Dear Blog Readers — You may be getting tired of reading all my blog posts on the Vatican, so I will do one last one with a few notes on Pope Francis and my experiences covering him this past week.
FRIDAY – “DON’T FORGET THE POOR”
Last week after he was elected he held a meeting with all the journalists in Rome. We packed into the Paul VI hall at the Vatican. When he came in, he briefly read a speech, then he got rid of the prepared text, joked with us about how hard we have been working and said he would tell us the story of how, when elected Pope in the Sistine Chapel, he chose his new name as Pope. Although it was much better in the telling, with amusing gestures, I will quote him directly:
“During the election, I was seated next to the Archbishop Emeritus of São Paolo Cardinal Claudio Hummes: a good friend, a good friend! When things were looking dangerous, he encouraged me. And when the votes reached two thirds, there was the usual applause, because the Pope had been elected. And he gave me a hug and a kiss, and said: “Don’t forget the poor!” And those words came to me: the poor, the poor. Then, right away, thinking of the poor, I thought of Francis of Assisi. Then I thought of all the wars, as the votes were still being counted, till the end. Francis is also the man of peace. That is how the name came into my heart: Francis of Assisi. For me, he is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation; these days we do not have a very good relationship with creation, do we? He is the man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man … How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor!”
Following his speech he personally greeted about 40 journalists who had been selected through a lottery. He spoke to each one of them, chatting briefly and hugging and kissing many of them. AP Rome Photo Editor Domenico Stinellis was chosen as was my friend Phoebe Natanson, a producer for ABC News. Phoebe told me later she found him to be “disarmingly warm” and said he immediately grasped both her hands and told her in English, “pray for me, pray for me.”
SUNDAY – “BUON PRANZO”
On Sunday Pope Francis had his first weekly Angelus, the Sunday blessing and comments that the Pope gives at noon from the window of the Papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace to whoever gathers in the piazza below.
Before the Angelus, Pope Francis said Mass in a church just inside the Sant’Anna gate at the Vatican. He stunned his security guards — and AP cameraman Paolo Lucariello — by charging towards the crowd shaking hands, hugging people and kissing babies.
It was then we understood we have a new kind of papacy on our hands. Gone are the days of the timid, intellectual Benedict XVI with his gentle, distant waves to the crowd. Perhaps David Letterman has summed it up best, we have our Argentinian “Gaucho” Pope — robust, physical, and energetic. I don’t think he is going to be trotting around St. Peter’s Square or the Vatican gardens on a horse any time soon, but his style is less ascetic than his predecessor.
We got to St. Peter’s Square early and I took my position with the AP Television cameraman Luigi Navarra at the obelisk. The square was packed, there were flags from all over the world. I interviewed people from Argentina, Ecuador, England, Portugal, Spain and Italy. I saw a group of Syrian flags waving and went over to talk to the group. One young man with a flag, Fida Ahmed, told me he was from Damascus and “we came here to give the new Pope and all the world our message: ‘stop the bloodshed in Syria.'”
Pope Francis’ Angelus message was brief and simple. He said that God never gets tired of forgiving people for their sins but people get tired of asking forgiveness. The crowd ate it up.
Once Pope Francis turned back from the window, I saw a priest standing near the obelisk still staring up at the window enraptured. I went over to talk to him. He said his name was Augustin Han adding, “He is so graceful, this is an unforgettable memory for me. I am Korean, I am a Korean priest and many Koreans, my friends, they love the Pope so much, I just received the blessing from him and I will take it also to my friends, I will send this message by facebook or by other methods to my friends in Korea.”
I am not sure if Father Augustin Han will pass the final words of the Pope “Have a good Sunday and a good lunch (Buon Pranzo),” to his friends in Korea, but the Italians loved it.
I get the feeling from that comment, his round belly and generous double chin, that this Pope likes to eat. I hope he likes pasta because we eat an awful lot of that in Rome!!
