Posted on 05/08/2013 3:37:42 AM PDT by markomalley
Vatican City, May 8 - Pope Francis told a group of nuns at Wednesday's general audience in St Peter's Square to embrace their maternal side and to "be mothers".
"Chastity should be fertile, it generates spiritual children," the pope told some 800 nuns from numerous religious orders.
"Motherhood is sacred...you must be mothers and not old maids," Francis said.
"Excuse me if I speak this way...be mothers, as figures of the mother church, you cannot understand Mary and the Church without motherhood, and you are icons of Mary and the Church".
While emphasising the role of women in the Church, Pope Francis has also maintained a critical position on the majority of American nuns for deviating from official Catholic doctrine by promoting "radical feminist themes" and devoting too much time to social justice while remaining quiet on issues such as birth control and same-sex marriage.
Pope Francis has told nuns from around the world that they must be spiritual mothers and not "old maids."
Francis also warned the sisters against using their vocations for personal ambition, saying priests and sisters who do so "do more harm to the church."
Francis has complained frequently about such "careerism" in the church — a buzzword that is frequently used to describe Holy See bureaucrats.
I am looking for a transcript of the comments rather than a summary. The comments were not made as part of the formal audience discourse.
that is bound to get the hair up on the backs of the radical feminist nuns (which sadly has become more the norm in the US that I would care to admit.). Yet. In my humble opinion what he has said is true in my heart.
Men and women are, by our created nature, oriented toward fatherhood and motherhood. If our lives, by choice or happenstance, do not produce our own physical offspring, that doesn’t change the fact that fatherhood and motherhood are built into us as God’s image-bearers.
The details for each individual will work themselves out if we are guided by the Holy Spirit.
Wow, that's pretty blunt speech from a Pope.
Keep in mind that this wording is not a quote from Pope Francis. The only thing in quotes is “radical feminist themes,” and it’s not clear whether the Pope actually used those words, someone else used them, or they’re simply “scare quotes” from the writer.
It will be interesting to read the actual transcript when you find it.
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