Francis, part 9 (2018)

This is a continuation of Francis, part 8 (2017)

Pope tells priests to keep homilies brief: 'no more than 10 minutes!' (CNS)

As a matter of interest I used to teach homiletics in a major seminary many years ago and that's basically what I taught my students - I used to say 10-12 minutes. Mind you, I don't think they listened to me!

Francis modifies norms for the resignation of bishops (CNS)

Our archbishop resigned at the age of 75 a couple of years ago and was asked by the pope to stay on. He's still there, a great man but getting older, more tired and less healthy. Out of our seven dioceses, four are currently vacant, one has our 77-year old archbishop who has already resigned, one has a 74-year old bishop who will resign soon, and only one has a middle-aged bishop with a good few years left in him. Basically it means that within the next couple of years we will get six new bishops out of seven, a good thing in terms of bringing new life into the episcopate, perhaps, but also a loss of continuity and institutional memory.

One of our bishops, now aged 82 (we think - older people in South Sudan had no proper birth certificates and their official date of birth can vary by a year or two from their real one), resigned early, aged 68, as he had a dream of founding a peace village and had been preparing his auxiliary bishop to take over the diocese. John Paul II insisted that he go for a psychiatric examination before accepting his resignation. The old retired bishop is still going strong, living in his remote peace village, and travelling all over the country and indeed the world to help wth peace and reconciliation in various conflicts.

>1 John5918:
Something like this? just over 7 minutes...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0qOD9rtOEE

>3 Crypto-Willobie:

Ah, the famous, "My brother Esau is an hairy man but I am a smooth man" sketch! As funny now as it was all those years ago. Thanks for reminding me.

Here are a couple of other old favourites:

Rowan Atkinson in 'We are most amused'

The Two Ronnies: Rhyming Slang Sermon

Edited to add: Not strictly a sermon, but the great Irish comedian Dave Allen mimicking a sermon supposedly by Dr Ian Paisley at about 3:40 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THiV_Wa3Lz4, "Teeth will be provided!"

Ha! thanks for those!

>5 Crypto-Willobie:

What I like about some of those is that, at least in my younger days, there really was an Anglican vicar voice, accent and style which these comedians take off so well. And of course Ian Paisley was a godsend to comedians. Derek NImmo is another one who did it very well.

For Catholic priest comedy, you can't beat Fr Ted. The characters are real, or at least they are composites of real life priests (and priests' housekeepers). I know most of them!

Sadly, leaving religious comedy for a while, and back to the so-called "real" world!

Pope Francis wowed the world but, five years on, is in troubled waters (Guardian)

Pope renews Vatican's anti-sexual abuse panel (BBC)

Francis backs down in dispute with Nigerian priests, accepts bishop's resignation (NCR)

Today, 23rd February 2018, is the day designated by the pope for global prayer and fasting for peace in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the world.

It has actually been a three-stage process.

In November 2017 the pope presided at a special prayer for peace for the two countries in Rome.

In January 2018, a roundtable was held in Rome to consider peace in the two countries, chaired by Cardinal Turkson. I had the privilege of moderating the South Sudan panel, while the head of Caritas Internationalis moderated the DRC panel.

Then, a few weeks ago, the pope asked for today's global prayer and fasting. It has been endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury as well as the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, and churches all over the world have bought into it.

This afternoon here in South Sudan we held a national prayer in the Catholic cathedral in Juba, presided by our archbishop. Several hundred people participated, including three of our bishops. We had prayers, hymns and readings, mostly in English with a little Arabic. The South Sudan Council of Churches was represented and an Anglican priest read one of the bidding prayers. Another prayer, praying for the leaders of both the government and the opposition, was read by a police general.

Our Catholic bishops had been meeting for three days, and one of the things they did was produce a message for the pope's day of prayer and fasting, which was read out by the archbishop during the service. I had the privilege of helping to craft the message with them. They basically called for a change of heart by the leaders, a conversion, to allow them to take the risk of making peace.

