Pope Francis
says what’s on his mind., especially when he is talking to Church leaders.
On September 16, 2016, he addressed a meeting of ninety-four recently ordained
bishops who were called to the Vatican, according to custom, for training in
their new responsibilities.
As reported by the Vatican website Pope Francis offered them a warm welcome, explained that he
was sharing what was on his mind as Peter’s successor, and urged them
to preach mercy as the summary of what
God offers to the world.
He described their ministry as "an icon of mercy,” adding that mercy is the only force able to
permanently attract the human heart.
He then told the assembly (the translation here is
mine not the Vatican’s) that “the world is tired of enchanting liars,” and he
included in that category “stylish priests and fashionable bishops.”
He said that people run away from narcissists,
manipulators and promoters of their own crusades. Bishops, he said, must seek
to satisfy God, not themselves.
He warned them to be more concerned about the
quality of their seminarians than the quantity, adding that they should be wary
of any seminarian who takes refuge in rigid
attitudes.
Pope Francis offered the Good Samaritan as a model
for the episcopal ministry, noting that
the one who was neighbor to the man who fell in
with robbers put mercy into action. “Verbs, not adjectives,” he said.
He further urged them, “Be close to your clergy,”
and asked them to offer their priests a hug from the pope and an assurance of his appreciation for their
active generosity.
Two days earlier, in a General Audience, Pope Francis had said, “It is bad for the Church when pastors
become princes, separated from the people, far from the poorest -- that is not
the spirit of Jesus. Jesus rebuked these pastors, and Jesus spoke about them to
the people:, saying ‘Do as they say, not as they do.’”
Early on in his
pontificate, in a June 21, 2013 address to papal representatives, Pope Francis
was emphatic about whom they might
recommend for ordination as a bishop: “You know the famous expression that
indicates a basic criterion in the choice of the person who must govern: si sanctus est oret
pro nobis, si doctus est doceat nos, si prudens est regat nos — if he is
holy let him pray for us, if he is learned, let him teach us, if he is prudent
let him govern us.
“ In the delicate task
of carrying out the investigation required prior to making episcopal
appointments, be careful that the candidates are pastors close to the people:
this is the first criterion. Pastors close to the people….May they be fathers
and brothers, may they be gentle, patient and merciful; may they love poverty,
interior poverty, as freedom for the Lord, and exterior poverty, as well as
simplicity and a modest lifestyle; may they not have the mindset of 'princes'
“Be careful that they
are not ambitious, that they are not in quest of the episcopate. It is said
that at an early audience Blessed John Paul II was asked by the Cardinal
Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops about the criterion for the selection of
candidates for the episcopate, and the Pope said with his special voice: 'the
first criterion: volentes nulumus'. Those who seek the episcopate.... no, they
won’t do.”
It is reasonable to
suppose that Pope Francis’ life story has contributed to his mindset about the
clergy needed for today’s Church. He openly acknowledges the mistakes he made
when he was at age 36 appointed in 1973 the Provincial Superior over all the
Jesuits in Argentina and Uruguay.
Biographer Paul Vallely
concludes that “something happened to Jorge Mario Bergoglio which changed him
dramatically” when he was removed from the office of Provincial in 1987 and in
1990 was sent into a kind of exile in Cordoba, Argentina. In his two years there Father Bergoglio underwent a conversion.
Vallely says, “Before
Cordoba his leadership style was that of a strict, severe, dutiful
disciplinarian, authoritarian who rarely smiled…afterwards he became gentler,
more forgiving, more concerned to preach mercy, more listening –and more anxious
to empower the poor…”
Pope Francis’ ministry
in many ways reflects the conversion and ministry of his namesake, Francis of
Assisi. The founder of the Franciscan order said that one day in the chapel of
San Damiano he heard a voice telling him, “Repair my church.” It is said that
at first he thought he was to fix the church (which he did), but later herealized he was called
to repair the Church!
Pope Francis is clearly
working to make repairs, an overhaul –from the top to the bottom.
{Sources: Vatican
website; Religion News Service article by Josephine McKenna (9/16/16); National Catholic Reporter online article
by Robert Mickens (9/26/16), Pope Francis:
The Struggle For The Soul Of Catholicism by Paul Vallely (Bloomsbury,
2015).}
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