Vatican Commentator on anniversary: Pope Francis has irrevocably changed the papacy

Vatican News Agency ^ | March 13, 2014

[NYer]

(Vatican Radio) Thursday marks the first anniversary of the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as Pope Francis. He is the first ever Pope from Latin America or as he himself jokingly remarked coming almost from “the end of the world.” The new Pope is also the first Jesuit Pope and the first to take the name of Francis. Over the past year, Pope Francis has won admiration and support far and wide thanks to his warmth and his obvious empathy with the poor and marginalized and he was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2013.

One of the world’s best-known commentators and authors on the Papacy is John Allen who is Associate Editor of the Boston Globe newspaper specializing in the Vatican and the Catholic Church. Susy Hodges spoke to him about the Pope's first year.

Listen to the first words spoken by Pope Francis after his election and the full interview with John Allen:

Asked what he believes is the most significant aspect of Pope Francis’ first year in office, Allen says he believes “the most significant point is that he’s accomplished far more than most of us could have reasonably expected … both in terms of style and in terms of sustenance.” “He’s invigorated the Church at the grass roots level” but as Allen goes on to point out, Pope Francis has also notched up some more concrete achievements. He says these include the Pope’s “deep structural reforms such as his most recent decision to create a new Secretariat for the Economy in the Vatican to impose fiscal discipline.”

But could there be too many unrealistic expectations surrounding Pope Francis and what reforms he is planning? Allen agrees that in some quarters there are “over-heated” and unrealistic expectations, especially concerning doctrinal issues. “If there is an expectation that Pope Francis will radically change the doctrine of the Catholic Church, it is destined to be disappointed.”

Allen goes on to say that in his view “the fundamental change” that is occurring during Francis’ papacy is that he’s reviving “the pastoral instinct.” “I think the cornerstone of that is that this is the Pope of mercy, a Pope who profoundly believes that mercy is the most important message that the world needs to hear from the Catholic Church at this time.”

As for the most surprising aspect of Pope Francis’ papacy, Allen says that for him as a long-time Vatican correspondent, it’s “the media’s love affair with this Pope.” He describes the “Pope’s “ability to win over the hearts and minds of the media business as nothing short of astonishing.”

Asked whether he believes Pope Francis has irrevocably changed the papacy, Allen is in no doubt about that, due to “many of the structural reforms” the Pope is promoting that are “intended to make the exercise of the papacy more collegial… to make the Vatican more transparent and accountable…. and to promote a new style of leadership.” Because so many of these reforms are already “institutionalized”, Allen believes Pope Francis “has fundamentally altered the way the powers of the papacy are exercised, not the content of that power, but the way it is exercised.”

[Alex Murphy]

[John Allen] agrees that in some quarters there are “over-heated” and unrealistic expectations, especially concerning doctrinal issues. “If there is an expectation that Pope Francis will radically change the doctrine of the Catholic Church, it is destined to be disappointed.” Allen goes on to say that in his view "the fundamental change” that is occurring during Francis’ papacy is that he’s reviving “the pastoral instinct.” “I think the cornerstone of that is that this is the Pope of mercy, a Pope who profoundly believes that mercy is the most important message that the world needs to hear from the Catholic Church at this time.” As for the most surprising aspect of Pope Francis’ papacy, Allen says that for him as a long-time Vatican correspondent, it’s “the media’s love affair with this Pope.” He describes the “Pope’s “ability to win over the hearts and minds of the media business as nothing short of astonishing.”

IB4TPWMA

[ebb tide]

Who is Francis to judge those legislators who approved that law?

[Biggirl]

AMEN!

Pope Francis is simply not only following Jesus but doing what his namesake said: “preach the gospel and when possible, use words.”

God Bless Pope Francis!

[ebb tide]

Pope Francis is simply not only following Jesus but doing what his namesake said: “preach the gospel and when possible, use words.”

Not quite. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, condemned adultery. And St Francis of Assisi, preached, with words, the True Faith to the muslims.

Francis does neither of the above, neither by words nor by example.

[NYer]

Jesus healed those people...Your pope can't do anything.

Jesus is the Son of God; Pope Francis is a humble mortal man.

The man thought that the Pope would speak to his aunt, who made the pilgrimage with him. He thought he would only get a cursory glance. But instead, Francis headed straight towards Riva, wrapped his arms around the man’s head and pulled him in for a tight embrace. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced before.

"He didn't have any fear of my illness," the 53-year-old told CNN. "He embraced me without speaking ... I quivered. I felt a great warmth." The encounter with the pontiff lasted for just over a minute, but aunt Caterina Lotta says her nephew still feels the reverberations.

Disfigured man speaks out about Pope’s loving embrace: I felt like I was in paradise

[Bigg Red]

God Bless Pope Francis!

**
Amen!

[GeronL]

I thought it was supposed to be unchanged since time began?

[Rocky]

St Peter don’t you call me ‘cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the communist Pope.

[Iscool]

Jesus is the Son of God; Pope Francis is a humble mortal man.

That was the point of my post...

[Salvation]

I guess some people don't understand that sometimes we must "Ask, Seek, and Knock" through prayer.

Gospel Mt 7:7-12

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.

“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets.”

[Zionist Conspirator]

The biggest move, however, came last month when Francis created a new job, the Secretariat for the Economy, and handed hard-nosed Australian Cardinal George Pell full authority over the Holy See's business, administrative and personnel matters.

Cardinal Pell, the hard-nosed conservative who insists Adam and Eve are myths.

[ebb tide]

Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.

I hope Pope Francis doesn't preach that to the homos.

[Zionist Conspirator]

St Peter don’t you call me ‘cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the communist Pope.

Now that there is funny!

[NKP_Vet]

“That tells me a lot. You can know a lot about a person by the people who admire him”

Maybe if the sodomite would read the interview where the Pope said he was a “son of the church” and if you wanted to know the Catholic Church’s position on homosexuality it’s contained in the Cathecism of the Catholic Church. Let the sodomite read it and let it sink in. Pope Francis is changing nothing about homosexuality being listed as a mental disorder and to engage in it is a sin.

[Salvation]

Taking it out of context, eh?

[ebb tide]

Not at all.

Who are you to judge??

[Salvation]

Nor you.

[ebb tide]

Let the sodomite read it [the CCC] and let it sink in.

Tell that to Francis and his cardinals and bishops. They don't seem to get it yet.

[NKP_Vet]

So you want to bet me that not one word of the Catechism will be changed while Francis is Pope? I’ll will take that bet any day of the week.

[ebb tide]

JP II changed the Catechism. As a matter of fact, the publishing of it’s first edition was halted because it contained heresy. So don’t tempt me to take your money.