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Monday, September 30, 2013

MY WEEKEND EXPERIENCE IN NAPOLI OF AD ORIENTEM AND FACING THE CONGREGATION



This weekend while attending Mass in Napoli I had two diverse experiences. On Saturday at noon I attended Mass in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of Chiesa Gesu Nuovo, a Jesuit Church and an ancient one and quite beautiful.

It was the daily Mass for Saturday, but a Mass from the special collection of Masses for the BVM. There were about 50 of there. The Jesuit priest without servers or lectors did it all himself, although the Italian participation from the congregation was good and after all that is the most important role for any lay person what they do from the pew!

Then Father gave a sermon lasting 20 minutes on "peace" since the first reading he had chosen from Isaiah the prophet prophesied the "Prince of Peace" who would come as a future reality.

Father went on and on about peace in our hearts, in the world, in the church, in our families. There were several homilies in that sermon. I listened intently to Father since I seldom get to hear sermons in Italian. I understand it very well, but my vocabulary is a bit stunted, so I don't know some words and have to put things together, but I got most of what he was saying.

It was good to look at him as he was preaching to us. There is an important engagement that takes place between the preacher and the one who listens. It is important to establish eye contact and appear to the preacher to be agreeing or to be interested in what he is saying.

But for the prayers the priest prays to God on our behalf, that is a different question altogether. I did not want to look at Father's face or facial expressions during his prayers, especially the canon. What is there to see? I found it distracting to me to have to look him in the face during prayer and almost an intrusion into something that is both highly personal, although a public act, but also for us.

I find myself not looking at the priest at these times and focusing on other things or close my eyes.

Then on Sunday I attended Mass a the Duomo in Napoli, the Cathedral of Saint Januarius. I wanted to go back to the Cathedral and personally thank Saint Januarius for healing my bad knee and putting it back into proper alignment or back in joint. It is functioning marvelously.

Little did I know that Mass was going to be in his chapel in this huge Cathedral. And little did I know that the priest would be celebrating at the original altar ad orientem. The Introductory Rite and Concluding Rite were from his presiding chair, but the Liturgy of the Eucharist ad orientem.

I felt he was one of us in the congregation, facing the same direction as we and it was less clerical and not about him or his facial expressions. As you can tell from the photo I had to stand at the back of the chapel. We were all facing The Lord together including the priest who, called from the fully initiated laity, represents us all at the altar. This is marvelous and it didn't depend on one priest, he could have been me, the pope or the cardinal of the Archdiocese of Napoli! It didn't matter!

I was not distracted and gladly looked toward him at the altar and his gestures there spoke volumes. The Mass was all in Italian, but universal nonetheless. A non-Italian speaker could have had their English missal and followed along as one might do in the Latin Mass. But it was the same Mass.

He did do some rubrical things that I do not do when celebrating the OF ad orientem. After each consecration, he turned to the congregation to show the Host and Chalice. However for the "Through Him, With Him, he elevated these high with his back to us. I can see why he did what he did. The consecration elevations are for us to see and the Through Him elevation is toward God.

He also faced us for the Pater Noster which was wrong since he turned away from the consecrated elements there. Over all it was a simple Sunday Mass in a spectacular setting. Thank you Saint Januarius!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

BOMBSHELL! THE ANGLICAN ORDINARIATE MASS ALLOWS EXTRAORDINARY FORM MASS ELEMENTS AS OPTIONS!

I took this phot this morning at the Duomo in Napoli at Mass in their side Chapel dedicated to Saint Januraius. The Mass was ad orientem at the ancient magnificent altar. Ad Orientem is clearly an options for us today!

Pope Francis has approved the revised Anglican Use or Rite Mass. It allows for archaic English for the Mass according to the 1662Anglican Prayerbook as well as modern English but even more formal than our glorious new English translation!

But the real bombshell that bodes well for future revisions to the OF Mass allowing EF elements is that the new Ordinariate Missal allows these options now and this approved by Pope Francis!

What are these EF options?

1. Prayers at the Foot of the Altar!

2. The EF Offertory Prayers!

3. The Last Gospel!

Keep in mind the Ordinariate Revised calendar has many EF elements restored too , like Septuagesima and ember days!

And ad orientem is clearly the preferred option!

PRAYTELL HAS SPECIFICS FROM THE ORDINARIATE MISSAL WHICH YOU CAN READ THERE AND HAVE YOUR SOCKS BLOWN OFF! PRESS HERE!

MIRACLE? I REPORT, YOU DECIDE!

Several years ago I had orthoscopic surgery on my right knee for a torn miniscus. Ever since I still have problems with stiffness and inflammation. This has increased in the last year.

Prior to leaving for Rome, I tripped over a vacuum hose and twisted my knee, causing more inflammation. Once I got to Rome I slipped in on the bathroom floor exacerbating the inflammation and made the knee go out of alignment. In Assisi I further twisted it going up an escalator from the parking lot as I turned to speak to a priest and didn't realize we were at the top landing.

My knee was absolutely killing me in Assisi, especially walking downhill. By this point the joint was not working properly and clicked with every motion. I was seeing stars and living off of Motrin.

I have been walking a lot but with less pain, but the clicking knee was driving me nuts. I've walked about 20 miles here in Naples. On Friday I prayed at the cathedral's Saint Januarius chapel that my knee get better, because in Italy you have to walk!

On Saturday after walking miles, I was on Naples' waterfront and hit with my right foot, head on, a protrusion on the side walk I did not see. It sent what felt like an electric shock up my leg to the knee as I almost completely tripped and fell before stopping myself from doing so. I was embarrassed because people saw me trip and almost fall.

I thought to myself that now the knee would be even worse, but NO! From that point on the knee went back into proper alignment and no longer clicks and I don't see stars going downhill or down steps! I always have pain in the knee even while in bed, but not last night!

Thank you Saint Januarius for sending me directly into that sidewalk protrusion! I prayed for a healing to test your powers and you showed me!

Above is the chapel of Saint Januarius where I prayed on Friday for my knee and below is the sidewalk where I tripped and was healed!


Saturday, September 28, 2013

I AM SPENDING THE WEEKEND IN MY BIRTH PLACE OF NAPOLI, ITALIA

There is a major street bazaar outside my hotel balcony! I must be from Naples because I absolutely love the pungent quality of this bubbling stew of a city! And if a priest wants to get the smell of his sheep on him, this is da place!

Photos of an outside view of my off price hotel off of Garibaldi Square where Napoli Centrale train station is. I took a speed train from Rome to here non stop in one hour! I love Italy's train system!

The others are Naples Cathedral with its chapel for Saint Januarius whose dried blood vile is here. On cue it liquified  last week. This is big here!







JUST REMEMBER THAT CATHOLICS HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR AS DOES THE COLBERT NATION!

You will have to open these links yourself (copy and paste to your browser) to see Colbert's humorous take on Pope Francis and THE BIG INTERVIEW!

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/429267/september-24-2013/on-notice---pope-francis

AND

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/429268/september-24-2013/on-notice---pope-francis---jim-martin


THE JESUIT WHO HAD THE BIG INTERVIEW HAS LINKS TO THE MACON, GEORGIA AREA AND ONE OF MY PARISHIONERS!



Middle Georgia has a connection to the Jesuit who had THE BIG INTERVIEW wit Pope Francis. St. Joseph parishioner, Mark Jurgensen works at Andalusia the residence of that great southern author Flannery O'Connor. Mark has his own blog, and you can read what he posted by PRESSING HERE.

Andalusia is near Milledgeville, Georgia. Flannery O'Conner often came to St. Joseph for Mass and other events. Saint Joseph was a Jesuit parish through the late 50's.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2013
Papal Pundit


Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J. interviewing Pope Francis
If you've been following the news the last couple weeks you are aware that there are big changes afoot in the Catholic Church thanks to Pope Francis and his desire to restore the primacy of Jesus' teachings on social justice. As earth shaking as this is, it would not merit mention on this blog were it not for the fact that this came out in an interview conducted by Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J. who just happens to be a huge Flannery O'Connor fan. He has been to Andalusia on a couple different occasions and is a delightful man. The interview with the pope was published by America magazine (a journal to which Flannery herself subscribed) with the title A Big Heart Open to God. The title, of course, refers to the new pope, but it could just as easily be applied to Fr. Antonio. Since the publication of this article, Fr. Antonio as been enjoying some well deserved public recognition. This past week he was interviewed on the Stephen Colbert show. I did not see the interview, but I am told that it was both entertaining and revealing to those who have ears to hear. Way to go, Antonio!
- Mark
Posted by Andalusia, Home of Flannery O'Connor at 9/27/2013 11:38:00 AM

IF ONLY ALL PRIESTS FOLLOWED POPE FRANCIS LITURGICAL STYLE



As you know, I believe that all Catholics are called to be papists. Martyrs have died for the pope! So I am dismayed by supposedly orthodox Catholics speaking ill and wanting ill for our Holy Father Francis made Vicar of Christ by God but through the messiness of churchy institutional processes, the doctrine of the incarnation applied to all that is Catholic.

But let's go to is Liturgical example. Like Pope Benedict he hasn't mandated anything for the Ordinary Form of the Mass, the normative Form, except for one thing, the inclusion of Saint Joseph, Husband of the BVM into the other Eucharistic Prayers.

Pope Francis wears less frilly and no Baroque vestments. He wears ample Gothic, tasteful but austere.

He can't chant, so we can't use this as something that should be imitated.

He says the black and does the red. Although he faces the people, he prays in an "ad orientem" sort of way. In no way does he become affective in prayer by appealing as it were to his audience. He is soft spoken, low voice in his liturgical style.

All his Masses have some Latin somewhere. He is not consistent in his own Latin usage as Pope Benedict. He does not ad lib any part of the Mass.

Every priest has his own tastes in liturgical vesture. Mine are much more like Pope Francis than Benedict. But no one is prevented from choosing vestments from the liturgical traditions of the Church. I have only a handful of vestments that I own. I purchase vestments always for the parish which remain when I go. I usually pick styles that go with the style of the church building.

But while Pope Francis has reduced the ornate papal style, he has chosen the name Francis after all, he is very austere and traditional in praying the Mass, self composed and contained. Oh that all bishops and priest would follow Pope Francis liturgical style.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

YET ANOTHER CLARIFICATION BY THE POPE IN LIGHT OF IS BIG INTERVIEW: YES THE POPE IS CATHOLIC!


This morning at the chapel of his place of residence at the Vatican Motel 6, our Holy Father Francis once more clarified the need to read, study and know the Cathechism of the Catholic Church. It is not set aside by Pope Francis either for himself or the Church.

The Cathechism teaches clearly on all the issues that progressive Catholics believe Pope Francis will change. These Catholics are delusional or dishonest or stupid or do not believe the CCC is normative teachings for the pope and all faithful Catholics.

Here is what the pope said this morning as reported by Vatican Radio:

Pope Francis at Thursday Mass: the languages of knowing Jesus

(Vatican Radio)To know Jesus, you have to get involved with Him, as pointed out by Pope Francis at Mass this morning in the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope said that Jesus is to be encountered in everyday life. He indicated the three languages needed to know Jesus: that of the mind, that of the heart, and that of action.

Who is He? where does He come from? In remarks after the readings at Mass on Thursday morning in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae residence in the Vatican, Pope Francis focused on the question that Herod posed about Jesus – a question that all those who encounter Jesus eventually ask. The Pope said that the question is one, which, “one can ask out of curiosity,” or “that one might ask for safety.” He noted that, reading the Gospel, we see that “some people begin to feel afraid of this man, because he could have led them to a political conflict with the Romans.” One wonders, “Who is this man, who makes so many problems?” Because, the Pope said, “Jesus [really does cause trouble]”:

“You cannot know Jesus without having problems. And I dare say, ‘But if you want to have a problem, go to the street to know Jesus – you’ll end up having not one, but many!’ But that is the way to get to know Jesus! You cannot know Jesus in first class! One gets to know Jesus in going out [into] every day [life]. You cannot get to know Jesus in peace and quiet, nor even in the library: Know Jesus.”

