Posted on 09/19/2013 1:19:26 PM PDT by NYer
In a broad-ranging interview, Pope Francis has underlined the need for the Church “to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful.”
"Ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all,” the Pope insists in the course of a 12,000-word interview. Conducted by Father Antonio Spadaro, the editor of the Italian Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, the interview was translated and published simultaneously by other Jesuit publications, including the American magazine America.
Stressing that the Church must respond to the needs of a society with several spiritual needs, the Pope likened the Church to a “field hospital” dealing with gravely wounded patients. “It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars,” he said. “You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”
In a portion of the interview that immediately commanded headlines in the Western world, the Pontiff said that Church leaders should not confine their public statements to controversial social issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and contraception. The Church’s stand on those issues is already well known, he said. More important, he added, the primary goal of the Church is to preach the fundamental Gospel message. He spoke of the need to speak about “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 Pope said. He observed that if people are attracted by the Gospel message, they will naturally be sympathetic to the moral principles derived from that message.
Regarding homosexual persons and others who are living in objectively sinful situations, the Pope said that Church ministers should approach them with a loving attitude. “In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation.”
Throughout the long interview, Pope Francis returned repeatedly to the need for a fresh, new, and attractive presentation of the Gospel. “The Church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules,” he said.
The Pope observed that the “young” Catholic churches—the communities in which the Church is experiencing her first period of growth—have very different experiences and outlooks from the older Catholic communities. He suggested that both are necessary to help plot the future of Catholicism, just as both young and old people are essential to the vitality of any society. “They build the future: the young ones with their strength and the others with their wisdom.”
Regarding the future of Catholicism, the Pope said that he would not use the term optimism, “because that is about a psychological attitude.” He opted instead for the word “hope,” which is a theological virtue. “God does not mislead hope,” the Pope said.
The interviewer, Father Spadoro, began the questions by asking: “Who is Jorge Maria Bergoglio?” After a pause, the Pope replied, “I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition.”
Father Spadaro commented, in his own introductory remarks, that the interview proved challenging because the Pope produced a “volcanic flow of ideas that are bound up with each other.” At times, he said, the Pontiff interrupted one question to elaborate on his response to an earlier one.
In other portions of the interview, the Pope commented on:
What you did was make a generalization about traditionalists. I have no problem with generalizations. I use them myself. They are essential to discussions. But to be accurate, a generalization must be generally true. Your generalization about traditionalists was not generally true. It was not kind either. It was a smear. I know a lot of traditionalists and I know none who fit that generalization. I am not one of them but they are never judgmental of me and they are not kooks.
On Twitter:
@NARAL
Dear Pope Francis, thank you. Signed, #prochoice women
The next time I'm freezing my ass off at a 3 a.m. 40 Days for Life protest, I'll remember that the pope said we're pushing too hard on topics like abortion. But then again, who am I to judge, right?
Can you give an example of such a leader?
BookMark
Reagan was routinely “misunderstood” and misrepresented by his opponents in both parties. His personal convictions notwithstanding, no government agency lost funding or authority under his administration.
It seems to me that you’re comparing Pope Francis to an ideal never observed in nature.
Francis' conviction is in doubt here because of what he has said, not because there are factors out of his control like a Congress unwilling to cut spending. You seem to think Reagan was a big-government Republican like Boehner.
It seems to me that you’re comparing Reagan to a Reagan never observed in nature.
To me, Pope Francis’s convictions are not at all unclear. If he is responsible for some people’s choosing to misunderstand him, then President Reagan could be held responsible for not persuading the Congress or the country to dismantle the unconstitutional Federal bureaucracy.
If people keep coming to Francis' "field hospital" for treatment, should they not learn why they keep getting hurt?
The hospital is the Church, not Democrat Propaganda Ministry reports on a few of the many things Pope Francis has said.
It’s a question of prudence. I don’t think it’s prudent or apostolic to let evil minions be in control of the Church’s message. Others think the Pope should mince every word, lest the Church’s enemies find a point to attack.
Ultimately, all the outcomes are in God’s hands.
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. 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. 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.”
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