Another part of the service was the public reception of a statue of Mary which had been blessed by the pope during the November prayer in Rome. In the January roundtable two identical statues were presented by Cardinal Turkson, on behalf of the pope, to the president of the DRC bishops' conference, Archbishop Utembi (who gave a very good presentation on nonviolence to the roundtable), and to a representative of the president of our bishops' conference (who was unable to attend in person due to visa issues). Our statue only arrived in Juba a couple of day ago (by DHL!), just in time to be officially received at today's service. It will do the rounds of the dioceses as a focal point for prayers and fasting for peace in solidarity with the pope.

There were other local prayer events today, for example at the Catholic University and some parishes, and we expect there to be more elsewhere in the country in the coming days.

Libertarians get social teaching wrong in book on Francis (NCR)

'Pope Francis and the Caring Society' is laughable or depressing, depending on your mood...

Five years on, Pope Francis has failed to deliver on his promises (Guardian)

by Catherine Pepinster

The pontiff’s efforts at church reform have stalled, letting down liberal Catholics on issues such as child abuse and the role of women

One hopes the subtitle was added by ignorant sub-editors and not by the author. If Francis has let anyone down (which is debatable given the huge task and huge constraints that he faces in trying to reform an unwieldy institution), it is Catholics, not "liberal" Catholics.

Five years of Pope Francis: A paradigm shift in mercy, migrants and marriage (Globe and Mail)

A more positive headline.

Retired pope says criticism against Pope Francis is 'foolish prejudice' (CNS)

retired Pope Benedict XVI defended the continuity of the church's teaching under his successor and dismissed those who criticize the pope's theological foundations...

Pope Benedict has made no secret of his affection for and admiration of Pope Francis...

Priest implies Pope Francis deserves death for his liberal views (Standard)

Charming. A Polish priest.

Pope Francis: people may receive Communion in the hand ‘where permitted’ (Catholic Herald)

>16 John5918: I am exceedingly puzzled. My local diocese gave communion in one kind only to the laity until relatively recently. I would therefore characterize it as rather conservative. However, communion is administered standing, and usually into the hand. What is the change here?

>17 Guanhumara:

No real change, I think, as communion under both kinds received standing has been the norm for decades in many places. I suspect Francis is just putting his personal seal of approval on it in the face of opposition from some quarters.

Pope Francis expresses closeness to South Sudan ecumenical delegation (Vatican News)

In South Sudan, 'the body of Christ is bleeding,' bishop says (CNA)

Pope Francis hits out at those who 'twist' the truth (Tablet)

Pope Francis has condemned those who "twist reality" and "invent stories" in order to gain power...

Pope Francis ‘abolishes hell’, saying souls of unrepentant sinners will simply disappear (Times)

I suspect what he actually said and/or meant was less dramatic than the headline suggests.

>21 John5918: What a relief though! Eh?

I like Rob Bell's take on the question.
Love Wins : A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived

>21 John5918: And here is a report of the Vatican Press Office response: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-dont-trust-report-that-pope-fran...

Annihilationism, which Scalfari has bizarrely and repeatedly attributed to Pope Francis (he did the same in 2015), is not Universalism.

Nor is Annihilationism, while heretical, notionally any more merciful than eternal punishment in Hell. Unless one thinks capital punishment is more merciful than life in prison ...

>24 hf22: If you take the popular and traditional interpretation of Hell, then that is life in prison with continual torture. Compared to which, I think capital punishment would be considered preferable.

However, I understood that the torment of Hell consists of the anguish of being deprived of the presence of God, which is not something inflicted, but a necessary consequence of rejecting God.

>25 Guanhumara:

Yeah, Universalism fails because it ultimately denies our free will and personhood. If I'm not free to reject God, my human dignity is destroyed, and the suffering we endure on Earth becomes a pointless cruelty. But at least it has the benefit of good intentions.

Annihilationism, aside from being philosophically & theologically untenable (as even Plato's Socrates knew), can't even claim the defense of good intentions. It simply posits the final killing of souls.

>26 hf22: No, that does not follow. 'Annihilationisn' would only be unjust if it applied to all souls. It seems a viable description of the total absence of the presence of God.