Certainly, he added, “we can know Jesus in the Catechism,” for, “the Catechism teaches us many things about Jesus.” He said, "we have to study it, we have to learn it.” Thus, “We know the Son of God, who came to save us, we understand the beauty of the history of salvation, of the love of the Father, studying the Catechism.” Nevertheless, he asked, how many people have read the Catechism of the Catholic Church since it was published over 20 years ago?

“Yes, you have to come to know Jesus in the Catechism – but it is not enough to know Him with the mind: it is a step. However, it is necessary to get to know Jesus in dialogue with Him, talking with Him in prayer, kneeling. If you do not pray, if you do not talk with Jesus, you do not know Him. You know things about Jesus, but you do not go with that knowledge, which He gives your heart in prayer. Know Jesus with the mind - the study of the Catechism: know Jesus with the heart - in prayer, in dialogue with Him. This helps us a good bit, but it is not enough. There is a third way to know Jesus: it is by following Him. Go with Him, walk with Him.”


TWO MAJOR CLARIFICATIONS FROM POPE FRANCIS SINCE "THE BIG INTERVIEW"

The very good but somewhat muddy interview leaving Catholics who want Episcopal Church liberal politics and ideology especially as it concerns pelvic issues, women priests and gay marriage gleeful and giddy, Pope Francis has clarified where the Church and thus where he stands concerning these hobby horses of ultra progressive post Catholics, those imbued with heterodoxy and heteropraxy.

The Holy Father the day following TBI, spoke in no uncertain terms about abortion being a scourge.

Then a couple of days later he excommunicates and laicized a priest from Australia who in defiance of the Magisterium promotes women's ordination, same sex marriage and the like.

In TBI the pope said he was once very authoritarian. He might not admit it, but he still is. Rather I should write that he has redeemed his authoritarian streak for authoritativeness.

It is interesting to see and hear through their loud silence how the post Catholics high flying just a few days ago, ecstatic as they were, are not commenting on these two post TBI developments.But that's the way it is with them, they are touchy, feely and rely on emotions for everything. They really do like to hold hands and sing Kumbaya with tears in their eyes when it is going their way.

POPE FRANCIS EXCOMMUNICATES A POST CATHOLIC PRIEST THUS SENDING CHILLS DOWN THE SPINE OF SILLY GLEEFUL POST CATHOLIC PROGRESSIVES


This is an excerpt from the National Chismatic Reporter (NCR) about the former Rev. Fr. Greg Reynolds who was excommunicated and laicized by Pope Francis, Supreme Pontiff, because he has basically professed becoming a post-Catholic by actively promoting women's ordination and unchastity for gays and others:

"Pope Francis, Supreme Pontiff having heard the presentation of this Congregation concerning the grave reason for action ... of [Fr. Greg Reynolds] of the Archdiocese of Melbourne, all the preceding actions to be taken having been followed, with a final and unappealable decision and subject to no recourse, has decreed dismissal from the clerical state is to be imposed on said priest for the good of the Church," read the document, signed by Archbishop Gerhard Muller, prefect for the congregation, and his secretary, Jesuit Archbishop Luis Ladaria.

Excommunication refers to the severest measure of censure for Catholics and forbids an individual from participation in any eucharistic celebration or other worship ceremonies; the reception or celebration of sacraments; and holding any ecclesiastical or governing role in the church.

The document, dated May 31 -- coincidentally Reynolds' 60th birthday -- provided no reason for the excommunication. However, a separate letter sent Friday from Hart to his archdiocesan priests indicated Reynolds' support of women's ordination was a primary reason.

"The decision by Pope Francis to dismiss Fr Reynolds from the clerical state and to declare his automatic excommunication has been made because of his public teaching on the ordination of women contrary to the teaching of the Church and his public celebration of the Eucharist when he did not hold faculties to act publicly as a priest," Hart wrote.

But Reynolds said he believes the excommunication also resulted from his support of the gay community. He told NCR that in the last two years, he has attended rallies in Melbourne advocating same-sex marriage and has officiated at mass weddings of gay couples on the steps of Parliament -- "all unofficial of course."

"My motivation is trying to encourage reform and clear need for renewal in the church," he said. "I still love the church and am committed to it, I'm just trying to bring about in my own little way to help highlight some of the failing and limitations," he told the Standard newspaper.

Since Francis began his papacy in March, he has twice pointedly stated his alignment with church teaching on women's ordination.

MY COMMENTS: I will have to agree that sometimes the way Pope Francis speaks, especially off the cuff, can be interpreted in so many ways by whoever wants to spin him. Certain "the big interview" opened itself to that if on did not read the whole thing or took certain things out of context. This also happens, by the way, with the reading of the Bible and also Church teachings, not to mention the Second Vatican Council documents. The ones who normally twist these to their advantage are post-Catholics who don't like the Church of the ages, but rather want something like liberal Protestantism symbolized by the Episcopal Church in the USA.

I have said that Pope Francis is conservative docrtrinally and accepts all that the Catholic Church teaches for he is a son of the Church. He's said that too!

I have said the Pope is pastorally liberal. But with this excommunication, I think we can reconsider that. Let's see what happens in Austria with the post Catholic priests' movement there and it's leader.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

MY WEDNESDAY MORNING IN ROMA WITH MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR AND A FEW OF HIS FRIENDS

There had to be at least 100,000 people in St. Peter's Square this morning for the Pope's Wednesday audience, from all nations of the world, yet one people, united in Jesus' One, Holy, Catholic Church.

It was exciting to be there and to see the Holy Father relatively close in person.

Here are a few pictures I took and the summary of his words this morning:






Pope Francis: Church must model God's plan for unity

Pope Francis today said Christians must bear witness to God's plan for the unity, peace and reconciliation of the whole human family. The Pope was speaking as he greeted tens of thousands of pilgrims and visitors, gathered in St Peter's Square for his Wednesday general audience. Please find below the English language text of his reflections, read alout at the audience.

Dear Brothers and Sisters: in the Creed, we confess that the Church is “one”. When we consider the rich diversity of languages, cultures and peoples present in the Church throughout the world, we realize that this unity is a God-given gift, grounded in our common Baptism and our sharing in the Church’s one faith and sacramental life. Like a great family, we are united to all our brothers and sisters in Christ, wherever they may be. We might ask ourselves how much we appreciate and express in our daily lives, and particularly in our prayer, this reality of our unity and solidarity in the communion of the Church. The world needs our witness to God’s plan for the unity, reconciliation and peace of the whole human family. Let us ask the Lord to enable us, and Christians everywhere, to work to overcome our tensions and divisions, to strive, as Saint Paul bids us, to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (cf. Eph 4:3), and to cherish the harmony which the same Spirit creates from the richness of our diversity.


Text from page http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/09/25/pope_francis:_church_must_model_gods_plan_for_unity/en1-731568
of the Vatican Radio website

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR THE POPE, THAT IS, THE OTHER POPE, POPE EMERITUS BENEDICT XVI MADE NEWS IN ITALY TODAY WRITING TO AN ATHIEST JUST LIKE THE OTHER POPE, POPE FRANCIS, MY OTHER NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR



THIS IS FROM THE VATICAN INSIDER AND SHOWS POPE BENEDICT ISN'T GOING TO FADE INTO OBLIVION. HE'S ON THE SAME PAGE AS POPE FRANCIS AND CERTAINLY POPE FRANCIS IS SECURE ENOUGH AS A MAN AND AS THE REIGNING POPE TO ALLOW HIS NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR THE ABILITY TO STILL BE PUBLIC. I THINK THIS IS REALLY COOL AND AS SO MANY OF YOU KNOW, I HAVE A DISCIPLE OF JOSEPH RATZINGER AND GRIEVE THAT HE DIDN'T DIE IN OFFICE, BUT THE HOLY SPIRIT MAY THINK WE NEED TWO POPES AS MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR AT THIS JUNCTURE OF SALVATION HISTORy

BENEDICT XVI WRITES TO ODIFREDDI
Benedict XVI gives prominent mathematician Piergiorgio Odifreddi a slap on the wrist in a letter published by Italian newspaper “La Repubblica”
MARCO TOSATTI
ROME
After Francis’ letter to Eugenio Scalfari, the founder of La Repubblicanewspaper, it’s now Benedict XVI’s turn to send one. Ratzinger has written a letter to mathematician, media buff and religion critic, Piergiorgio Odifreddi. Odifreddi, who is particularly critical of the Catholic faith, wrote the book “Caro Papa ti scrivo” (“A word to you dear Pope”) in response to Ratzinger’s work“Introduction to Christianity”.

Now Benedict XVI has replied to him. His letter was too long for La Repubblicanewspaper to publish in full but will feature in a new book by Odifreddi, who must be pretty happy to be publishing what he defined as “a one-off in the history of the Church: a dialogue between a theologian Pope and an atheist mathematician.”

“Church, do not keep silent about evils but let faith leave a trail of light.” This phrase sums up Ratzinger’s rich and profound theological thinking.


Odifreddi intended “Caro papa ti scrivo” as a “satanic introduction to atheism”. The mathematician, who has appared on numerous television talk shows sais he was surprised to receive a reply from Benedict XVI, in which he “expressed gratitude for my faithful treatment of his book. This is all one could have hoped for and more in a world where we are used to expecting the bare minimum.”


In the Pope Emeritus’ 11-page-long letter he says he “found some parts [of Odifreddi’s book] enjoyable and useful. But I was shocked by how aggressive and thoughtless some of the arguments are”. First of all, Ratzinger rebutted Odifreddi’s claim that theology is science fiction. “Science fiction is present in many sciences,” Benedict XVI said, giving some examples: “The great Jacques Monod used certain phrases in his work which he must have added, purely as science fiction. “Tetrapod vertebrates exist… because a primitive fish “chose” to explore the earth but was only able to move around by hopping around clumsily, thus modifying its behaviour. It was this selective pressure that apparently gave tetrapods such robust limbs. The running speeds of certain descendants of this bold explorer, this Magellan of evolution, can exceed 70 Km per hour.”


Benedict XVI reacted strongly to Odifreddi’s comments regarding child sex abuse in the Church. “I have never tried to cover these things up. The fact that evil is able to penetrate so deeply into the interior world of faith, is a cause of great suffering to us. On the one hand we must bear this suffering but on the other we need to do all that we can to prevent such incidents from occurring again. It of no comfort to hear from sociologists that the percentage of priests guilty of such crimes is no higher than the figures registered in other similar professions. But this deviant behaviour should not be ostensibly presented as a filthy crime that only exists in the Catholic Church. Most importantly, although it is right to expose evil in the Church, one must not turn a blind eye to “the shining ray of goodness and purity that the Christian faith has brought light to the world over the centuries … It is as true today as it was yesterday that faith inspires unselfish love, service to others, sincerity and justice.”


But what Odifreddi got a real slap on the wrist for, was his comments regarding history. “The remarks you make about Jesus are not worthy of your scientific standing. Presenting Jesus as if we knew nothing about Him and as though nothing certain could be said about his status as a historical figure, I can only advise you and strongly so, to be a little bit more thorough in your historical research. I especially recommend you to read the four volume work co-written by Martin Hengel (an exegete of the Faculty of Protestant theology at TĂĽbingen university) and Maria Schwemer: it is an excellent example of historical precision and extensive historical information. In comparison to this, your comments about Jesus appear rash and should not be repeated.” Although Ratzinger admitted that the critical interpretation was lacking in parts, he firmly rejected Odifreddi’s accusation that he (Ratzinger) had apparently presented the historical and critical exegesis as an instrument of the antichrist. “By talking about Jesus’ temptations I was merely referring to Soloviev’s theory, according to which historical and critical interpretation can also be used by the antichrist – this is an indisputable fact.”


