff of the Jesuits' International College of the Gesù in Rome during an audience at the Vatican Dec. 3, 2018. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Bergoglio first joined the Jesuits in the 1950s and was ordained in 1969. Less than five years later, in 1973, at the young age of 36, he was named the head of the order in Argentina and Uruguay.

It was a tumultuous time for both the church and Argentina, as his leadership coincided with the country's "dirty wars" — a period in which the military dictatorship hunted down anyone it believed to be associated with left-wing or socialist movements.

Bergoglio's leadership as provincial superior polarized the Jesuits, with many resenting him for what they viewed as a crackdown on progressives in order to appease the government, leading to his eventual exile from the order.

"That was crazy. I had to deal with difficult situations, and I made my decisions abruptly and by myself," Francis said in a 2013 interview, reflecting on those years. "My authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions led me to have serious problems and to be accused of being ultraconservative."

Meanwhile, in Rome, the Jesuits were largely viewed with suspicion by Pope John Paul II, who in the early 1980s named his own delegate for the order and halted its plans to hold a general congregation and to elect a new superior. This wariness was also shared by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, whom the Polish pope named to head the Vatican's doctrinal office, which cracked down on a number of Jesuits.

Many Jesuits were circumspect when Bergoglio was elected pope, fearing that he might govern as a hardline disciplinarian. It hadn't helped that in the intervening years after being made a bishop, when he traveled to Rome he chose to stay not with the Jesuits but at a guesthouse for priests.

But over the last 10 years, many Jesuits now say the Ignatian DNA of this papacy is undeniable, not just in Francis' spirituality, but also in his approach to church governance.

Francis 'helped us find our voice again'

[…]

Image
Then-Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a Jesuit canon lawyer, speaks at a news conference to present Pope Francis' document, Praedicate Evangelium, for the reform of the Roman Curia, during a news conference at the Vatican March 21, 2022. (CNS/Paul Haring)

[…]

Image
Pope Francis talks with Fr. Arturo Sosa, superior general of the Jesuits, after a Mass at the Jesuit Church of the Gesù in Rome March 12, 2022. (CNS/Vatican Media)

[…]

Image
Pope Francis poses for a photo with Jesuits working in South Sudan and with Jesuit Fr. Antonio Spadaro (left), editor of La Civiltà Cattolica, in Juba Feb. 4, 2023. The Jesuit magazine published a transcript of the pope's conversation with the priests Feb. 16. (CNS/Vatican Media)

[…]

Reflecting on the 10-year anniversary of a Jesuit pope, Jesuit Fr. John Dardis observed that not only has the election left an Ignatian imprint on the Catholic Church, but it's also left its mark on the order itself.

Image
Pope Francis greets Cardinal Luis Ladaria, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, during an audience with participants attending the International Thomistic Congress, at the Vatican Sept. 22, 2022. (CNS/Vatican Media)

After the uncertain years of the 1970s and 1980s for the order, "having a Jesuit pope who uses Ignatian language helped us to find our voice again," said Dardis, who serves as general counselor for discernment and apostolic planning at the Jesuit headquarters in Rome.

When Pope Benedict XVI addressed the members of the Jesuit's 35th general congregation in 2008, he told those gathered to be on the frontiers of society.

"I remember how much it moved me and gave me energy. I felt we were being encouraged and affirmed," Dardis recalled. "Pope Francis took us a step further. Francis has made so many people feel at home, welcomed and sent on mission. That goes for us Jesuits, too."

As for the Jesuit pope himself, flying back from Canada last July, a reporter asked Francis to what extent, as pope, he still feels as if he maintains his Jesuit roots.

"The Jesuit tries to — he tries, he doesn't always, he can't — do the Lord's will," Francis acknowledged. "The Jesuit pope must do the same."


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
Sunday School Superintendent
Sunday School Superintendent
Posts: 993
Joined: 15 Nov 2022, 10:50
Has thanked: 4 times
Been thanked: 58 times

Fratelli Tutti / The Right to Migrate

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Welcoming migrants, refugees is first step toward peace, pope says

Image

Image
Pope Francis greets a child during an audience with hundreds of refugees and displaced people and with those who have assisted them at the Vatican's Paul VI audience hall March 18, 2023. More than 6,000 people have come to Italy and other countries thanks to "humanitarian corridors" in which organizations arrange for the safe and legal passage of vulnerable people in areas of conflict. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Safe, organized, legal and sustainable migration is in the interest of all countries, Pope Francis wrote.

"If this is not recognized, there is a risk that fear will erase people's future and justify those barriers against which lives are shattered," he said in a written address to refugees and to the volunteers and organizations who helped welcome and integrate them in Europe.

Speaking to the refugees and those who have helped them, the pope said, "Thank you for promoting this work of welcoming which is a concrete commitment to peace. Welcoming is the first step toward peace."

The Vatican audience hall March 18 was filled with individuals and families from many countries at war or affected by severe humanitarian emergencies, such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, Congo, Libya and Ukraine.

[…]

In his spoken remarks, the pope thanked the organizations for their generosity and creativity and the commitment shown by governments for welcoming newcomers.

In his written address, the pope mentioned the recent shipwreck near Cutro, Italy, in which nearly 90 migrants, including children, died. "That disaster should never have happened and everything possible needs to be done to ensure that it will not be repeated," he wrote.

"Humanitarian corridors build bridges that many children, women, men and older persons fleeing from unstable and gravely dangerous situations cross in order to arrive safely, legally and with dignity, in their host countries," he wrote.

"Still, much effort is needed to expand this work and to open even more legal migration routes," he wrote. "Where political will is lacking, effective models like yours offer new and viable avenues."

"Safe, orderly, regular and sustainable migration is in the interest of all countries," he added.

This approach, he wrote, "points a way forward for Europe, to avoid its remaining frozen, fearful and lacking vision for the future."

The pope praised the project's emphasis on properly integrating people in host communities, and he thanked those who generously offer their homes, resources and help, writing that "you represent a beautiful face of Europe, one that is open, not without some sacrifice, to the future."

Addressing those who left their homelands, he underlined his own history as a son of a family of immigrants and wrote, "Your good example and industriousness help to dispel fear and apprehension about foreigners."

Jesus showed the way when he said, "I was a stranger and you welcomed me," the pope wrote. It is a path everyone must take "together and with perseverance."

In his written text, the pope also told those who have fled Ukraine that "the pope does not give up seeking peace, hoping for peace and praying for peace. I do this for your gravely afflicted country and for other countries affected by war."


Image
User avatar
Biff
Darth Floof Floof
Darth Floof Floof
Posts: 1294
Joined: 05 Apr 2022, 17:26
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 146 times

The Pope Francis Thread

Post by Biff »

The more of these posts I see, the more I think Frank (Jorge) is retarded. Or maybe an impostor. Or, perhaps an alien. The shape-shifting kind.
Here I stand. I can do no other. :flags-wavegreatbritain: :flags-canada:
Post Reply