TUESDAY – CHARIOTS OF FIRE
On Tuesday, we had the inaugural mass for Pope Francis. The Vatican suggested that camerapersons, photographers and journalists arrive between 530am and 7am to get a good position. At 7am police opened the barriers at the end of Via Conciliazione opening the way down that wide cobblestone avenue that runs from the Tiber river up to St. Peter’s Square.
AP Television Cameraman Pietro De Cristofaro and producer Paolo Santalucia were in position at the edge of the Square to get what I thought was the best shot of the day — nuns and priests in full-length cassocks and habits sprinting full speed towards the square to get a place. Later we dubbed it the “Chariots of Fire” moment, or in the case of the nun with her hands in the air, “That Nun is on Fire!”
When Pope Francis entered the Square in the open Popemobile, it was again clear we are dealing with a different kind of papacy. He spent nearly half an hour touring the square, waving, kissing babies and touching people. At one point he even stopped the popemobile, jumped out the back and warmly kissed a severely handicapped man leaving the world leaders seated on the altar to wait.
The ceremony began with the bestowing of the fisherman’s ring– Pope Francis has chosen a simple gold-plated silver ring with an image of Saint Peter holding his fishing net (Peter was to be the fisher of men) and keys to the church, and the imposition of the pallium a simple woolen “scarf” symbolizing “Jesus the good shepherd” with red crosses.
Pope Francis’ homily was short and to the point– a clear cut message far from the cerebral speeches of Pope Benedict XVI. I spent some of the ceremony with the hundreds of journalists up on top of Bernini’s Colonnade that runs around the edge of the square. From there I tweeted bits of the Homily that were the most compelling to me, “We must not be afraid of goodness and of tenderness, and “let us never forget that authentic power is service.”
Another part that was too long to tweet, but worth repeating was this, ” Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world!
It is hard not to agree with the simple idea that we all should be protectors of this earth and of one another.
So, enough on the homily, and a few words on those sitting at the altar listening to it.
There were 132 delegations from around the world attending the ceremony. Presidents, princesses, and prelates wearing black dresses with veils, shaded sunglasses and green turbans took their seats on the altar in St. Peter’s Square for the inaugural mass for Pope Francis. My colleagues and I had a field day checking out their choice of attire for the historic event.
American Vice President Joe Biden had his aviator shades on making him look like he was part of his secret service escort. The wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was wearing a green turban. Prince Felipe of Spain wore a sky blue sash while his wife Princess Letizia was covering her head with a black lace veil. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was sporting a black hat and black brocade dress that looked like it could have been the curtains from a funeral home. German Chancellor Angela Merkel wore a staid dark pant-suit as though she was the director of the funeral home. Given the economic state of Europe these days, she may feel as though she is. Prince Albert of Monaco was wearing a tailcoat. My colleague Fulvio Paolocci noted that the President of Mexico Enrique Pena Nieto and his glamorous wife looked like they had walked out of a Mexican soap opera and into St. Peter’s Square.
THE POLITICS OF POPE FRANCIS
A number of blog readers have asked me questions about the politics of Pope Francis. I am in no way an expert, but I will pass on a few answers that I do know.
1) Will Pope Francis renew the church and reform the Vatican government?
Right after Pope Francis was elected, I interviewed Kim Daniels of Catholic Voices USA in St. Peter’s Square. She told me, “I am sure you know that God said to Saint Francis “Rebuild my Church” and one of the wonderful things about Cardinal Bergoglio using the name Francis is that he is pointing us towards renewal.”
There is no doubt that Pope Francis is already re-focusing the attention of the church on the poor, it is enough to read the words from his speeches and homilies above. But to keep up the momentum he needs to turn these words and gestures into concrete acts. Today the Vatican announced that Pope Francis has changed the traditional Holy Thursday appointment– when the Pope goes to Saint John the Lateran in Rome and washes the feet of priests – and will go to a juvenile prison. That’s a good start.