Ratzinger ends his letter by asking some questions rather than answering them. “If you want to replace God with “Nature”, the question remains as to who or what this nature is. At no point do you provide a definition of it. This makes it seem like some irrational divinity which does not explain anything.” “I would like to point out, however, that in your religion of mathematics, there are three elements of human existence which you do not discuss: freedom, love and evil. I am amazed to see that you have completely left freedom out, when it is a core value of our modern age.” There is no mention of love or evil in Odifreddi’s book either. “No matter what neurobiology may or may not say about freedom, it plays a determining role in the real drama of human history and must be taken into consideration. But your mathematical religion offers no information about evil. Any religion that ignores these fundamental questions is empty.”

POPE FRANCIS MAY BE THE SUCCESSOR OF SAINT PETER, BUT HE IS VERY MUCH PAULINE IN HIS MISSIONARY THEOLOGY AND STYLE!



My next door neighbor, His Holiness, Pope Francis, is the successor of Saint Peter, no doubt.

This week in our Institute of Continuing Theological Education at the Pontifical College North American at the Casa O'Toole, we have a Jesuit Scripture scholar, who teaches at the Pontifical Gregorian University here in town, an American, Father Scott Brodeur. He is wonderful and he loves Fr. Raymond Brown who I had when I was at St. Mary's in Baltimore, and subsequently for workshops later after I was ordained.

In today's class, which just ended, Fr. Scott touched a bit on 1 Corinthians 9:19-23:

1 Corinthians 9:19-23


New American Standard Bible (NASB)

19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under [a]the Law, as under [b]the Law though not being myself under [c]the Law, so that I might win those who are under [d]the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

Fr. Scott points out in this passage that Saint Paul becomes all things to all people; he has made himself a slave to all in order to save "some" but not "all." In doing so the purpose is to allow God's grace to transform all, justify all who receive it.

Now it seems to me this is what we see Pope Francis doing and those who do not understand Paul and his great missionary activities, won't appreciate Pope Francis and his perspective and are freaking out over the Pope seemingly becoming all things to all people, a slave, if you will, to all depending on who you are.

In Saint Paul's time, those who most vehemently opposed his method of evangelization were those who were fundamentalist Jewish Christians. Paul's rivals are the Judizers who want the Mosaic Law to remain in place for all Christians, even those who convert from being Gentiles. They want circumcision, the dietary laws and the Sabbath day to be Friday night to Saturday not on Sunday. These are the "thorn in the flesh" that St. Paul experiences in his rivals, but this forces him to think things through better.

But Paul's goal is to bring as many as possible to Christ and the Church. He "hooks" the fish as a fisherman, and then leaves it to Christ and the Church to properly form them as Christians.

Isn't this what Pope Francis is doing with his rhetoric, being all things to all people to hook them and reel them into the Church where then they will be formed properly by the traditions and sources of our Catholic faith both in orthodoxy and orthopraxis!

Conservative, fundamentalist Catholics are giving the pope the hardest time. Could it be that they completely misunderstand Pope Francis' hermeneutic based on the passage of St. Paul I quote above?

If you listen to Pope Francis he calls us all to the CCC for more formation. Pope Francis in this regard follows a sort of RCIA format: inquiry, cathecumenate, election, initiation, on-going initiation as neophytes and then as seasoned Catholics.

READING POPE FRANCIS NOT THROUGH BENEDICT BUT THROUGH LIBERAL DRIVEL

The danger with Pope Francis off-the-cuff remarks and less than clear rhetoric (which Jesuits were once well trained prior to the Council) is that he can be read or spinned  through whatever and who ever and any kind of ideology, some very, very distant from Catholic truth.

Thus one would hope that the advisors to the Pope, especially those in America, like Cardinal Sean O'Malley will see this kind of spin and alert the pope. It is this kind of spin, not only in terms of the image below but in many other "culture" issues of the day, that Pope Benedict helped the Church Militant to confront and we were recovering from the disastrous pastoral theology of the 1970's that threw the baby out with the bathwater in terms of the faith and morals of the Church and teaching these unambiguously.

I see nothing in Pope Francis that says he is going to change infallible truths that in fact he cannot change since he has no authority whatsoever to do so. Liberals think they can change infallible truths about doctrine and morality. They are wrong. If the pope can't do it, neither can they.

At any rate, here is a sign of the danger that Pope Francis "rhetoric" can cause to the faithful, especially those formed by the coloring book Catholicism of the 1960's and 70's. Let us pray that Pope Francis is aware of the American problems that may not have been present in South America!


Monday, September 23, 2013

POPE FRANCIS' SUNDAY MASS AT BONARIA IN SARDINIA, CONTINUITY AND DISCONTINUITY



I watched some of the Holy Father's Mass yesterday from Bonaria, from which his home town of Buenos  Aires is named.

It was a huge outdoor Mass in front of the Cathedral and a spectacular day as it was in Spoleto for me. There is something wonderful about the Italian air to say the least. It is bonaria!

The Mass had a very wonderful choir. They sang the official Introit in Latin for the beginning of the Mass and the Jubilatio Deo Kyrie and Gloria and Credo.

The altar was the Benedictine arrangment and very nice in its noblity and simplicity. I suspect if Pope Francis did not like this arrangement he would have ordered it modified by now, but he hasn't.

The Holy Father's style of celebrating Mass is by the book. He reads the black and does the red and usually always, at least from what I have seen, chooses the Confiteor over any other Penitential Act.

He is self-contained and constrained during Mass, very serious and austere. The Italian congregation outside seem to be rather noisy and from our American perspective not at all reverent. There was a lot of noise, but this could have been picked up by the microphone placement. The Holy Father simply ignores it and seems completely engrossed by the Liturgy and what He is doing as the celebrant of the Mass.

If priests and bishops throughout the world would simply copy his read the black and do the red style of celebrating Mass and be completely absorbed by the Sacred Mysteries as Pope Francis is, what a better experience of what the Church intends for the Ordinary Form of the Mass would there be!

POPE FRANCIS: A CONSERVATIVE OR A LIBERAL



The photos in the previous post are from Spoleto where I spent the day on Sunday. Spoleto is the Italian city that the Spoleto Festival to Charleston, SC. I went with a priest from Charleston, Fr. Raymond Carlo, who wanted to see it. There is even a Hotel Charleston there. It was a splendid day, about two hours from Rome by train.

The divisions of the Church, and we are a Church divided since Vatican II, a wounded Church, a field hospital for sinners, is trying as hard as these groups can to spin the pope in their direction. They can't do it very well, though, because Pope Francis is an enigma. He can be all things to all people.

So this is my spin:

1. He is theologically conservative but in the middle; he is a middle of the road conservative. I hear much in him that I heard in the best of the theology courses I took in the seminary. I disparage the anti-authority mentality and iconoclasm I experienced in the seminary, but I was well trained in the best of the theology of the Church of that day and most of it was middle of the road and faithful to the magisterium.

2. What is different about Pope Francis compared to my 1970's spirituality is that he is a populist in terms of Catholic spirituality and devotion. He would have been ridiculed in my seminary in the 1970's for his love of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the "sugary" piety he has toward it, a piety that can rot your teeth, they would say.  He would have been ridiculed for calling the Church, Holy Mother. He would have been ridiculed for promoting Eucharistic devotions, such as adoration and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. He would have been scorned for desiring popular devotions of all types, even though most of what he preached and teaches in this regard has a Vatican II foundation. His devotional life, apart from the actual sacraments of the Church, is "reform in continuity" and very much a recovery of popular devotions. He would have been scoffed at in the 1970's for this for in the 1970's the intellegentia of the Church threw all of this out and said only the Liturgy of the Hours and the Mass were needed by priests and laity!

3. His pastoral theology is liberal, there is not doubt, but this is in the context of his conservative
theology. He knows what perfection is and what heaven will be like, but he knows sinners and what this world is like to live in with all its messiness. He wants people to go to confession and frequently and he wants good confessors that are lax or rigorists.  He wants people to be faithful to Holy Mother Church, the Magisterium, the Blessed Mother and he wants them to know that the devil is out there to tempt them away from God and Church and all that is holy.

4. He is authoritarian and makes decisions to quickly. He is compulsive! He says he "was" this way in the past. He still is and this poses a danger to his Magisterium if he speaks too much off the cuff and without thinking of the various cultures of the world and political systems and the different ways each nation of Catholics has to deal with the dictatorship of relativism.

5. So I would say Pope Francis is a conservative in theology and Church teaching, not a moralist, and a liberal in pastoral theology without throwing out the Church's teachings one bit. He is a son of the Church and all this means. I think people confuse pastoral theology with a rejection of the Church's
moral teachings. This is not true for Pope Francis although it is for most liberals of the Church. That is a stark contrast.

This is what Pope Francis says about "thinking with the Church":

“The image of the church I like is that of the holy, faithful people of God. This is the definition I often use, and then there is that image from the Second Vatican Council’s ‘Dogmatic Constitution on the Church’ (No. 12). Belonging to a people has a strong theological value. In the history of salvation, God has saved a people. There is no full identity without belonging to a people. No one is saved alone, as an isolated individual, but God attracts us looking at the complex web of relationships that take place in the human community. God enters into this dynamic, this participation in the web of human relationships.

“The people itself constitutes a subject. And the church is the people of God on the journey through history, with joys and sorrows. Thinking with the church, therefore, is my way of being a part of this people. And all the faithful, considered as a whole, are infallible in matters of belief, and the people display this infallibilitas in credendo, this infallibility in believing, through a supernatural sense of the faith of all the people walking together. This is what I understand today as the ‘thinking with the church’ of which St. Ignatius speaks. When the dialogue among the people and the bishops and the pope goes down this road and is genuine, then it is assisted by the Holy Spirit. So this thinking with the church does not concern theologians only.

We should not even think, therefore, that ‘thinking with the church’ means only thinking with the hierarchy of the church.“This is how it is with Mary: If you want to know who she is, you ask theologians; if you want to know how to love her, you have to ask the people. In turn, Mary loved Jesus with the heart of the people, as we read in the Magnificat. We should not even think, therefore, that ‘thinking with the church’ means only thinking with the hierarchy of the church.”

After a brief pause, Pope Francis emphasizes the following point, in order to avoid misunderstandings: “And, of course, we must be very careful not to think that this infallibilitas of all the faithful I am talking about in the light of Vatican II is a form of populism. No; it is the experience of ‘holy mother the hierarchical church,’ as St. Ignatius called it, the church as the people of God, pastors and people together. The church is the totality of God’s people.

“I see the sanctity of God’s people, this daily sanctity,” the pope continues. “There is a ‘holy middle class,’ which we can all be part of, the holiness Malègue wrote about.” The pope is referring to Joseph Malègue, a French writer (1876–1940), particularly to the unfinished trilogy Black Stones: The Middle Classes of Salvation.

“I see the holiness,” the pope continues, “in the patience of the people of God: a woman who is raising children, a man who works to bring home the bread, the sick, the elderly priests who have so many wounds but have a smile on their faces because they served the Lord, the sisters who work hard and live a hidden sanctity. This is for me the common sanctity. I often associate sanctity with patience: not only patience as hypomonĂ© [the New Testament Greek word], taking charge of the events and circumstances of life, but also as a constancy in going forward, day by day. This is the sanctity of the militant church also mentioned by St. Ignatius. This was the sanctity of my parents: my dad, my mom, my grandmother Rosa who loved ​​me so much. In my breviary I have the last will of my grandmother Rosa, and I read it often. For me it is like a prayer. She is a saint who has suffered so much, also spiritually, and yet always went forward with courage.

