Dear Blog Readers –
Pope Francis is neck deep in Easter Week celebrations and I have the distinct feeling he is tired. He said it himself Thursday morning in the Chrism Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica. The Chrism Mass is the annual Mass held on the morning of Holy Thursday during which the Pope blesses the silver vats of oil that will be used in the sacraments in the parishes of Rome throughout the year. Although it gets little attention, I always love this ceremony – the large silver vats being wheeled into the Basilica, and the Pope leaning over to blow his blessing. The Mass is celebrated in the Basilica with the bishops, priests and nuns from Rome.
But what struck me this time was the Pope’s Homily. It was entirely dedicated to the tiredness of priests, the weariness caused by the efforts made in their work. The whole time Pope Francis was speaking, I had impression he was talking about himself. Just a few weeks ago, on the 2nd anniversary of his Papacy (March 13th), the Pope said in an interview with Mexican journalist Valentina Alazraki that he did not think his papacy would last long, he also said that what he would really like to do is go out and get a pizza without being recognized.
So here are a few quotes of what he said at the Chrism Mass.
“The tiredness of priests! Do you know how often I think about this weariness which all of you experience? I think about it, often, especially when I am tired myself.”
So, he is tired. He went on to say:
“It can also happen that, whenever we feel weighed down by pastoral work, we can be tempted to rest… We must not fall into this temptation.”
So, the Pope is tired, but he is not going to take a rest. We already knew that. In addition to the Easter activities, this Pope keeps a frenetic schedule, wearing down all those around him. In the next months he is planning to go to Sarajevo (June 6th), take a trip to South America visiting Bolivia, Paraguay, Ecuador and Colombia in July, and visit the US in September, going to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, followed by a visit to Washington to speak to a Joint Session of Congress and a visit to the UN in New York. He has also said he wants to visit Africa this year.
And if that were not enough he’s got to gear up for the second round of the Synod of Bishops on the family in October where the bishops will have to hammer out some definitive conclusions to all the questions left hanging after fierce discussions in the first round – communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, and how the Church treats homosexual relationships, and co-habitation to name a few.
And once he’s wrapped up the Synod, it will be time to dive into the Jubilee Year preparations. Pope Francis announced a Jubilee Year starting December 8th dedicated to forgiveness and mercy.
During a Holy Year, the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica and doors in three other churches in Rome are left open. People passing through the doors will receive salvation. The first Holy Year was declared in 1300 by Pope Boniface and the last one was under Pope John Paul II in 2000.
Next Saturday, April 11, there will be a special ceremony in front of the Holy Door with the reading of various passages of the Papal Bull of Indiction announcing the Jubilee of Mercy.
And now back to his tiredness speech. Here is another quote:
“There is what we can call “The weariness of people, the weariness of the crowd.” For the Lord, and for us, this can be exhausting…yet is a good weariness, a fruitful and joyful exhaustion.”
Could it be that the Pope who throws himself passionately every Wednesday into his weekly audience, frequently stopping his popemobile as it tours St. Peter’s Square to kiss every baby presented to him and to caress and hug every handicapped person he sees, is getting weary of all the crowd and people who want a piece of him?
He also spoke of tiredness of dealing with the bad guys. He said:
“There is also the kind of weariness which we can call “the weariness of enemies”. The devil and his minions never sleep and, since their ears cannot bear to hear the word of God, they work tirelessly to silence that word and distort it. Confronting them is more wearying.”
Could the Pope be thinking about those trying to block his reforms of the Curia? Or is he thinking about recent terror attacks in Kenya, and Tunisia? I would not know.
(A little aside here – I am taking these quotes from the official Vatican translation into English. For big events, the Vatican provides official translations for journalists in a variety of languages. In this case – French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish. I love the choice of the translator to use the word “minions” in English to describe the devil’s assistants. It brought to my mind the wretched orcs from “Lord of the Rings” but then I mentioned it to my kids and they said they thought of the new film “Minions” with the little guys dressed in yellow and blue with goggles on. )
The Pope concluded that one should feel “impelled to go out even to the ends of the earth to every periphery.” In this way we can bring the good news to the most abandoned, knowing that “he is with us always even to the end of the world” Let us learn how to be weary, but weary in the best of ways.”