I think the Cardinals elected Pope Francis because they believe that he will clean up the corruption and dysfunction in the Vatican that led to the Vatileaks – Butler scandal (see blog posts “The Butler Did It“, and “The Butler Takes the Stand.”)
However for the moment the Pope has not made any changes. The Vatican announced last week,
“Holy Father Francis has expressed the desire that the Heads and members of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, as well as their Secretaries, and also the President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, continue, provisionally, in their respective positions. The Holy Father wishes to reserve time for reflection, prayer, and dialogue before any final appointment or confirmation.”
My guess is Pope Francis will reflect pretty quickly and make some changes in the Vatican government. I’ve asked friends who work both inside and outside-but-close-to the Vatican and this is what I have heard. People who work in the Vatican Curia are concerned. They have understood Pope Francis is kind and decisive, and they have understood that it is not going to be business as usual inside the Vatican. People who work inside think that Pope Francis will not tolerate ruthless ambition so that anyone working in the Vatican hierarchy hoping to get a purple or red hat might as well give up. One official told me the message trickling down from Pope Francis is “you are here to serve.”
Marco Politi, a well-known Vaticanista and author of books on several Popes including, “Joseph Ratzinger: A Crisis of a Papacy” and “His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of Our Time,” told me after the inauguration that Pope Francis has his work cut out for him. According to Marco, “Now begins the most difficult part of his papacy, to reorganize the Roman Curia, to have a Curia which is poor and not a center which looks rich and sometimes is arrogant towards other parts of the church. And a lot of people now are also waiting to see how he will face issues like women, priests, and the sexuality in the modern world.”
Which brings me to the answer to the next question:
2) Where does Pope Francis stand on social issues?
Pope Francis is conservative on social issues and does not waiver at all on the church doctrine endorsed by his two predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. This week when Pope Francis met with President Cristina Kirchner Fernandez at the Vatican he warmly kissed her and the two seemed to get along beautifully, but it is well known that they have clashed frequently on social issues — such as homosexual marriage, and contraception, all of which he opposes and she supports.
3) What has happened to Padre Georg?
Several people have asked me what has happened to Padre Georg (see my blog posts “The Vatican Heart-Throb” and “The X Pope: Mysteries and Confusion at the Vatican.”
Padre Georg, or more correctly Archbishop Georg Ganswein, Prefect of the Papal Household, if very much present at the Vatican these days at the side of the new Pope in nearly every meeting, and he looks dreadful. We (women journalists) have all noticed it. He has gotten a buzz haircut, his face looks gaunt and he appears weary. Many colleagues are guessing that the new Pope won’t allow him to stay in his position of power within the Vatican while continuing to live with the former Pope, so perhaps Archbishop Ganswein will have to make a decision, his personal attachment to Benedict XVI or his professional ambitions. We will have to wait and see.
4) What was Cardinal Bergoglio’s relationship to the military junta in Argentina from 1976 to 1983?
I do not have enough information to answer this question. A lot of others have commented on it, so I will just pass on a link to an article by Father Thomas Reese, a Vatican analyst who I use a lot and trust. He is author of “Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church”. Reese served for seven years as Editor-in-Chief of the Catholic Magazine “America” but then was removed by his superiors after they got pressure from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – then being run by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (future Pope Ben XVI) because of Reese’s editorial stance on priestly celibacy and ordination of women.
Here is an article he wrote recently titled: “Francis, The Jesuits and The Dirty War.”
FRAZZLED MAMMA FRONT – FROM NEWSPRINT NAILS TO PUK AND PUFFY
For those of you who are interested in the Frazzled Mamma Front, here are a few notes on that.
Chiara has been working away on her mamma-journalist nails, and here is what she did for me to sport at the Pope’s first angelus.
Sunday around 5pm after I got back from work, I told my family I just wanted to lie down for an hour, and turned off my blackberry and headed for my bed. But no one would leave me alone. First my son came in wanting to bother me, then my husband came in needing to tell me something, then my daughter came in and wanted to snuggle, and then finally my other daughter came in holding my blackberry and saying, “we tried to turn this on, but it is not working.”