“This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people. We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity. And the church is Mother; the church is fruitful. It must be. You see, when I perceive negative behavior in ministers of the church or in consecrated men or women, the first thing that comes to mind is: ‘Here’s an unfruitful bachelor’ or ‘Here’s a spinster.’ They are neither fathers nor mothers, in the sense that they have not been able to give spiritual life. Instead, for example, when I read the life of the Salesian missionaries who went to Patagonia, I read a story of the fullness of life, of fruitfulness.
















Sunday, September 22, 2013

FIDELITY TO THE POPE AND OUR LOCAL BISHOPS ISN'T ABOUT PERSONALITY OR PERSONS, IT IS THE OFFICE AND THE PERSON WHO HOLDS THAT OFFICE FOR THE TIME ALOTTED TO HIM!









I read a few of the progressive Catholic periodicals, papers and blogs. They all have one thing in common, they despised Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul II. They didn't believe that the Holy Spirit guided any of their decisions during the time they were popes except those they liked.

I have always believed that authentic Catholics accept the papacy and our local bishops andnever disparage   them publicly.  In the areas of faith, morals, and Church discipline we owe them obedience and respect. Let me underline respect.

I am a product of a very liberal seminary education and formation program from the 1970's. I know that progressives, especially the academic ones, despised Rome and its leadership even back then. They felt them knew better and of course they had to agree with whatever the pope or Rome said before they would acknowledge it as of the Holy Spirit.

I see now with some comments on my blog and at other more traditional minded blogs that traditionalists, conservatives are just like their progressive  brothers and sisters. They like the pope as long as the pope agrees with them and does it their way.


I happen to love Pope Francis. First of all, the Holy Spirit helped guide those who elected him just has the Holy Spirit guided those who elected all other popes, some saints, some sinners, some scoundrels, yet the Holy Church survives.

This pope is needed at this time and will change the course of Church history just as Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict. There will be other popes who will do things in other ways. But, folks, we are Catholics, not Protestants. The mark of the true Catholic is fidelity to Rome, our pope and the bishops in union with him in the areas of faith and morals.

What Pope Francis is doing is sharpening the pastoral theology of the Church. He might well make it into a doctrine. How do we bring the message of Christ to those whose lives are irregular? How do we minister to the gay person, who converted from a promiscuous lifestyle and nowis monogamous    with one person and before it is all said and done is living chastely with that person?  We cut heterosexuals a lot of slack in terms of their sex lives and public relationships. Can't we be as charitable toward sinner homosexuals too?

Pope Francis in his pastoral theology continues to call all of us to go to confession and he wants priests to be good confessors. That means that those going to confession must examine their lives in light of the Church's teachings in Scripture and Tradition as well as canon law. They need to know what the CCC teaches and confessors need to help them in this regard. The pope has not thrown out common sense in this regard. He is trying to reach out to a broken society. Where sin abounds, God's grace is even greater. Oh happy fault of Adam, Oh necessary sin that gained for us so great a Savior. Do we believe this or not?

Are we Catholic or not. This pope is Catholic! The question to those who read this blog is "are you?"

Saturday, September 21, 2013

IT IS HIS MANNER OF SPEAKING, HIS PERSONAL FAITH AND TESTIMONY THAT HAS ENDEARED POPE FRANCIS TO THE ITALIANS AND THE WORLD! HE IS VERY ITALIAN IN THE WAY HE COMMUNICATES

I AM A SINNER! GET THEE TO CONFESSION: ONE CANNOT UNDERSTAND POPE FRANCIS APART FROM THE USE OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND A PROPER CONFESSOR!

I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.I ask Pope Francis point-blank: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” He stares at me in silence. I ask him if I may ask him this question. He nods and replies: “I ​​do not know what might be the most fitting description.... I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”

the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle.“I see clearly,” the pope continues, “that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds.... And you have to start from the ground up.

“The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all. The confessor, for example, is always in danger of being either too much of a rigorist or too lax. Neither is merciful, because neither of them really takes responsibility for the person. The rigorist washes his hands so that he leaves it to the commandment. The loose minister washes his hands by simply saying, ‘This is not a sin’ or something like that. In pastoral ministry we must accompany people, and we must heal their wounds.


“How are we treating the people of God? I dream of a church that is a mother and shepherdess. The church’s ministers must be merciful, take responsibility for the people and accompany them like the 
good Samaritan, who washes, cleans and raises up his neighbor. This is pure Gospel. God is greater 
than sin. The structural and organizational reforms are secondary—that is, they come afterward. The first reform must be the attitude. The ministers of the Gospel must be people who can warm the hearts of the people, who walk through the dark night with them, who know how to dialogue and to descend themselves into their people’s night, into the darkness, but without getting lost. The people of God want pastors, not clergy acting like bureaucrats or government officials. The bishops, particularly, must be able to support the movements of God among their people with patience, so that no one is left behind. But they must also be able to accompany the flock that has a flair for finding 
new paths.

A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with 
another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. “A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.

“This is also the great benefit of confession as a sacrament: evaluating case by case and discerning what is the best thing to do for a person who seeks God and grace. The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better. I also consider the situation of a woman with a failed marriage in her past and who also had an abortion. Then this woman remarries, and she is now happy and has five children. That abortion in her past weighs 

heavily on her conscience and she sincerely regrets it. She would like to move forward in her Christian life. What is the confessor to do?

“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.


A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. “A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.

“This is also the great benefit of confession as a sacrament: evaluating case by case and discerning what is the best thing to do for a person who seeks God and grace. The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better. I also consider the situation of a woman with a failed marriage in her past and who also had an abortion. Then this woman remarries, and she is now happy and has five children. That abortion in her past weighs heavily on her conscience and she sincerely regrets it. She would like to move forward in her Christian life. What is the confessor to do?

“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.


M

Friday, September 20, 2013

ARE YOU A CATHOLIC IN THE MIDDLE? BY ALL MEANS DON'T BE A DELUSIONAL GIDDY PROGRESSIVE OR A DELUSIONAL DEPRESSED CONSERVATIVE, BE IN THE MIDDLE



John Allen that wonderful reporter for that horrible paper, The National Chismatic Reporter, NCR, has some sobering thoughts for irrational Catholics on the left and the right. On the left, they are just down right giddy and unfortunately, quite delusional.

On the right, you'd think Hans Kung is behind the Francis mask. Delusional too!

This is what John Allen writes today:

At the level of content, there's not much groundbreaking in the interview with respect to his hour-and-20-minute press conference aboard the papal plane July 28. He offers the same blend of traditional doctrine with a deep emphasis on mercy, stressing that the church needs to be more pastoral and less judgmental in engaging questions such as abortion, homosexuality and women.

Perhaps most fundamentally, it represented a breakthrough victory for the Catholic middle.

Truth be told, the liberal wing of the church will be cheered by the new pope's language -- his rejection of a "restorationist" mentality in Catholicism, for instance, and his insistence that "thinking with the church" cannot simply mean thinking with the hierarchy. At some point, however, they'll demand movement from rhetoric to policy, and on that front, many may be disappointed.

Francis has twice now uttered a firm "no" to women's ordination to the priesthood, and he's unlikely to radically change teaching on matters such as gay marriage, abortion or contraception. A desire to project a more merciful tone on those matters isn't the same thing as disagreement with their substance.
That leaves the Catholic middle as the pope's natural constituency.

In broad strokes, these are people generally content with church teaching and tradition, though inclined to a hermeneutic of generosity in applying it. They don't have a chip on their shoulder about authority in the church, though they're also not inclined simply to shout "hosanna" every time someone in leadership speaks. They're eager for reform, not so much for revolution.

Mostly these are people who regard Catholicism fundamentally as a force for good in the world and who long for moderate, accessible and inspirational leadership who can lift up the whole gamut of Catholic thought and life rather than a selective version of it tailored to advance a specific political or theological agenda.

In a nutshell, that seems to be more or less Francis' aspiration.


BACK IN MY ROOM IN ROMA WITH PERFECT WIFI AND NOW FOR MY DAY TODAY AND THAT POPE OF OURS EVANGELIZING THE WORLD THROUGH DIALOGUE, ENCOUNTER AND CONTROVERSY AND STRONG WORDS FOR PROTECTING THE POOREST OF THE POOR, THE UNBORN!

I have finally learned how to upload photos to my iPad and then get them to my blog! Alleluia! Up until now it has been by accident and I had to do the accident over and over again, and now I know how to do it! Praise God. These are pictures I took today of the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi and the lower chapel where his tomb is. The tomb is visible above the altar. Also, please read the entire post and my take on Pope Francis and his stirring the pop of Catholicism and making us all talk, including the media!

We began the day in Assisi and had early Mass at the tomb of Saiint Francis in Assisi. There are about 35 of us priests and we sit as concelebrants in the congregational areas of these chapels. The Mass today again was ad orientem in the Ordinary Form with Domincan Father John Harris and principal celebrant and homilist.

As we gathered I began to vest at the pew where I would sit. There was a lovely couple sitting in the pew in front of me. The wife asked in English is Mass was going to be celebrated. I said yes, and normally the laity need to sit behind the concelebraing priests as she asked me what they should do.

The husband then said, I suppose if we stayed here it would look like we are con-celebrating. I said, if you do, I won't tell.! Then they went to the back of the chapel, really just a few pews back.

As Father Harris greeted us at the beginning of Mass, he indicated that he wanted to welcome the Irish Ambassador to the Vatican and his wife who were joining us for Mass. Yes, I suggested to the Irish Ambassador to the Vatican and his wife sit at the back of the church, or if they chose to concelebrate with us, I wouldn't tell. Oh well!

But let's get to Pope Francis quckly. The progresseives in the Church are absolutey apoplectic with joy and irrational jubliation about the liberality of the pope. I'm not sure I would describe him that way. I would say he is pastorally liberal for he loves people, all people, and this is the Gospel of Christ and the teaching of the Church. But he is with the Church in what the Church teachess about abortion, contraceptioin, fornication and adultery no matter one's orientation. He is for the Catholic Sacrament of Matrimony built upon Scripture, Tradition, Natural Law and Canon Law.

He simply doesn't want to brow beat people and thus keep them away from Holy Mother Church, our Blessed Mother and the grace of God in the Church and her sacraments which are life changing. When we acknowledge God loves us, saves us, accepts us, His grace can change our lives and he chips away at our inablity to say yes to God in all things. Free will uncomporomised by sin enables us to say yes to God. Yes to God is the ultimate act of freedom! He leads people to discover what the Church teaches in the Cathecism. He says go and see what is taught and it is taught lovingly but unambiguously.

The director of the North Amercian College continuing education program, Msgr. Anthony Figuiredo said something today quite interesting about the three recent popes, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.

He said, Pope John Paul II opened the hearts of Catholics to the love of God, especially the young who loved him.

Pope Benedict XVI filled the hearts of Catholics with his brilliant, unambiguous teachings. In a sense we can say that Pope Benedict is truly a "Father" of the Church in terms of his brilliant teachings.

Pope Francis is the pope who is calling us to bring all this to the world and in an uncompilicated way.

This is what Fr. Z thinks about Pope Francis and his methodology which is quite unique in the history of the Church but needed at this time and this place:

This is what I think Francis is up to.

Francis’ pontificate is going to be about evangelization and putting a motherly face on the Church.

I suspect that, while he is Pope, Francis doesn’t want to see the words “Vatican condemns” a-ny-where.