I felt – and this is just my personal opinion—that the Pope is telling us what he is thinking about his own mission. He is tired. He is weary, but he feels “impelled to go out to the end of the earth, to every periphery.”
And that was just the morning Mass. In the afternoon, he traveled across Rome to the Rebibbia Prison where he said Mass for the prisoners and washed the feet of 12 inmates and one child. There were five male prisoners and five women, one with a little boy in her lap. The Pope also washed and kissed the boy’s foot. The boy stared at the Pope with big brown eyes and such an serious expression as though he understood the importance of the gesture.
Addressing the prisoners, the Pope said: “Even I need to be cleansed by the Lord…so that the Lord also washes my filth… so that I become more slave-like in the service of people as Jesus did.”
This evening Pope Francis took part in the Celebration of the Passion of Christ Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. He walked down the center aisle of St. Peter’s wearing a burgundy colored robe. He then lay flat on his stomach on a a rug at the center of the basilica and prayed for several minutes. Again, I thought he seemed tired.
Tonight is one of my favorite events in the Vatican Calendar, the Via Crucis, or Way of the Cross, at the Colosseum. I love to cover this event because of the beauty of the spot, the history of the Colosseum — the brutality of the deaths of all those gladiators and animals mixed together with the history of the Catholic church and the brutality of the end of life of Jesus.
I will update on that tomorrow.
Note: A big thank you to AP Photographer Gregorio Borgia who passed on to me some of his extra photos after he finished filing for AP.
Tonight is my fave too. I’ve only been in Rome for it once, 96, and we were right on the rail where the Pope stopped for the Sixth Station.
Sometimes being emotionally exhausted is worse than physical exhaustion. Beautiful coverage and insight. And I loved the minions!
Thank you Kay! I think he must be both emotionally and physically exhausted. He does both the practical and emotional/sentimental/mystical (the right word is not coming to me) parts of his job with such intensity. Speaking of the right word, I love that word “minions” too. It is so hard to be a translator, even though I speak Italian quite fluently now, I often find myself in difficulty finding the correct word in English. And speaking of translating– I am reading two books of Elena Ferrante right now. Have you ever read her books? I love them! And the translator is fantastic. Her name is Ann Goldstein. I have a huge respect for people who can capture the essence in one language and put it correctly in another.
Hi Trisha! I know what you mean about translating – trying to find the correct nuance of a word when converting a word or sentence to another language is very tricky. Often in my journey of learning Italian I find myself flustered in not finding the adequate word to convey the correct feeling – and I have often read your blog wondering how you seem to pull it all off so well. I have to admit I am a wee bit green with envy (and more overwhelmed with respect) at how well you have transitioned to a life there…even with the odd bump along the road. I am currently taking a look at the Elena Ferrante book and am surprised I haven’t heard about her, but I think I will order a book as they seem interesting (and come with a great recommendation). :-)
I am such a disaster at translating — I need time to contemplate and often the right word doesn’t come to me for days. You are very sweet with your compliments on my transitioning to Italy I feel as though I am constantly stumbling. Let me know what you think about Elena Ferrante.
There is nothing to compare to the weariness of the soul. Where physical weariness, call it fatigue, can be washed away by sleep, rest and good food, there is little succor for a wounded spirit. I can certainly understand how, with seeing all that is wrong with the world, the Pope would be tired. And yet he continues. He is pretty amazing As always, thanks for your insights into the life of the Pope. And I love hearing about all the various goings on at the Vatican. I know little about them, so it’s enjoyable to read about them. And I must ask – what’s new with Padre Georg???
Yes, it really does seem this week that the Pope is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. As far as Padre Georg is concerned, I have not noticed him this week. I must start paying more attention. If Georg is not around, it probably means he is staying close to Benedict XVI, which might mean the former Pope is not well. I need to find out. I will get back to you.
“Gregorio Borgia”. Now there’s a name to conjure with . . . Does he have an Uncle Rodrigo, or a brother Cesare?