Well, my daughters had been playing with my blackberry and they had blown the password 3 times and the blackberry was asking me for the dreaded PUK code, something one gets when you get your SIM card for your phone and then — if you are like me- you promptly lose it.
I got that SIM card in 1994 when I started working for AP Television and I had a gigantic cell phone with a big antenna on it. I had no idea where the PUK was and I had a fit. When I first got my blackberry a colleague told me they should be called a crackberry because they are more addictive than crack. He was right. I am so addicted that I check my emails at every traffic light in Rome. Sometimes I will look up and find I am sitting there answering an email when everyone else has pulled away. I have all my contacts saved in my blackberry — Vatican analysts, Vatican sources, friends, family, work contacts etc etc.
The idea of losing my blackberry on a Sunday night two days before the inauguration of the new Pope was more than I could take. I reacted more or less like a drug addict. I called my boss, I called the AP television office administrator, I called the AP technician. No one knew where I could find my PUK. The office technician suggested I either go find a Telecom store open on a Sunday night and get a new phone, or I find the secret key to his office and go through a huge folder in the corner with pieces of paper left over from the 1990s. With heavy heart, and clutching my little blackberry I made my way into the dark and cold office. Fortunately, I found the PUK under a pile of papers in the office safe. Phew. I have saved that darn PUK number everywhere!
The evening before the Papal inauguration, I stopped by the “profumeria” to pick up a bunch of items we had run out of at home — shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste etc. At the “profumeria” in Italy, if you spend enough money they give you little free trial containers of perfumes and skin creams. I must have really wrinkly eyes because the woman behind the counter enthusiastically said, “I have a wonderful new cream you can try it is “DIOR Anti-Rides Haute Correction” and she gave me this tiny little tube to try. (See also blog post “Fumbling in the Pharmacy“). And because I am, as they say in Italian a “pollo”, an ingénue, I took it home and swabbed it all around my eyes before going to bed.
I got up at dawn to make my way to the Vatican for the inauguration — to get in before all those crazed nuns (see photo above). I glanced in the mirror before I left and noticed that my eyes were really puffy and seemed to a disappear into my face. “Hmm, I must be tired,” I thought and that was that.
After the taxi left me, as I made my way walking in towards the square in the cool early-morning air, my eyes started watering. I didn’t think much of it and got to our workspace on the Agostinian roof where my colleague Paolo Santalucia was bent over his computer busily editing the early morning VATICAN PREPARATIONS story. I set up my computer beside him, sat down and began to write. There were five photo editors sitting behind us. When Paolo finished editing, he looked up from his computer to tell me something and then he stopped short, “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR EYES!” he exclaimed, “THEY’VE DISAPPEARED!” I told him that I was pretty tired, but also perhaps maybe it was the “DIOR Anti-Rides Haute Correction” cream I used the night before. “HEY, TRISHA’S BOTOXED HER EYES!” Paolo announced to the room, much to my embarrassment. “THAT’S NOT TRUE!” I yelled out defensively, ” I WOULD NEVER USE BOTOX!” All the photo editors were looking at me and laughing and I said, “it was just this weird Dior cream that I tried, maybe I had an allergic reaction.” But they didn’t seem to be listening, they had all turned back to their computers. Ah, what humiliation. What would I do without my male colleagues to keep me humble.
Yesterday I finally had the day off and it was the first day of spring, a spectacularly beautiful, sunny day in Rome. I threw myself back into Mamma duties — accompanying Caterina to a Hip Hop performance, doing Mamma Taxi duties for Chiara’s chorus and Nico’s water polo. Gone is the adrenalin of the Conclave days, but it is good to be back to normal.
Oh dear! Not the dreaded eye cream overdose! I’ve done it myself. Of course the woman in need reasons that if a little eye cream will beautify and regain lost youth, then a lot must be even better. Unfortunately not. In fact it is just as you reported – too much cream leads to dreadful irritation and uncomfortable eyes. The good news is this too shall pass. Next time, Frazz, go easy on the beauty cream.
