Pope Francis (Pastor of Mercy) (10 page)
Having carried his own luggage onto Shepherd 1, the Alitalia plane used by the Pope and those traveling with him, Pope Francis greeted the thousands of young people who came to the airport to welcome him on July 22, “I ask permission to come in and spend this week with you” (as reported in coverage by National Catholic Reporter). If Pope Francis needed an answer, he would soon find it. The popemobile, as it made its way to the presidential palace, had to take a detour as it slowly inched forward because of the crowds and congestion. Enthusiastic crowds took the opportunity to jump right in and lovingly surround the Holy Father’s vehicle, hoping to touch him. While the papal security was alarmed, Pope Francis felt very much at home, shaking hands through the window and greeting well-wishers. To make for more security headaches, but to the delight of the crowds, Pope Francis had eschewed the popemobile, closed in by bulletproof glass, for an open-air white Jeep, just as he has opted for in Rome.
An hour late, Pope Francis finally reached the presidential palace. He expressed his joy to be back in Latin America, attributing it to God’s “loving providence” that Pope Benedict had selected Rio for the event. Echoing St. Peter, he told the crowds, “I have neither silver nor gold, but I bring with me the most precious thing given to me: Jesus Christ!” Having visited the rich, Pope Francis did not forget the poor. He headed later that day to the favelas, the slums that surround Rio’s modern skyline, to spend time with the poorest in the city as he was accustomed to doing in Buenos Aires. He told them, “The Brazilian people, particularly the humblest among you, can offer the world a valuable lesson in solidarity, a word that is too often forgotten or silenced because it is uncomfortable.”
On July 24, Pope Francis spoke to journalists about the problems faced by young people today. Recalling the lessons he learned on the value of work from his own youth, the Holy Father shared, “The young, at this time, are in a situation of crisis. We are somewhat accustomed to this culture of rejection: too often we discard the elderly. But now, also with the young unemployed, the culture of rejection reaches them too. We have to eliminate this habit of rejection!”
As a cardinal, Pope Francis, would often hear confessions at major events. He continued this practice; he joined his brother priests in hearing the confessions of young people at Quinta da Boa Vista Park in Rio, on July 26. After participating in a full schedule of events with the youth of the world gathered in Rio, Pope Francis was joined by over three million young people for Sunday Mass on the expansive beaches of Copacabana, a site more familiar with partying than papal services. He told the young people, recapping his homily, “Go, do not be afraid, and serve. If you follow these three ideas, you will experience that the one who evangelizes is evangelized, the one who transmits the joy of faith receives more joy.” The Holy Father believes very much that the young people are the ones that will reach the most young people for Christ. The youth at Rio placed their trust in Pope Francis. When departing for Rome on July 29, Pope Francis told the youth, “I will always place my hopes in young people.”
Pope Francis would meet again shortly with the youth. He gathered with about 20,000 young people outside Our Lady of the Angels Basilica in Assisi on October 4, towards the end of his celebration of the memorial of St. Francis. There, he answered a number of their questions. While the millennial generation has often been noted for its lack of commitment, Pope Francis told the young people not to be afraid: “I want to tell you not to be afraid of taking definitive steps in life.” He told them, “I ask you, instead, to be revolutionaries, I ask you to swim against the tide; yes, I am asking you to rebel against this culture that sees everything as temporary and that ultimately believes you are incapable of responsibility - that believes you are incapable of true love. I have confidence in you and I pray for you. Have the courage to swim against the tide. And also have the courage to be happy.” He explained that marriage and the priesthood are the kind of definitive commitments through which we find fulfillment. “One time I heard a good seminarian say: I want to become a priest for ten years. Then I will think about it again. That’s the culture of provisionality. Jesus did not save us provisionally, he saved us definitively.”
Pope Francis also encouraged the young people to see marriage as a true vocation, telling them, “It takes courage to start a family.” He also denounced the culture of divorce which has increased in recent decades: “You know that marriage is for a lifetime? ‘Yes, we love each other, but we’ll stay together as long as love lasts. When it’s over, we go our separate ways.’ That is selfishness.”
At the same time, Pope Francis has also expressed pastoral concern for Catholics who are divorced and remarried. It is a practice that is contrary to the Church’s teachings, yet many Catholics find themselves today in that state and may not receive Communion. The Holy Father calls such persons to participate actively in parish life and to stay close to Christ. Meanwhile, Pope Francis called together his first extraordinary Synod of Bishops to meet in October 2014 to discuss the topic of family and marriage, an institution that is so essential to society, but remains in crisis.
Like an Old Testament prophet shaking believers and non-believers alike by his words and actions, Pope Francis continues to make headlines around the world nearly every day. He continues to apply the ‘medicine of mercy’ that Pope John XXIII called for at Vatican II in new and surprising situations. From the ‘End of the World,’ the Argentine Pope brings a new perspective on the traditional faith. He is carrying out his role as Supreme Teacher most eloquently through his gestures of love and mercy. He strikes a chord in the hearts of many that have been closed in the past to what the Church offered.
Pope Francis wants this medicine of mercy to reach everyone. He speaks of a ‘holy middle class’ that he wants to reach and foster. He tells Father Spadaro, “There is a ‘holy middle class,’ which we can all be part of... I see the holiness in the patience of the people of God: a woman who is raising children, a man who works to bring home the bread, the sick, the elderly priests who have so many wounds but have a smile on their faces because they served the Lord, the sisters who work hard and live a hidden sanctity. This is for me the common sanctity.”