I think that Francis thinks that constant correction and condemnation does more harm than good. BE CAREFUL NOW: Francis said “all the time”. He did not say “we should not talk about these things”.


And as Scarlet O'Hara would always say, "Tomorrow is always another day." And thus today, the Holy Father, Pope Francis had his strongest words of support for the teachings of the Church to protect the human embryo, the unborn child from the sin of abortion, that terrible evil inflicted upon someone loved by God from all eternity and made in the image and likeness of God:

Here are Pope Francis' words today. He must have gotten the message that he must be stronger in defending the poorest of the poor, the innocent unborn. This statement will not disappoint!:


Each one of us is invited to recognize in the fragile human being the face of the Lord, who, in his human flesh, experienced the indifference and loneliness to which we often condemn the poorest, either in the developing nations, or in the developed societies. Each child who is unborn, but is unjustly condemned to be aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who, even before he was born, and then as soon as he was born, experienced the rejection of the world. And also each old person and - I spoke of the child, let us also speak of the elderly, another point! And each old person, even if infirm or at the end of his days, bears the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded, as the "culture of waste" proposes! They cannot be discarded!

SPINNING THE POPE'S WORDS, CREATING DISCUSSION, WHO ELSE IN THE WORLD CAN DO IT GLOBALLY. NO ONE BUT THE POPE

Thursday, September 19, 2013

PASTORAL BOMBSHELL FROM INTERVIEW WITH POPE FRANCIS IN JESUIT JOURNALS; CNN SENT IT AS BREAKING NEWS! I HAVEN'T READ IT

READING POPE FRANCIS THROUGH POPE FRANCIS

b>Hot off America press: READ IT WITH ME!

A Big Heart Open to God
Antonio Spadaro, S.J.
The exclusive interview with Pope Francis

Pope Francis
Editor’s Note: This interview with Pope Francis took place over the course of three meetings during August 2013 in Rome. The interview was conducted in person by Antonio Spadaro, S.J., editor in chief of La CiviltĂ  Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit journal. Father Spadaro conducted the interview on behalf of La CiviltĂ  Cattolica, America and several other major Jesuit journals around the world. The editorial teams at each of the journals prepared questions and sent them to Father Spadaro, who then consolidated and organized them. The interview was conducted in Italian. After the Italian text was officially approved, America commissioned a team of five independent experts to translate it into English. America is solely responsible for the accuracy of this translation. This interview is copyrighted by America Press and cannot be used, except for brief quotations, without written permission.

Father Spadaro met the pope at the Vatican in the pope’s apartments in the Casa Santa Marta, where he has chosen to live since his election. Father Spadaro begins his account of the interview with a description of the pope’s living quarters.

The setting is simple, austere. The workspace occupied by the desk is small. I am impressed not only by the simplicity of the furniture, but also by the objects in the room. There are only a few. These include an icon of St. Francis, a statue of Our Lady of Luján, patron saint of Argentina, a crucifix and a statue of St. Joseph sleeping. The spirituality of Jorge Mario Bergoglio is not made of “harmonized energies,” as he would call them, but of human faces: Christ, St. Francis, St. Joseph and Mary.

The pope speaks of his trip to Brazil. He considers it a true grace, that World Youth Day was for him a “mystery.” He says that he is not used to talking to so many people: “I can look at individual persons, one at a time, to come into contact in a personal way with the person I have before me. I am not used to the masses,” the pope remarks. He also speaks about the moment during the conclave when he began to realize that he might be elected pope. At lunch on Wednesday, March 13, he felt a deep and inexplicable inner peace and comfort come over him, he said, along with a great darkness. And those feelings accompanied him until his election later that day.

The pope had spoken earlier about his great difficulty in giving interviews. He said that he prefers to think rather than provide answers on the spot in interviews. In this interview the pope interrupted what he was saying in response to a question several times, in order to add something to an earlier response. Talking with Pope Francis is a kind of volcanic flow of ideas that are bound up with each other. Even taking notes gives me an uncomfortable feeling, as if I were trying to suppress a surging spring of dialogue.

Who Is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?
I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.I ask Pope Francis point-blank: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” He stares at me in silence. I ask him if I may ask him this question. He nods and replies: “I ​​do not know what might be the most fitting description.... I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”

The pope continues to reflect and concentrate, as if he did not expect this question, as if he were forced to reflect further. “Yes, perhaps I can say that I am a bit astute, that I can adapt to circumstances, but it is also true that I am a bit naĂŻve. Yes, but the best summary, the one that comes more from the inside and I feel most true is this: I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.” And he repeats: “I ​​am one who is looked upon by the Lord. I always felt my motto, Miserando atque Eligendo [By Having Mercy and by Choosing Him], was very true for me.”

The motto is taken from the Homilies of Bede the Venerable, who writes in his comments on the Gospel story of the calling of Matthew: “Jesus saw a publican, and since he looked at him with feelings of love and chose him, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’” The pope adds: “I think the Latin gerund miserando is impossible to translate in both Italian and Spanish. I like to translate it with another gerund that does not exist: misericordiando [“mercy-ing”].


"The Calling of Saint Matthew," Caravaggio
Pope Francis continues his reflection and says, jumping to another topic: “I do not know Rome well. I know a few things. These include the Basilica of St. Mary Major; I always used to go there. I know St. Mary Major, St. Peter’s...but when I had to come to Rome, I always stayed in [the neighborhood of] Via della Scrofa. From there I often visited the Church of St. Louis of France, and I went there to contemplate the painting of ‘The Calling of St. Matthew,’ by Caravaggio.

“That finger of Jesus, pointing at Matthew. That’s me. I feel like him. Like Matthew.” Here the pope becomes determined, as if he had finally found the image he was looking for: “It is the gesture of Matthew that strikes me: he holds on to his money as if to say, ‘No, not me! No, this money is mine.’ Here, this is me, a sinner on whom the Lord has turned his gaze. And this is what I said when they asked me if I would accept my election as pontiff.” Then the pope whispers in Latin: “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I accept in a spirit of penance.”

Why Did You Become a Jesuit?
I continue: “Holy Father, what made ​​you choose to enter the Society of Jesus? What struck you about the Jesuit order?”

“I wanted something more. But I did not know what. I entered the diocesan seminary. I liked the Dominicans and I had Dominican friends. But then I chose the Society of Jesus, which I knew well because the seminary was entrusted to the Jesuits. Three things in particular struck me about the Society: the missionary spirit, community and discipline. And this is strange, because I am a really, really undisciplined person. But their discipline, the way they manage their time—these things struck me so much.

“And then a thing that is really important for me: community. I was always looking for a community. I did not see myself as a priest on my own. I need a community. And you can tell this by the fact that I am here in Santa Marta. At the time of the conclave I lived in Room 207. (The rooms were assigned by drawing lots.) This room where we are now was a guest room. I chose to live here, in Room 201, because when I took possession of the papal apartment, inside myself I distinctly heard a ‘no.’ The papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace is not luxurious. It is old, tastefully decorated and large, but not luxurious. But in the end it is like an inverted funnel. It is big and spacious, but the entrance is really tight. People can come only in dribs and drabs, and I cannot live without people. I need to live my life with others.”

What Does It Mean for a Jesuit to Be Bishop of Rome?
I ask Pope Francis about the fact that he is the first Jesuit to be elected bishop of Rome: “How do you understand the role of service to the universal church that you have been called to play in the light of Ignatian spirituality? What does it mean for a Jesuit to be elected pope? What element of Ignatian spirituality helps you live your ministry?”

“Discernment,” he replies. “Discernment is one of the things that worked inside St. Ignatius. For him it is an instrument of struggle in order to know the Lord and follow him more closely. I was always struck by a saying that describes the vision of Ignatius: non coerceri a maximo, sed contineri a minimo divinum est (“not to be limited by the greatest and yet to be contained in the tiniest—this is the divine”). I thought a lot about this phrase in connection with the issue of different roles in the government of the church, about becoming the superior of somebody else: it is important not to be restricted by a larger space, and it is important to be able to stay in restricted spaces. This virtue of the large and small is magnanimity. Thanks to magnanimity, we can always look at the horizon from the position where we are. That means being able to do the little things of every day with a big heart open to God and to others. That means being able to appreciate the small things inside large horizons, those of the kingdom of God.

“This motto,” the pope continues, “offers parameters to assume a correct position for discernment, in order to hear the things of God from God’s ‘point of view.’ According to St. Ignatius, great principles must be embodied in the circumstances of place, time and people. In his own way, John XXIII adopted this attitude with regard to the government of the church, when he repeated the motto, ‘See everything; turn a blind eye to much; correct a little.’ John XXIII saw all things, the maximum dimension, but he chose to correct a few, the minimum dimension. You can have large projects and implement them by means of a few of the smallest things. Or you can use weak means that are more effective than strong ones, as Paul also said in his First Letter to the Corinthians.

I believe that we always need time to lay the foundations for real, effective change.“This discernment takes time. For example, many think that changes and reforms can take place in a short time. I believe that we always need time to lay the foundations for real, effective change. And this is the time of discernment. Sometimes discernment instead urges us to do precisely what you had at first thought you would do later. And that is what has happened to me in recent months. Discernment is always done in the presence of the Lord, looking at the signs, listening to the things that happen, the feeling of the people, especially the poor. My choices, including those related to the day-to-day aspects of life, like the use of a modest car, are related to a spiritual discernment that responds to a need that arises from looking at things, at people and from reading the signs of the times. Discernment in the Lord guides me in my way of governing.

“But I am always wary of decisions made hastily. I am always wary of the first decision, that is, the first thing that comes to my mind if I have to make a decision. This is usually the wrong thing. I have to wait and assess, looking deep into myself, taking the necessary time. The wisdom of discernment redeems the necessary ambiguity of life and helps us find the most appropriate means, which do not always coincide with what looks great and strong.”

The Society of Jesus
Discernment is therefore a pillar of the spirituality of Pope Francis. It expresses in a particular manner his Jesuit identity. I ask him then how the Society of Jesus can be of service to the church today, what are its characteristics, but also the possible challenges facing the Society of Jesus.

The Society of Jesus is an institution in tension,” the pope replied, “always fundamentally in tension. A Jesuit is a person who is not centered in himself. The Society itself also looks to a center outside itself; its center is Christ and his church.“The Society of Jesus is an institution in tension,” the pope replied, “always fundamentally in tension. A Jesuit is a person who is not centered in himself. The Society itself also looks to a center outside itself; its center is Christ and his church. So if the Society centers itself in Christ and the church, it has two fundamental points of reference for its balance and for being able to live on the margins, on the frontier. If it looks too much in upon itself, it puts itself at the center as a very solid, very well ‘armed’ structure, but then it runs the risk of feeling safe and self-sufficient. The Society must always have before itself the Deus semper maior, the always-greater God, and the pursuit of the ever greater glory of God, the church as true bride of Christ our Lord, Christ the king who conquers us and to whom we offer our whole person and all our hard work, even if we are clay pots, inadequate. This tension takes us out of ourselves continuously. The tool that makes the Society of Jesus not centered in itself, really strong, is, then, the account of conscience, which is at the same time paternal and fraternal, because it helps the Society to fulfill its mission better.”

The pope is referring to the requirement in the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus that the Jesuit must “manifest his conscience,” that is, his inner spiritual situation, so that the superior can be more conscious and knowledgeable about sending a person on mission.