I find the Pope’s friendliness and “every man’ attitude so refreshing. I think he will do wonders for the church and help renew people’s faith. Many people view the Church not only as corrupt, but distant. I think Pope Francis will change that. Please do not let this be your last Pope report. I am so enjoying them, and honestly they have sparked some real curiosity and self-examination in me.
I hope you have a restful and restorative weekend, Trisha. Congratulations on a job very well done. This is the story of a lifetime.
Thank you Adri, you are always so supportive. Don’t worry, I will lighten up on the beauty cream. I am glad you have enjoyed my Pope posts. I was worried I might be tiring some of my blog readers. Interestingly, my blog used to be divided more or less 50-50 between readers in the US and readers in Italy with a sprinkling of readers elsewhere. In the past month since I have been writing exclusively about the Vatican, my readership has taken a huge jump in the US and remained flat in Italy– which I guess means there are a lot of Catholics (and others) in the US who are interested in the Pope and the future of the Catholic Church. I think some Italians would prefer to hear more of my comments on the current politcal situation in Italy (a gigantic mess), which is less interesting for Americans.
Thanks Trisha. I’ve been looking forward to your latest write-up. Your comments on the conclave and new pope have been very interesting. I know you are glad to be back to a normal routine. How are the eyes??!
A. Tish
Thank you Auntie Tish — My eyes are fine. Actually, they had de-puffed by that evening. Did we ever tell you about the time in Kenya when Mom had the allergic reaction to the Mangoes? That was more or less what I looked like. One colleague suggested that now that Makeup companies are doing less testing on animals, they hand out little freebie trial tubes to do the testing on humans. I doubt that is true, but there is no doubt that I did have a bad reaction- and of course my male colleagues never hold back when it comes to giving me a hard time!
Brilliant, engaging, funny, a wonderful column! And I am dying to see a picture of the ‘new’ Padre Georg! Maybe Gregorio will take one . . .?
We had a full foot of snow on the first day of spring, I’m envious of your weather.
I think it will be important to see if the Pope brings in some new blood, some South Americans or other southern hemisphere priests, to work in the Vatican.
Love all these details! And, PBS has had John Allen, a Catholic journalist who seems to be quite smart, commenting, and I’ve found him interesting indeed. He seems to think there is some hope that Francis will make some moves to open things more for women, and is already moving away from Ben’s insistent sexual pronouncements, to a new focus on creation, which will allow the other things to recede into the background, and then change could be introduced without confrontation. We’ll see . . .
Hi Nancy, I don’t think you want to see a photo of the new Padre Georg – he doesn’t looks so hot anymore. As far as John Allen is concerned, I know him well. He is definitely one of the best English language analysts around (although I would put John Thavis, author of “The Vatican Diaries” right up there too). John Allen is extremely knowledgable, has excellent sources inside the Vatican, and is also completely pompous and full of himself. (He knows it though, and sometimes we tease him about it to his face at the Vatican or on Papal Trips, so it is ok that I write it here.) John can deliver the perfect TV soundbites, interesting, useful tidbits of information in a short space. Unfortunately for me, he has had an exclusive deal with CNN for years and I cannot interview him. I am actually surprised you saw him on PBS.
As far of the women question is concerned, lots of people are hopeful– I guess we will have to wait and see, certainly I think it has hit rock bottom in the past 8 years. And one last thought on Vatican analysts and women- traditionally all the Vatican experts were men. I found that when I first came to Rome, it was very difficult to cover the Vatican as a woman. People didn’t trust women inside the Vatican (see my blog post, Watch Your Tongue, Hand and Eyes )
It is getting better, but just before the conclave I went to visit a contact inside the Vatican, and I noticed he kept his door wide open the whole time he was talking to me. I think he thought it would have been suspicious if he were alone in his office with a woman and the door was closed. (Then again, given how I have been writing about Padre Georg, maybe I am making myself sound like a dangerous predator)
I love that you mentioned the priests and nuns running down Via Della Conciliazione to get into the square. It’s obvious now, but I had no idea that’s what transfixed as soon as the gates were opened! I’m looking forward to Holy Week celebrations (especially Holy Thursday – I can already feel goosebumps thinking of the Pope washing the feet of young prisoners!).
