Posted on 09/20/2013 3:30:31 AM PDT by NYer
This is a list of 12 selected quoted from Pope Francis’ recent exclusive interview with La Civiltà Cattolica.
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 Civiltà Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit journal. 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. You can read the full interview here
1. “I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”
2. “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.”
3. “In my breviary I have the last will of my grandmother Rosa, and I read it often. For me it is like a prayer.”
4.”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.”
5. “Pope Benedict has done an act of holiness, greatness, humility. He is a man of God.”
6. “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.”
7. “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.”
8. “We need to proclaim the Gospel on every street corner, 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.”
9. “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.”
10. “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.”
11. “When we desire to encounter God, we would like to verify him immediately by an empirical method. But you cannot meet God this way.”
12. “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.”
Ping!
I think we have 55 MILLION DEAD BABIES, practically every female on contraception and GAY EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE because the Church has NOT stood against these things strongly enough and shown the people that these are NOT GOD'S WAY!!
While I am not very comfortable in trying to interpret his words I think the Pope is trying to say we need to introduce people to God first. A true meeting of Christ ought to be enough for people to want to turn from their sin. Sometimes a preoccupation with specific sin/sinners seems to undermine, in people’s minds, the story of God’s salvific capacity to change people!
In these times we don’t need lukewarm. Too many who are lukewarm and have watered down doctrine. I think maybe this Pope might want to be admired and accepted as oh so progressive. I am not Catholic so I guess I can speak my feelings because I don’t take any man to be infallible.
I’m so done with this Pope. We could always depend on the Catholic. Church to defend the Sanctity of life. Now it’s considered small minded. He can welcome his new flock if he chooses — I’m out. Sadly.
Just my view, but contraception is not an evil as is abortion. It was banned by church doctrine, but I believe that “the Pill” or condoms are not any more evil than the rhythm method of contraception.
As to gays, they need salvation too.
“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”.
He makes it clear these positions will not change (though the media has tried to spin it); he is right that there are other issues in the world today, and gives no indication that this removes any significance from abortion, homosexuality, etc.
Stop reading quotes and read the entire interview in context.
Here: http://www.americamagazine.org/pope-interview
Jesus didn’t tell Mathew he was a sinner, but loved him - that’s what drew him to want to follow and subsequently repent. That’s all the pope is saying Catholics should be doing - draw them to Christ’s love and the mercy he will give them...and they will come to understand and change.
Homosexuals and abortionists are not repenting. Quite the opposite; they have made an alliance with Ceasar and are storming the gates of the church while gleefully pelting us with the heads of their victims. This is the time to mount a vigorous counterattack, not indulge in double-minded, cryptic holyspeak. At any rate we already have plenty of mainline Protestant leaders who will do that for us (a pox be upon their apostate houses).
Sounds nice, I suppose. But the people who do not repent are not going to heaven -- and I would think that a good Christian would express more concern over that.
One of the most important and revealing aspects of this interview was pope Francis’ description of how he prays. He is truly a humble, great man of prayer!
In this world of internet technology, there is little excuse for being “confused” by what he says.
People honestly need to read ALL of what he says. To really know how the man thinks, read what he has written years before. There are some translations available. Fortunately, I am able to read his writings in Spanish and I fully believe that this man has been prepared (by God) for a long time to be Pope at this particular juncture of history.
In many ways for me...he mirrors Jesus.
Let us all pray daily that God bless and protect him and prepare him for the great sacrifices that he will make.
Indeed!!! Compromising and softening the stance toward sin is cowardly. Christians should stand and be counted for Him. These things aren’t wrong because we say so, they are wrong because He has declared it so. Fight! Earnestly contend! We should not care if our fight makes us unpopular with the world. Can there be a greater honor than to be hated for His namesake?
It has been said that the church attracts the world when it acts the least like the world. I believe The Lord will honor the faithfulness of His people. He can’t give us victory in a battle we are too weak and cowardly to wage. He is sovereign. He may have given this nation over, but His people should go down carrying His banner.
“The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to hurt and offend. Jesus Christ has no tenderness whatever toward anything that is ultimately going to ruin a man in the service of God.”
—Oswald Chambers
I wonder if any young, poorly catechised Catholic women who are considering abortion, will use the Pope’s confusing statements (and the media’s celebration) to assuage their troubled conscience as they go ahead and kill their baby.
Great response.The main stream media will always twist what the Pope says.From the interview in America you get a good idea of the role of the Church today by reading just the section entitled ‘The Church as a field Hospital’
Now I know my dad was right in saying the catholic church will bring in the false prophet! Wonder why Benedict had to resign to bring in a possible apostate? What does abortion, homosexual marriage, and other social issues have to do with faith? If we can just get rid of our orthodox beliefs, we can bring in an era of world harmony. We now have a possible antichrist and false prophet, but where is the beast?
Time will tell whether his focus is reaching others with the love of Christ or if he is watering down doctrine.
Mel
Anything else is tickling itching ears.
I love this man’s obsession with Jesus and His Gospel, and his sincere humility. First Pope I’ve really resonated with in a long, long time.
That is my fear. That confused young people will hear these cryptic utterances and use them to justify their sinful lifestyles.
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