“But it is difficult to speak of the Society,” continues Pope Francis. “When you express too much, you run the risk of being misunderstood. The Society of Jesus can be described only in narrative form. Only in narrative form do you discern, not in a philosophical or theological explanation, which allows you rather to discuss. The style of the Society is not shaped by discussion, but by discernment, which of course presupposes discussion as part of the process. The mystical dimension of discernment never defines its edges and does not complete the thought. The Jesuit must be a person whose thought is incomplete, in the sense of open-ended thinking. There have been periods in the Society in which Jesuits have lived in an environment of closed and rigid thought, more instructive-ascetic than mystical: this distortion of Jesuit life gave birth to the Epitome Instituti.”

The pope is referring to a compendium, made for practical purposes, that came to be seen as a replacement for the Constitutions. The formation of Jesuits for some time was shaped by this text, to the extent that some never read the Constitutions, the foundational text. During this period, in the pope’s view, the rules threatened to overwhelm the spirit, and the Society yielded to the temptation to explicate and define its charism too narrowly.

Pope Francis continues: “No, the Jesuit always thinks, again and again, looking at the horizon toward which he must go, with Christ at the center. This is his real strength. And that pushes the Society to be searching, creative and generous. So now, more than ever, the Society of Jesus must be contemplative in action, must live a profound closeness to the whole church as both the ‘people of God’ and ‘holy mother the hierarchical church.’ This requires much humility, sacrifice and courage, especially when you are misunderstood or you are the subject of misunderstandings and slanders, but that is the most fruitful attitude. Let us think of the tensions of the past history, in the previous centuries, about the Chinese rites controversy, the Malabar rites and the Reductions in Paraguay.

“I am a witness myself to the misunderstandings and problems that the Society has recently experienced. Among those there were tough times, especially when it came to the issue of extending to all Jesuits the fourth vow of obedience to the pope. What gave me confidence at the time of Father Arrupe [superior general of the Jesuits from 1965 to 1983] was the fact that he was a man of prayer, a man who spent much time in prayer. I remember him when he prayed sitting on the ground in the Japanese style. For this he had the right attitude and made the right decisions.”

The Model: Peter Faber, ‘Reformed Priest’
I am wondering if there are figures among the Jesuits, from the origins of the Society to the present date, that have affected him in a particular way, so I ask the pope who they are and why. He begins by mentioning Ignatius Loyola [founder of the Jesuits] and Francis Xavier, but then focuses on a figure who is not as well known to the general public: Peter Faber (1506-46), from Savoy. He was one of the first companions of St. Ignatius, in fact the first, with whom he shared a room when the two were students at the University of Paris. The third roommate was Francis Xavier. Pius IX declared Faber blessed on Sept. 5, 1872, and the cause for his canonization is still open.

The pope cites an edition of Faber’s works, which he asked two Jesuit scholars, Miguel A. Fiorito and Jaime H. Amadeo, to edit and publish when he was provincial superior of the Jesuits in Argentina. An edition that he particularly likes is the one by Michel de Certeau. I ask the pope why he is so impressed by Faber.

“[His] dialogue with all,” the pope says, “even the most remote and even with his opponents; his simple piety, a certain naĂŻvetĂ© perhaps, his being available straightaway, his careful interior discernment, the fact that he was a man capable of great and strong decisions but also capable of being so gentle and loving.”

Michel de Certeau characterized Faber simply as “the reformed priest,” for whom interior experience, dogmatic expression and structural reform are inseparable. The pope then continues with a reflection on the true face of the founder of the Society.

“Ignatius is a mystic, not an ascetic,” he says. “It irritates me when I hear that the Spiritual Exercises are ‘Ignatian’ only because they are done in silence. In fact, the Exercises can be perfectly Ignatian also in daily life and without the silence. An interpretation of the Spiritual Exercises that emphasizes asceticism, silence and penance is a distorted one that became widespread even in the Society, especially in the Society of Jesus in Spain. I am rather close to the mystical movement, that of Louis Lallement and Jean-Joseph Surin. And Faber was a mystic.”

Experience in Church Government
What kind of experience in church government, as a Jesuit superior and then as superior of a province of the Society of Jesus, helped to fully form Father Bergoglio? The style of governance of the Society of Jesus involves decisions made by the superior, but also extensive consultation with his official advisors. So I ask: “Do you think that your past government experience can serve you in governing the universal church?” After a brief pause for reflection, he responds:

“In my experience as superior in the Society, to be honest, I have not always behaved in that way—that is, I did not always do the necessary consultation. And this was not a good thing. My style of government as a Jesuit at the beginning had many faults. That was a difficult time for the Society: an entire generation of Jesuits had disappeared. Because of this I found myself provincial when I was still very young. I was only 36 years old. That was crazy. I had to deal with difficult situations, and I made my decisions abruptly and by myself. Yes, but I must add one thing: when I entrust something to someone, I totally trust that person. He or she must make a really big mistake before I rebuke that person. But despite this, eventually people get tired of authoritarianism.

To be sure, I have never been like Blessed Imelda [a goody-goody], but I have never been a right-winger. It was my authoritarian way of making decisions that created problems“My authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions led me to have serious problems and to be accused of being ultraconservative. I lived a time of great interior crisis when I was in Cordova. To be sure, I have never been like Blessed Imelda [a goody-goody], but I have never been a right-winger. It was my authoritarian way of making decisions that created problems.

“I say these things from life experience and because I want to make clear what the dangers are. Over time I learned many things. The Lord has allowed this growth in knowledge of government through my faults and my sins. So as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, I had a meeting with the six auxiliary bishops every two weeks, and several times a year with the council of priests. They asked questions and we opened the floor for discussion. This greatly helped me to make the best decisions. But now I hear some people tell me: ‘Do not consult too much, and decide by yourself.’ Instead, I believe that consultation is very important.

I do not want token consultations, but real consultations.“The consistories [of cardinals], the synods [of bishops] are, for example, important places to make real and active this consultation. We must, however, give them a less rigid form. I do not want token consultations, but real consultations. The consultation group of eight cardinals, this ‘outsider’ advisory group, is not only my decision, but it is the result of the will of the cardinals, as it was expressed in the general congregations before the conclave. And I want to see that this is a real, not ceremonial consultation.”

Thinking With the Church
I ask Pope Francis what it means exactly for him to “think with the church,” a notion St. Ignatius writes about in the Spiritual Exercises. He replies using an image.

“The image of the church I like is that of the holy, faithful people of God. This is the definition I often use, and then there is that image from the Second Vatican Council’s ‘Dogmatic Constitution on the Church’ (No. 12). Belonging to a people has a strong theological value. In the history of salvation, God has saved a people. There is no full identity without belonging to a people. No one is saved alone, as an isolated individual, but God attracts us looking at the complex web of relationships that take place in the human community. God enters into this dynamic, this participation in the web of human relationships.

“The people itself constitutes a subject. And the church is the people of God on the journey through history, with joys and sorrows. Thinking with the church, therefore, is my way of being a part of this people. And all the faithful, considered as a whole, are infallible in matters of belief, and the people display this infallibilitas in credendo, this infallibility in believing, through a supernatural sense of the faith of all the people walking together. This is what I understand today as the ‘thinking with the church’ of which St. Ignatius speaks. When the dialogue among the people and the bishops and the pope goes down this road and is genuine, then it is assisted by the Holy Spirit. So this thinking with the church does not concern theologians only.

We should not even think, therefore, that ‘thinking with the church’ means only thinking with the hierarchy of the church.“This is how it is with Mary: If you want to know who she is, you ask theologians; if you want to know how to love her, you have to ask the people. In turn, Mary loved Jesus with the heart of the people, as we read in the Magnificat. We should not even think, therefore, that ‘thinking with the church’ means only thinking with the hierarchy of the church.”

After a brief pause, Pope Francis emphasizes the following point, in order to avoid misunderstandings: “And, of course, we must be very careful not to think that this infallibilitas of all the faithful I am talking about in the light of Vatican II is a form of populism. No; it is the experience of ‘holy mother the hierarchical church,’ as St. Ignatius called it, the church as the people of God, pastors and people together. The church is the totality of God’s people.

“I see the sanctity of God’s people, this daily sanctity,” the pope continues. “There is a ‘holy middle class,’ which we can all be part of, the holiness Malègue wrote about.” The pope is referring to Joseph Malègue, a French writer (1876–1940), particularly to the unfinished trilogy Black Stones: The Middle Classes of Salvation.

“I see the holiness,” the pope continues, “in the patience of the people of God: a woman who is raising children, a man who works to bring home the bread, the sick, the elderly priests who have so many wounds but have a smile on their faces because they served the Lord, the sisters who work hard and live a hidden sanctity. This is for me the common sanctity. I often associate sanctity with patience: not only patience as hypomonĂ© [the New Testament Greek word], taking charge of the events and circumstances of life, but also as a constancy in going forward, day by day. This is the sanctity of the militant church also mentioned by St. Ignatius. This was the sanctity of my parents: my dad, my mom, my grandmother Rosa who loved ​​me so much. In my breviary I have the last will of my grandmother Rosa, and I read it often. For me it is like a prayer. She is a saint who has suffered so much, also spiritually, and yet always went forward with courage.

“This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people. We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity. And the church is Mother; the church is fruitful. It must be. You see, when I perceive negative behavior in ministers of the church or in consecrated men or women, the first thing that comes to mind is: ‘Here’s an unfruitful bachelor’ or ‘Here’s a spinster.’ They are neither fathers nor mothers, in the sense that they have not been able to give spiritual life. Instead, for example, when I read the life of the Salesian missionaries who went to Patagonia, I read a story of the fullness of life, of fruitfulness.

“Another example from recent days that I saw got the attention of newspapers: the phone call I made to a young man who wrote me a letter. I called him because that letter was so beautiful, so simple. For me this was an act of generativity. I realized that he was a young man who is growing, that he saw in me a father, and that the letter tells something of his life to that father. The father cannot say, ‘I do not care.’ This type of fruitfulness is so good for me.”

Young Churches and Ancient Churches
Remaining with the subject of the church, I ask the pope a question in light of the recent World Youth Day. This great event has turned the spotlight on young people, but also on those “spiritual lungs” that are the Catholic churches founded in historically recent times. “What,” I ask, “are your hopes for the universal church that come from these churches?”

The pope replies: “The young Catholic churches, as they grow, develop a synthesis of faith, culture and life, and so it is a synthesis different from the one developed by the ancient churches. For me, the relationship between the ancient Catholic churches and the young ones is similar to the relationship between young and elderly people in a society. They build the future, the young ones with their strength and the others with their wisdom. You always run some risks, of course. The younger churches are likely to feel self-sufficient; the ancient ones are likely to want to impose on the younger churches their cultural models. But we build the future together.”

The Church as Field Hospital
Pope Benedict XVI, in announcing his resignation, said that the contemporary world is subject to rapid change and is grappling with issues of great importance for the life of faith. Dealing with these issues requires strength of body and soul, Pope Benedict said. I ask Pope Francis: “What does the church need most at this historic moment? Do we need reforms? What are your wishes for the church in the coming years? What kind of church do you dream of?”

Pope Francis begins by showing great affection and immense respect for his predecessor: “Pope Benedict has done an act of holiness, greatness, humility. He is a man of God.

the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle.“I see clearly,” the pope continues, “that the thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds.... And you have to start from the ground up.

“The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all. The confessor, for example, is always in danger of being either too much of a rigorist or too lax. Neither is merciful, because neither of them really takes responsibility for the person. The rigorist washes his hands so that he leaves it to the commandment. The loose minister washes his hands by simply saying, ‘This is not a sin’ or something like that. In pastoral ministry we must accompany people, and we must heal their wounds.