While Pope Francis has often been contrasted in the media with his predecessors, there is in fact much continuity. Pope Francis' changes are not intended as a rebuke to former popes, but are simply the way he has always ministered as a pastor. Cardinal Dolan tells us in “Praying in Rome”, “Pope Francis is a simple and sincere man, not one scripting his actions and messages. He’s just himself. This is who he is. He has no marketing plan that says, for instance, that he’s not going to live in the papal apartments or that he’s only going to speak in Italian. His strategy and protocol is his sincerity.”
The three popes should be seen in a hermeneutic of continuity. Like Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis is a charismatic and open figure, comes from a far-away land, loves the youth, and has great devotion to Mary. Like the son of Poland, he is interested in a theology of women grounded in the example of the Blessed Virgin, has dealt with oppressive regimes, and speaks strongly from the Church’s social teaching. In fact, Pope Francis has finalized and approved Blessed John Paul II’s canonization as a saint, which he plans to preside over on April 27, 2014. Like Pope Benedict, Pope Francis has a love of the Church as the Bride of Christ, warns against reducing the Church to merely a nongovernmental organization, has zeal for social justice, and has a personal presence of humility. Pope Francis shared the following about his predecessor’s resignation, “Pope Benedict has done an act of holiness, greatness, humility. He is a man of God.” In fact, on June 29, Pope Francis promulgated the encyclical Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith), which Pope Benedict had been working on as a catechesis for the Year of Faith and has added a number of his own touches as well.
The encyclical, which speaks eloquently in Pope Benedict’s usual style on the harmony of faith and reason and the importance of faith for society as a whole, completes the series of encyclicals Pope Benedict had intended as a catechesis on the theological virtues: faith (Lumen Fidei in 2013), hope (Spes Salvi in 2007), and charity (Deus Caritas Est in 2005). Pope Francis visited with the Pope Emeritus at Castel Gandolfo on March 23, and in the Vatican Gardens on July 6, to converse and to pray. At Castel Gandolfo, Pope-Emeritus Benedict, dressed as he does now in a simple white cassock, attempted to show special deference to Pope Francis, to which the new Holy Father responded, “We are brothers.”
In fact, some have even described the three pontificates in terms of the three theological virtues: hope for John Paul II, who encouraged the people from the Cold War through the Millennium to “be not afraid,” faith for Pope Benedict XVI, who emphasized the unity of faith and reason, and charity for Pope Francis, who has put the teachings of his predecessors into practice in a dramatic and touching way. All three popes have worked successively to fully implement Vatican II. Pope Francis inherits from Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict pastoral boundaries for the reform from Vatican II to retain continuity with the Church throughout the ages. All three popes have taught the same unchanging Faith of the Church.
Pope Francis tells us that despite the problems of the Church and the world, we should have hope for the future. On March 15, he told the College of Cardinals, “Never give in to the devil’s pessimism, discouragement and bitterness. Christians need to share the Gospel message with joy and courage because it will truly answer people’s deepest needs.” The Holy Father explained to Father Spadaro that it is not optimism he is looking for. He says, “I do not like to use the word optimism because that is about a psychological attitude. I like to use the word hope instead.... The fathers of the faith kept walking, facing difficulties. And hope does not disappoint....” He continues, “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.”
Today, many people are looking the Church to change. Some are looking for Pope Francis to change doctrines. Pope Francis has insisted that what needs to change is not the doctrines, which by their nature cannot change, but the people need to change. Cardinal Dolan speaks of the future changes in Pope Francis' papacy, “The Pope will call for a radical change within our hearts and souls, because that’s what Jesus did. The Church is interested in a change in the human heart - a change otherwise known as repentance and conversion.”
Pope Francis explains to Father Spadaro his approach to the problems of the Church of today, “The thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. You have to heal... wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”
The following section is written and compiled by the editor
In a September 2013 interview, Pope Francis discussed his daily prayers, stating, “I pray the breviary every morning. I like to pray with the psalms. Then, later, I celebrate Mass. I pray the Rosary. What I really prefer is adoration in the evening, even when I get distracted and think of other things, or even fall asleep praying. In the evening then, between seven and eight o’clock, I stay in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour in adoration. But I pray mentally even when I am waiting at the dentist or at other times of the day.”
A month earlier, at the Mass for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Francis urged Catholics to pray the rosary, “Mary joins us, she fights at our side. She supports Christians in the fight against the forces of evil. Especially through prayer, through the rosary. Hear me out, the rosary... Do you pray the Rosary each day? I don't know, are you sure? There we go!”
As a child, I remember seeing my grandmother pray the rosary. I remember thinking that the practice was odd, even frightening to watch. Often we are afraid of things that we do not understand, and, I have since learned that the tradition of praying the rosary is quite beautiful. I hope the following chapter provides both instruction and reference for practicing Catholics, and a deeper understanding for those of different religions. The following chapter explains in detail the traditions of praying the rosary, a tradition that Pope Francis holds dear.
The following sections provide a brief overview of how to pray the rosary. This section also appears in The Life and Legacy of Pope John Paul II, by Wyatt North.
First, begin by holding the cross and repeating the “The Sign of the Cross.”
The Sign of the Cross
In The Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Then, “The Apostle’s Creed” is said on the Cross.
The Apostle's Creed
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, He descended into hell; the third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.