Gregorio claims he is not related to those terrible Borgia’s but I have my doubts…
It was very funny, once we were doing a story for our Entertainment department on the filming of the TV series “Borgia” near Rome. No one on the set could believe that Gregorio’s last name was really Borgia.
Here is the link to that blog post if you are interested.
https://www.mozzarellamamma.com/2012/the-brilliant-bloody-borgias-are-back/
Thank you for the link: an interesting post and story. What few people realize is that Borgia family was not Italian, but Spanish: Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope Alexander VI, was born in Valencia. Trivia item of the day!
Thanks Philip — good to know. I love Trivia — share any trivia you want with me, and this blog, whenever you want. Here’s a Trivia Question for you, that I didn’t get into in my post but I was tempted to explain. What is a Papal Bull?
What a beautiful column about Pope Francis Trisha. We will continue to pray God for this Pope. It is a saint. Thank Trisha for your report. I would like to be in Rome in this days for these activities. In the near future I will stay for the mercy of God.
Such a moving post, Trisha! I, too, have had lingering thoughts about his remark that his papacy might not be long, whether it hints at a shadow he is for now concealing. Yet I can also attest to a tiredness that comes to clergy in the midst of the holy seasons, which is a mix of exhaustion from the emotional intensity of the many services that pile on top of each other, and a spiritual exhaustion that comes from dealing in the midst of all this with the frailty of human life, which presses into the seasons as tragedies, betrayals, pettiness, and all the things we hope faith could temper, if not eliminate. I would guess Pope Francis may be reflecting some of the difficult conflicts he has to deal with in the church, and also the work he sees others doing to handle things on his behalf, and how unrelenting his opponents can be. He may also really need a break, a week at Castel Gandolfi could do him a world of good, but he may feel it is too opulent there. I believe he also feels the tragedy that surrounded Jesus in this week, which he immerses himself in each day, and it may be exhausting for him emotionally, too. He is in my prayers. Thanks again for this sensitive post –
Thank you Nancy. I think you are right on absolutely every point and I think you as a clergywoman would know the incredible work and difficulties involved in keeping up with all the duties and responsibilities of a parish.
The Pope is a good man, but he is just a man like the rest of us after all. I believe he is overcome with his “job” and I feel sure he refers to the evil acts committed against Christians by Muslims. Being the man that he is, he cannot understand how they can be so cruel.
As for minions, that word was a little used generic term for masses of “worker bees” who toil for a larger leader. Kids never heard of minions before the minion films were made, so now they assume all minions are those little yellow guys.
Thanks for your comment Barbara, yes, you are right, the Pope is clearly deeply troubled or filled with anguish over the killing of Christian in the Middle East and Africa. And on the “minions” — it is such a lovely word. I hope it doesn’t get hijacked for kids into being just those little yellow guys. Today I heard again someone use one of my favorite words in Italian –LESTOFANTE — it means a swindler or a con man. It just rolls off the tongue so smoothly in Italian. I hope no one ever hijacks that word.
Thanks for a moving portrait of a man who pushes himself to do what he sees as right and necessary. I found the description and pictures of the Pope’s actions more mving than the 2 hours time I spent in church Good Friday afternoon. After that I needed a dose of Fr. Thomas Reese in National Catholic Reporter who wrote “How to cope with Holy Week when you feel less than inspired.” And now reading about the Pope also helps with this. I hope and, yes, pray too that he can accomplish his reforms.
I will be in Rome from mid-December to mid-January this coming winter so will be able to see the open doors that I have only read about. I look forward to that though I think I will save my visits to St. Peter’s and the Vatican Museums until January when the crowds will be less than at Christmas time.
Thank you again. Even the minions helped!
A presto
Joan — thanks for your comment. I also read Thomas Reese’s article on “How to Cope with Holy Week”. He is good. I have interviewed Reese many times and is also makes an excellent TV interview. I hope to see you in Rome next winter!
What an interesting an timely report. Pope Francis must be truly exhausted. For the rest of us that is a terrible thought, Great leaders are rare and we can ill afford to lose one. Yet his work will never be done. All we can do is wish him strength (which has in abundance) and God speed.
L/D..