The priests and nuns– cassocks and habits flapping about — sprinting down Via Della Conciliazione was definitely a fantastic moment.
I want to thank you again for giving the blueberry pie to Father Rosica, that was a lovely gesture on your part. Father Rosica has been an excellent spokesman and a great source of information and interviews for all the English language journalists in Rome, and we were all so grateful to him. But you were the one who did the kind gesture. I appreciate that.
Ciao Trisha. The new pope seems like a breath of fresh air into a stale institution. I was encouraged by his open pope-mobile and willingness to be close to the people and be pastoral, not above it all. I do wish the English-speaking press would use his name Francesco. Francis just isn’t quite as fitting.
I agree Laurel — this Pope definitely seems like a breath of fresh air, especially for those of us who covered Pope the slow decline of John Paul II and the more tepid Benedict XVI. Pope Francis so far has been giving us good material to cover. I also agree with you that the name Papa Francesco just sounds better, but in English Francesco is Francis — St. Francis of Assisi is Francis, not Francesco, in English, so we have to stick with that (at least for AP, I guess on my blog I can call him Papa Francesco)
Oh Trisha – I do hope you continue these pope posts. They give an insight we wouldn’t have otherwise. I never knew about Padre Georg until your blog – and I look forward to hearing how his situation gets resolved – old pope or new? He sounds as frazzled as you. I love the comparison of heads of state and how they were dressed – you are what you wear! And on that note, your nails are great and so apropos for your profession. Brava Chiara. Oh, and switch eye creams, but I’m sure you already have.
Thank you Linda, I really appreciate your support. I can’t keep up these Pope posts because I have basically been living at the Vatican for the past month and was knee deep in our coverage there. Now I will have to go back to covering the Italian political situation as well, and other stories in Italy. Still, I will do what I can, because I have realized my blog readers are very interested in what is happening now at the Vatican. Yes, I will admit, I had fun writing about the clothing on the VIPs were wearing. Chiara will be pleased to hear you liked my nails.
. . thanks for the hard work and hours spent to keep us informed – for the man and his church I care nothing but understanding how ‘millstones’ work is useful in order to survive them!
Thank you Alan, I appreciate your taking the time to read all these Vatican posts as I know it really isn’t your cup of tea.
Hey Trish,
How A. S. Roma is doing in these days?
If you want to know about AS Roma and their dearly beloved Captain Francesco Totti, you need to ask my husband on his blog http://www.gustavopiga.it (Yes, it is hard to figure out if Romans love their captain francesco or the Pope francesco more)
But if you want to know about Mario Balotelli, AC Milan’s new super-star, I can tell you. He is doing fantastically well! He is becoming more mature, scoring more goals and everyone is loving it. The new passion for Balotelli is called “Balomania”
Trisha,
This response is rather tardy, but I have been travelling in South America (yes, including Buenos Aires).
I am not a Catholic, so to some extent the identity of the Bishop of Rome is somewhat irrelevant to me, but there is an undeniable political/social dimension to the nature of the occupant of that office. As I mentioned to you before, I am a little troubled by what I see as Pope Francis’ ostentatious humility, beginning with his refusal to wear the traditional garb of the Papacy on his election, to his much-publicised decision to continue living in the hotel used by the Curia and visiting cardinals/bishops.
He says that he wants his church to be “a poor church, for the poor”. All very well, and all very Franciscan, but what does one do if one is not poor, or, heaven forfend, actually affluent? Does Francis mean that the church isn’t interested in you, or should, one immediately emulate his eponymous role model and give away all one’s worldly possessions? My interpretation of this is that he is actually narrowing the reach of his church rather than opening it.
