Panelists at The Francis Factor: Pope’s celebrity should turn eyes to Jesus

Catholic Review ^ | 3/19/14 | Maria Wiering

[Welchie25]

“Like Pope Francis? You’ll love Jesus.”

It was a well-circulated Washington Post headline in December, but it could have been the tagline for the March 18 Francis Factor event held at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. As a cardinal, archbishop and four Catholic expert panelists shared insights from Pope Francis’ first year, they repeatedly shifted the attention away from the pope and onto the Son of God.

Pope Francis would have done no less.

“The pope is a true companion of Jesus,” said Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, a Capuchin Franciscan and archbishop of Boston, in the evening’s keynote address. Speaking to an audience of some 2,800 in Loyola’s Reitz Arena, Cardinal O’Malley said the pope is enticing people to take a new look at the church.

In a famous interview published in English by America magazine in September, the pope called the church “a field hospital after battle.”

“The field hospital imagery is more compelling than that of a museum or a concert hall,” the cardinal said. “Sometimes we lose our enthusiasm for mission because we forget that the Gospel responds to our deepest needs, since we were created for what the Gospel offers us: friendship with Jesus and love of our brothers and sisters.”

The Francis Factor was hosted by the Archdiocese of Baltimore, part of its 225th anniversary celebration.

Ignatius and Francis

Wearing his brown Franciscan habit, Cardinal O’Malley framed his remarks with the connection between St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis of Assisi. Ignatius read about St. Francis, and the friar’s example of self-denial and heroism played an important role in Ignatius’ conversion and founding of the Jesuit order.

Pope Francis can be understood not as a Jesuit who leans Franciscan, but as a fully Ignatian Jesuit, Cardinal O’Malley said.

[Alex Murphy]

“Like Pope Francis? You’ll love Jesus.” It was a well-circulated Washington Post headline in December, but it could have been the tagline for the March 18 Francis Factor event held at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. As a cardinal, archbishop and four Catholic expert panelists shared insights from Pope Francis’ first year, they repeatedly shifted the attention away from the pope and onto the Son of God. Pope Francis would have done no less.

And heavy emphasis on the word "should".

[CorporateStepsister]

Anything that sparks an interest in Christ will end up being good for everyone. To me he’s doing a really great job.

[Bigg Red]

Blog-pimping is so unattractive.
And the “Catholic Review” is a left-leaning publication.