“How are we treating the people of God? I dream of a church that is a mother and shepherdess. The church’s ministers must be merciful, take responsibility for the people and accompany them like the good Samaritan, who washes, cleans and raises up his neighbor. This is pure Gospel. God is greater than sin. The structural and organizational reforms are secondary—that is, they come afterward. The first reform must be the attitude. The ministers of the Gospel must be people who can warm the hearts of the people, who walk through the dark night with them, who know how to dialogue and to descend themselves into their people’s night, into the darkness, but without getting lost. The people of God want pastors, not clergy acting like bureaucrats or government officials. The bishops, particularly, must be able to support the movements of God among their people with patience, so that no one is left behind. But they must also be able to accompany the flock that has a flair for finding new paths.

“Instead of being just a church that welcomes and receives by keeping the doors open, let us try also to be a church that finds new roads, that is able to step outside itself and go to those who do not attend Mass, to those who have quit or are indifferent. The ones who quit sometimes do it for reasons that, if properly understood and assessed, can lead to a return. But that takes audacity and courage.”

I mention to Pope Francis that there are Christians who live in situations that are irregular for the church or in complex situations that represent open wounds. I mention the divorced and remarried, same-sex couples and other difficult situations. What kind of pastoral work can we do in these cases? What kinds of tools can we use?

“We need to proclaim the Gospel on every street corner,” the pope says, “preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing, even with our preaching, every kind of disease and wound. In Buenos Aires I used to receive letters from homosexual persons who are ‘socially wounded’ because they tell me that they feel like the church has always condemned them. But the church does not want to do this. During the return flight from Rio de Janeiro I said that if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge. By saying this, I said what the catechism says. Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.

A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. “A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.

“This is also the great benefit of confession as a sacrament: evaluating case by case and discerning what is the best thing to do for a person who seeks God and grace. The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better. I also consider the situation of a woman with a failed marriage in her past and who also had an abortion. Then this woman remarries, and she is now happy and has five children. That abortion in her past weighs heavily on her conscience and she sincerely regrets it. She would like to move forward in her Christian life. What is the confessor to do?

“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.

The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently. “The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently. Proclamation in a missionary style focuses on the essentials, on the necessary things: this is also what fascinates and attracts more, what makes the heart burn, as it did for the disciples at Emmaus. We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel. The proposal of the Gospel must be more simple, profound, radiant. It is from this proposition that the moral consequences then flow.

“I say this also thinking about the preaching and content of our preaching. A beautiful homily, a genuine sermon must begin with the first proclamation, with the proclamation of salvation. There is nothing more solid, deep and sure than this proclamation. Then you have to do catechesis. Then you can draw even a moral consequence. But the proclamation of the saving love of God comes before moral and religious imperatives. Today sometimes it seems that the opposite order is prevailing. The homily is the touchstone to measure the pastor’s proximity and ability to meet his people, because those who preach must recognize the heart of their community and must be able to see where the desire for God is lively and ardent. The message of the Gospel, therefore, is not to be reduced to some aspects that, although relevant, on their own do not show the heart of the message of Jesus Christ.”

A Religious Order Pope
Pope Francis is the first pontiff from a religious order since the Camaldolese monk Gregory XVI, who was elected in 1831. I ask: “What is the specific place of religious men and women in the church of today?”

“Religious men and women are prophets,” says the pope. “They are those who have chosen a following of Jesus that imitates his life in obedience to the Father, poverty, community life and chastity. In this sense, the vows cannot end up being caricatures; otherwise, for example, community life becomes hell, and chastity becomes a way of life for unfruitful bachelors. The vow of chastity must be a vow of fruitfulness. In the church, the religious are called to be prophets in particular by demonstrating how Jesus lived on this earth, and to proclaim how the kingdom of God will be in its perfection. A religious must never give up prophecy. This does not mean opposing the hierarchical part of the church, although the prophetic function and the hierarchical structure do not coincide. I am talking about a proposal that is always positive, but it should not cause timidity. Let us think about what so many great saints, monks and religious men and women have done, from St. Anthony the Abbot onward. Being prophets may sometimes imply making waves. I do not know how to put it.... Prophecy makes noise, uproar, some say ‘a mess.’ But in reality, the charism of religious people is like yeast: prophecy announces the spirit of the Gospel.”

The Roman Curia
I ask the pope what he thinks of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the various departments that assist the pope in his mission.

It is amazing to see the denunciations for lack of orthodoxy that come to Rome. I think the cases should be investigated by the local bishops’ conferences, which can get valuable assistance from Rome. These cases, in fact, are much better dealt with locally.“The dicasteries of the Roman Curia are at the service of the pope and the bishops,” he says. “They must help both the particular churches and the bishops’ conferences. They are instruments of help. In some cases, however, when they are not functioning well, they run the risk of becoming institutions of censorship. It is amazing to see the denunciations for lack of orthodoxy that come to Rome. I think the cases should be investigated by the local bishops’ conferences, which can get valuable assistance from Rome. These cases, in fact, are much better dealt with locally. The Roman congregations are mediators; they are not middlemen or managers.”

On June 29, during the ceremony of the blessing and imposition of the pallium on 34 metropolitan archbishops, Pope Francis spoke about “the path of collegiality” as the road that can lead the church to “grow in harmony with the service of primacy.” So I ask: “How can we reconcile in harmony Petrine primacy and collegiality? Which roads are feasible also from an ecumenical perspective?”

The pope responds, “We must walk together: the people, the bishops and the pope. Synodality should be lived at various levels. Maybe it is time to change the methods of the Synod of Bishops, because it seems to me that the current method is not dynamic. This will also have ecumenical value, especially with our Orthodox brethren. From them we can learn more about the meaning of episcopal collegiality and the tradition of synodality. The joint effort of reflection, looking at how the church was governed in the early centuries, before the breakup between East and West, will bear fruit in due time. In ecumenical relations it is important not only to know each other better, but also to recognize what the Spirit has sown in the other as a gift for us. I want to continue the discussion that was begun in 2007 by the joint [Catholic–Orthodox] commission on how to exercise the Petrine primacy, which led to the signing of the Ravenna Document. We must continue on this path.”

I ask how Pope Francis envisions the future unity of the church in light of this response. He answers: “We must walk united with our differences: there is no other way to become one. This is the way of Jesus.”

Women in the Life of the Church
And what about the role of women in the church? The pope has made ​​reference to this issue on several occasions. He took up the matter during the return trip from Rio de Janeiro, claiming that the church still lacks a profound theology of women. I ask: “What should be the role of women in the church? How do we make their role more visible today?”

We must therefore investigate further the role of women in the church.He answers: “I am wary of a solution that can be reduced to a kind of ‘female machismo,’ because a woman has a different make-up than a man. But what I hear about the role of women is often inspired by an ideology of machismo. Women are asking deep questions that must be addressed. The church cannot be herself without the woman and her role. The woman is essential for the church. Mary, a woman, is more important than the bishops. I say this because we must not confuse the function with the dignity. We must therefore investigate further the role of women in the church. We have to work harder to develop a profound theology of the woman. Only by making this step will it be possible to better reflect on their function within the church. The feminine genius is needed wherever we make important decisions. The challenge today is this: to think about the specific place of women also in those places where the authority of the church is exercised for various areas of the church.”

The Second Vatican Council
“What did ​​the Second Vatican Council accomplish?” I ask.

“Vatican II was a re-reading of the Gospel in light of contemporary culture,” says the pope. “Vatican II produced a renewal movement that simply comes from the same Gospel. Its fruits are enormous. Just recall the liturgy. The work of liturgical reform has been a service to the people as a re-reading of the Gospel from a concrete historical situation. Yes, there are hermeneutics of continuity and discontinuity, but one thing is clear: the dynamic of reading the Gospel, actualizing its message for today—which was typical of Vatican II—is absolutely irreversible. Then there are particular issues, like the liturgy according to the Vetus Ordo. I think the decision of Pope Benedict [his decision of July 7, 2007, to allow a wider use of the Tridentine Mass] was prudent and motivated by the desire to help people who have this sensitivity. What is worrying, though, is the risk of the ideologization of the Vetus Ordo, its exploitation.”

To Seek and Find God in All Things
At the World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, Pope Francis repeatedly declared: “God is real. He manifests himself today. God is everywhere.” These are phrases that echo the Ignatian expression “to seek and find God in all things.” So I ask the pope: “How do you seek and find God in all things?”

“What I said in Rio referred to the time in which we seek God,” he answers. “In fact, there is a temptation to seek God in the past or in a possible future. God is certainly in the past because we can see the footprints. And God is also in the future as a promise. But the ‘concrete’ God, so to speak, is today. For this reason, complaining never helps us find God. The complaints of today about how ‘barbaric’ the world is—these complaints sometimes end up giving birth within the church to desires to establish order in the sense of pure conservation, as a defense. No: God is to be encountered in the world of today.

“God manifests himself in historical revelation, in history. Time initiates processes, and space crystallizes them. God is in history, in the processes.

“We must not focus on occupying the spaces where power is exercised, but rather on starting long-run historical processes. We must initiate processes rather than occupy spaces. God manifests himself in time and is present in the processes of history. This gives priority to actions that give birth to new historical dynamics. And it requires patience, waiting.

“Finding God in all things is not an ‘empirical eureka.’ When we desire to encounter God, we would like to verify him immediately by an empirical method. But you cannot meet God this way. God is found in the gentle breeze perceived by Elijah. The senses that find God are the ones St. Ignatius called spiritual senses. Ignatius asks us to open our spiritual sensitivity to encounter God beyond a purely empirical approach. A contemplative attitude is necessary: it is the feeling that you are moving along the good path of understanding and affection toward things and situations. Profound peace, spiritual consolation, love of God and love of all things in God—this is the sign that you are on this right path.”

Certitude and Mistakes
I ask, “So if the encounter with God is not an ‘empirical eureka,’ and if it is a journey that sees with the eyes of history, then we can also make mistakes?”

The pope replies: “Yes, in this quest to seek and find God in all things there is still an area of uncertainty. There must be. If a person says that he met God with total certainty and is not touched by a margin of uncertainty, then this is not good. For me, this is an important key. If one has the answers to all the questions—that is the proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using religion for himself. The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for doubt. You must leave room for the Lord, not for our certainties; we must be humble. Uncertainty is in every true discernment that is open to finding confirmation in spiritual consolation.

“The risk in seeking and finding God in all things, then, is the willingness to explain too much, to say with human certainty and arrogance: ‘God is here.’ We will find only a god that fits our measure. The correct attitude is that of St. Augustine: seek God to find him, and find God to keep searching for God forever. Often we seek as if we were blind, as one often reads in the Bible. And this is the experience of the great fathers of the faith, who are our models. We have to re-read the Letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 11. Abraham leaves his home without knowing where he was going, by faith. All of our ancestors in the faith died seeing the good that was promised, but from a distance.... Our life is not given to us like an opera libretto, in which all is written down; but it means going, walking, doing, searching, seeing.... We must enter into the adventure of the quest for meeting God; we must let God search and encounter us.

“Because God is first; God is always first and makes the first move. God is a bit like the almond flower of your Sicily, Antonio, which always blooms first. We read it in the Prophets. God is encountered walking, along the path. At this juncture, someone might say that this is relativism. Is it relativism? Yes, if it is misunderstood as a kind of indistinct pantheism. It is not relativism if it is understood in the biblical sense, that God is always a surprise, so you never know where and how you will find him. You are not setting the time and place of the encounter with him. You must, therefore, discern the encounter. Discernment is essential.

If the Christian is a restorationist, a legalist, if he wants everything clear and safe, then he will find nothing.“If the Christian is a restorationist, a legalist, if he wants everything clear and safe, then he will find nothing. Tradition and memory of the past must help us to have the courage to open up new areas to God. Those who today always look for disciplinarian solutions, those who long for an exaggerated doctrinal ‘security,’ those who stubbornly try to recover a past that no longer exists­—they have a static and inward-directed view of things. In this way, faith becomes an ideology among other ideologies. I have a dogmatic certainty: God is in every person’s life. God is in everyone’s life. Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything else—God is in this person’s life. You can, you must try to seek God in every human life. Although the life of a person is a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God.”