What he wears is, I suppose, somewhat trivial, but there is, isn’t there, more than a tad of implied criticism of Pope Benedict, who as we know revived many of the papal traditions that had fallen into desuetude during Pope John Paul’s reign?
Finally (in this mini-rant), there is his decision about where he is to live. The pope, in an institutional sense, is the apex of a top-down pyramid of authority, regardless of who may be elected to fill the office pro tem. In such a position, absent some root-and-branch restructuring of the whole church (which we are most unlikely to witness even from Francis), the pope has to be able to exercise that authority. Pope John Paul reached down to the diocesan level in his interest in appointments, especially of bishops, a practice that Pope Benedict followed. In such situations, you cannot have a pope at the apex of this pyramid who wants to be “one of the boys”, as Pope Francis seems to want to be, living and eating and mucking in with cardinals, Vatican workers, bishops and priests. Inevitably it will dilute his authority. There is a very good reason why the pope lives (or has done for many papacies) in the Apostolic Palace. In his desire to be “ordinary” I think that Francis is being naïve, ironic though it may be to label any Jesuit as naïve.
Certainly Pope Francis provides the media with good copy. But whether he will be good for his church, and its alleged 1.2 billion adherents, remains to be seen. For me, as a non-Christian, the more I see of Francis, the greater my respect for the intellect and genuine modesty of Pope Benedict, especially his appeal for the West to preserve and promote its cultural traditions and values in the face of encroachment and hostility from non-Western ideology.
Philip — thank you for this very interesting “rant” as you call it. I really appreciate it. Your opinion is useful because it is in contrast with everyone else in Rome these days who seems to be thoroughly enamored. I have not written yet about the Pope’s choosing to live in the Domus Santa Marta, but I will. I think it is an interesting choice. I put it more in context with Cardinal O’Malley’s comments that the Pope is a “prisoner in a museum”. At least living in Santa Marta he gets to interact with more people. Also, I think part of the problem for Benedict XVI that lead to the Vatileaks crisis was that he was too isolated in the Papal apartments with his secretaries, the Memores, and the butler. But I will write more on all of that later. I love your comment that you think Francis is being naive noting that “ironic though it may be to label any jesuit naive”. I am guessing that he not naive that he is rather clever. As far as Pope Benedict is concerned, no one can doubt his intellect, his humilty and this profound desire to save the Christian traditions and roots in Europe. However, he certainly did not have the common touch that Pope Francis does. Anyway, feel free to rant on my blog anytime you want– it is good to hear a variety of voices and opinions.
Sorry, Our pope encourages sin!
But sir, so many children abused in the Church!
Pope Francis “Who am I to Judge?”
Did not the Lord give you authority! and what about the many countless victims? no justice for them!
Pope Francis ” Gay clergy should be forgiven and their sins forgotten”
There is no way I’m going to bring my children to be blessed or receive communion or go to confession before a so called gay clergy or queer priest in the house of the Lord. It’s a disgrace!!! no regard for the countless numbers of children and families who have been molested and french kissed by these demonic queers in the church.
No regard for these suffering people whatsoever!
The millions upon millions of dollars spent to protect and keep these stink en jackass queers comfortable, when all this money should have gone to the poor needy and homeless!!
It is illegal for this so called gay clergy to perform any ceremonial services to the faithful, let alone dress up in holy e tire.
This pope is a bum blasting jackass! a deceiver! one who speaks not the word of the Lord.
A BIG DOSE OF TRUTH MIXED WITH A BIG LIE. And the gull to say this, returning from youth day!
So shall the Lord come with swift justice to all those who agree with this brown stained pope.
U can bet on that!
In Jesus Mary and Joseph Thy Will Be Done, Amen and Amen (*)
I am sorry, I don’t think I understand your comment. Pope Francis said “who am I to judge?” about homosexual men and women. He was not referring to pedophiles.