Must We Be Optimistic?
The pope’s words remind me of some of his past reflections, in which as a cardinal he wrote that God is already living in the city, in the midst of all and united to each. It is another way, in my opinion, to say what St. Ignatius wrote in the Spiritual Exercises, that God “labors and works” in our world. So I ask: “Do we have to be optimistic? What are the signs of hope in today’s world? How can I be optimistic in a world in crisis?”

“I do not like to use the word optimism because that is about a psychological attitude,” the pope says. “I like to use the word hope instead, according to what we read in the Letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 11, that I mentioned before. The fathers of the faith kept walking, facing difficulties. And hope does not disappoint, as we read in the Letter to the Romans. Think instead of the first riddle of Puccini’s opera ‘Turandot,’” the pope suggests.

At that moment I recalled more or less by heart the verses of the riddle of the princess in that opera, to which the solution is hope: “In the gloomy night flies an iridescent ghost./ It rises and opens its wings/ on the infinite black humanity./ The whole world invokes it/ and the whole world implores it./ But the ghost disappears with the dawn/ to be reborn in the heart./ And every night it is born/ and every day it dies!”

“See,” says Pope Francis, “Christian hope is not a ghost and it does not deceive. It is a theological virtue and therefore, ultimately, a gift from God that cannot be reduced to optimism, which is only human. God does not mislead hope; God cannot deny himself. God is all promise.”

Art and Creativity
I am struck by the reference the pope just made to Puccini’s “Turandot” while speaking of the mystery of hope. I would like to understand better his artistic and literary references. I remind him that in 2006 he said that great artists know how to present the tragic and painful realities of life with beauty. So I ask who are the artists and writers he prefers, and if they have something in common.

“I have really loved a diverse array of authors. I love very much Dostoevsky and Hölderlin. I remember Hölderlin for that poem written for the birthday of his grandmother that is very beautiful and was spiritually very enriching for me. The poem ends with the verse, ‘May the man hold fast to what the child has promised.’ I was also impressed because I loved my grandmother Rosa, and in that poem Hölderlin compares his grandmother to the Virgin Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, the friend of the earth who did not consider anybody a foreigner.

“I have read The Betrothed, by Alessandro Manzoni, three times, and I have it now on my table because I want to read it again. Manzoni gave me so much. When I was a child, my grandmother taught me by heart the beginning of The Betrothed: ‘That branch of Lake Como that turns off to the south between two unbroken chains of mountains....’ I also liked Gerard Manley Hopkins very much.

“Among the great painters, I admire Caravaggio; his paintings speak to me. But also Chagall, with his ‘White Crucifixion.’ Among musicians I love Mozart, of course. The ‘Et incarnatus est’ from his Mass in C minor is matchless; it lifts you to God! I love Mozart performed by Clara Haskil. Mozart fulfills me. But I cannot think about his music; I have to listen to it. I like listening to Beethoven, but in a Promethean way, and the most Promethean interpreter for me is Furtwängler. And then Bach’s Passions. The piece by Bach that I love so much is the ‘Erbarme Dich,’ the tears of Peter in the ‘St. Matthew Passion.’ Sublime. Then, at a different level, not intimate in the same way, I love Wagner. I like to listen to him, but not all the time. The performance of Wagner’s ‘Ring’ by Furtwängler at La Scala in Milan in 1950 is for me the best. But also the ‘Parsifal’ by Knappertsbusch in 1962.

“We should also talk about the cinema. ‘La Strada,’ by Fellini, is the movie that perhaps I loved the most. I identify with this movie, in which there is an implicit reference to St. Francis. I also believe that I watched all of the Italian movies with Anna Magnani and Aldo Fabrizi when I was between 10 and 12 years old. Another film that I loved is ‘Rome, Open City.’ I owe my film culture especially to my parents who used to take us to the movies quite often.

“Anyway, in general I love tragic artists, especially classical ones. There is a nice definition that Cervantes puts on the lips of the bachelor Carrasco to praise the story of Don Quixote: ‘Children have it in their hands, young people read it, adults understand it, the elderly praise it.’ For me this can be a good definition of the classics.”

I ask the pope about teaching literature to his secondary school students.

“It was a bit risky,” he answers. “I had to make sure that my students read El Cid. But the boys did not like it. They wanted to read Garcia Lorca. Then I decided that they would study El Cid at home and that in class I would teach the authors the boys liked the most. Of course, young people wanted to read more ‘racy’ literary works, like the contemporary La Casada Infiel or classics like La Celestina, by Fernando de Rojas. But by reading these things they acquired a taste in literature, poetry, and we went on to other authors. And that was for me a great experience. I completed the program, but in an unstructured way—that is, not ordered according to what we expected in the beginning, but in an order that came naturally by reading these authors. And this mode befitted me: I did not like to have a rigid schedule, but rather I liked to know where we had to go with the readings, with a rough sense of where we were headed. Then I also started to get them to write. In the end I decided to send Borges two stories written by my boys. I knew his secretary, who had been my piano teacher. And Borges liked those stories very much. And then he set out to write the introduction to a collection of these writings.”

“Then, Holy Father, creativity is important for the life of a person?” I ask. He laughs and replies: “For a Jesuit it is extremely important! A Jesuit must be creative.”

Frontiers and Laboratories
During a visit by the fathers and staff of La CiviltĂ  Cattolica, the pope had spoken about the importance of the triad “dialogue, discernment, frontier.” And he insisted particularly on the last point, citing Paul VI and what he had said in a famous speech about the Jesuits: “Wherever in the church—even in the most difficult and extreme fields, in the crossroads of ideologies, in the social trenches—there has been and is now conversation between the deepest desires of human beings and the perennial message of the Gospel, Jesuits have been and are there.” I ask Pope Francis what should be the priorities of journals published by the Society of Jesus.

Ours is not a ‘lab faith,’ but a ‘journey faith,’ a historical faith. “The three key words that I commended to La CiviltĂ  Cattolica can be extended to all the journals of the Society, perhaps with different emphases according to their natures and their objectives. When I insist on the frontier, I am referring in a particular way to the need for those who work in the world of culture to be inserted into the context in which they operate and on which they reflect. There is always the lurking danger of living in a laboratory. Ours is not a ‘lab faith,’ but a ‘journey faith,’ a historical faith. God has revealed himself as history, not as a compendium of abstract truths. I am afraid of laboratories because in the laboratory you take the problems and then you bring them home to tame them, to paint them, out of their context. You cannot bring home the frontier, but you have to live on the border and be audacious.”

I ask for examples from his personal experience.

“When it comes to social issues, it is one thing to have a meeting to study the problem of drugs in a slum neighborhood and quite another thing to go there, live there and understand the problem from the inside and study it. There is a brilliant letter by Father Arrupe to the Centers for Social Research and Action on poverty, in which he says clearly that one cannot speak of poverty if one does not experience poverty, with a direct connection to the places in which there is poverty. The word insertion is dangerous because some religious have taken it as a fad, and disasters have occurred because of a lack of discernment. But it is truly important.”

“The frontiers are many. Let us think of the religious sisters living in hospitals. They live on the frontier. I am alive because of one of them. When I went through my lung disease at the hospital, the doctor gave me penicillin and streptomycin in certain doses. The sister who was on duty tripled my doses because she was daringly astute; she knew what to do because she was with ill people all day. The doctor, who really was a good one, lived in his laboratory; the sister lived on the frontier and was in dialogue with it every day. Domesticating the frontier means just talking from a remote location, locking yourself up in a laboratory. Laboratories are useful, but reflection for us must always start from experience.”

Human Self-Understanding
I ask Pope Francis about the enormous changes occurring in society and the way human beings are reinterpreting themselves. At this point he gets up and goes to get the breviary from his desk. It is in Latin, now worn from use. He opens to the Office of Readings for Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time and reads me a passage from the Commonitorium Primum of St. Vincent of Lerins: “Even the dogma of the Christian religion must follow these laws, consolidating over the years, developing over time, deepening with age.”

The view of the church’s teaching as a monolith to defend without nuance or different understandings is wrong.The pope comments: “St. Vincent of Lerins makes a comparison between the biological development of man and the transmission from one era to another of the deposit of faith, which grows and is strengthened with time. Here, human self-understanding changes with time and so also human consciousness deepens. Let us think of when slavery was accepted or the death penalty was allowed without any problem. So we grow in the understanding of the truth. Exegetes and theologians help the church to mature in her own judgment. Even the other sciences and their development help the church in its growth in understanding. There are ecclesiastical rules and precepts that were once effective, but now they have lost value or meaning. The view of the church’s teaching as a monolith to defend without nuance or different understandings is wrong.

“After all, in every age of history, humans try to understand and express themselves better. So human beings in time change the way they perceive themselves. It’s one thing for a man who expresses himself by carving the ‘Winged Victory of Samothrace,’ yet another for Caravaggio, Chagall and yet another still for DalĂ­. Even the forms for expressing truth can be multiform, and this is indeed necessary for the transmission of the Gospel in its timeless meaning.

“Humans are in search of themselves, and, of course, in this search they can also make mistakes. The church has experienced times of brilliance, like that of Thomas Aquinas. But the church has lived also times of decline in its ability to think. For example, we must not confuse the genius of Thomas Aquinas with the age of decadent Thomist commentaries. Unfortunately, I studied philosophy from textbooks that came from decadent or largely bankrupt Thomism. In thinking of the human being, therefore, the church should strive for genius and not for decadence.

“When does a formulation of thought cease to be valid? When it loses sight of the human or even when it is afraid of the human or deluded about itself. The deceived thought can be depicted as Ulysses encountering the song of the Siren, or as Tannhäuser in an orgy surrounded by satyrs and bacchantes, or as Parsifal, in the second act of Wagner’s opera, in the palace of Klingsor. The thinking of the church must recover genius and better understand how human beings understand themselves today, in order to develop and deepen the church’s teaching.”

Prayer
I ask Pope Francis about his preferred way to pray.

“I pray the breviary every morning. I like to pray with the psalms. Then, later, I celebrate Mass. I pray the Rosary. What I really prefer is adoration in the evening, even when I get distracted and think of other things, or even fall asleep praying. In the evening then, between seven and eight o’clock, I stay in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour in adoration. But I pray mentally even when I am waiting at the dentist or at other times of the day.

“Prayer for me is always a prayer full of memory, of recollection, even the memory of my own history or what the Lord has done in his church or in a particular parish. For me it is the memory of which St. Ignatius speaks in the First Week of the Exercises in the encounter with the merciful Christ crucified. And I ask myself: ‘What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What should I do for Christ?’ It is the memory of which Ignatius speaks in the ‘Contemplation for Experiencing Divine Love,’ when he asks us to recall the gifts we have received. But above all, I also know that the Lord remembers me. I can forget about him, but I know that he never, ever forgets me. Memory has a fundamental role for the heart of a Jesuit: memory of grace, the memory mentioned in Deuteronomy, the memory of God’s works that are the basis of the covenant between God and the people. It is this memory that makes me his son and that makes me a father, too.”

Read the original Italian text and the Spanish translation of this interview.

Editor in Chief Matt Malone, S.J., talks about America's interview with the pope.

Antonio Spadaro, S.J., is the editor in chief of La CiviltĂ  Cattolica, a journal published in Rome by the Society of Jesus since 1850. The translators were: Massimo Faggioli, Sarah Christopher Faggioli, Dominic Robinson, S.J., Patrick J. Howell, S.J., and Griffin Oleynick.

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