>27 Guanhumara:

I didn't say it was unjust - Indeed it doesn't seem to me inherently any less just than eternal punishment.

I said it doesn't, unlike Universalism, have the defense of good intentions (i.e. the desire all be saved).

In terms of the absence of God, Annihilationisn isn't viable philosophically & theologically, for the reasons (as I mentioned) even Plato's Socrates knew (i.e. in the Phaedo).

Pope Francis admits 'grave error' in discrediting Chilean church sex abuse victims (Guardian)

The burden of other peoples' sins must be getting heavy for Francis:

Does Pope Francis owe the Irish people an apology?
Ciaran Tierney | March 30, 2018
https://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/pope-francis-irish-apology

In face of scandal, Saginaw (Michigan) Bishop Cistone has a (PA) history protecting “the institution of the church”
Stateside Staff | April 11, 2018 | Listen 10:28
http://michiganradio.org/post/face-scandal-saginaw-bishop-cistone-has-history-pr...

Cardinal Burke discusses possibility of excommunication by Pope Francis (LifeSite News(?))

What a very strange article, given that as far as I know Francis has not announced his intention to excommunicate any cardinals. This is a writer trying to create a story out of nothing, and quite possibly trying to exacerbate a situation, on a website I've never heard of but which clearly has an axe to grind.

What a good, kind man. Allowing that unbelievers might be admitted to heaven might earn Francis the same kind of blowback as his musings on hell, though...

This Sweet Moment Between the Pope and a Young Boy Is Going Viral Because, Well, Just Watch It
Victoria Messina | April 24, 2018

https://www.popsugar.com/moms/Pope-Francis-Comforts-Boy-About-His-Late-Father-44...

Maybe Francis offered to preserve Pell's diplomatic immunity if he left the safety of the Vatican to face Australian justice? Per # 30, the burden of other peoples' sins must be getting heavy for Francis...

Why Won’t Pope Francis Quit Cardinal Pell, His Sketchy No. 3?
Barbie Latza Nadeau | 05.01.18

The Vatican’s highest ranking official ever to stand trial on charges of criminal sex abuse still has his job in Rome.

...Pell left Vatican City last June to face his accusers, despite initially pleading ill health that would have kept him safe inside the protected Vatican city-state, where he enjoys diplomatic status.

...Many wonder why, after Pell has already been found complicit in the coverup of clerical sexual abuse, that he should get to keep his job as head of the Secretariat for the Economy now that he is standing trial on allegations that he, too, is an abuser. No one has taken Pell’s place at the head of the secretariat, even as the pope struggles to institute financial reforms. An empty chair is also being kept for him on the eight-member committee of cardinal advisers to the pope, who are the pontiff’s closest advisers.

Francis, who has at times vowed zero tolerance when it comes to clerical sex abuse, is now faced with a daunting decision. If he lets Pell go, the prelate will lose diplomatic immunity that could keep him from serving jail time if he is convicted of the crimes he is on trial for. And if he keeps him as part of his Curia, he will have a hard time denying that he, too, is part of the longstanding network of those who protect abusers.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-wont-pope-francis-quit-george-pell-his-sketchy...

Pope Francis on Chile sexual abuse scandal: 'I was part of the problem' (Guardian)

Pope urges Neocatechumenal missionaries to respect cultures (Crux)

I've come across the Neocatechumenate from time to time on different continents over the last thirty years or so. While it's true that they often bring fresh life and vitality, I agree with those who warn of "its occasionally divisive presence in dioceses", and the pope's caution:

not to dictate to others or follow pre-ordained scripts, but to accompany the faithful patiently. He urged them to love and respect the cultures and traditions of other people. “We go forward together, without isolating ourselves or imposing our own pace, united as a Church, with pastors and all our brothers” (and presumably he meant to add "and sisters").

Radio interview with Chilean abuse survivor who spent several days at Vatican (5:32):

'Pope Cannot Claim He Was Misinformed': Chilean Abuse Survivor After Vatican Meeting
5:33 Download Heard on Morning Edition
Alex Leff | May 10, 2018

...Last month, three men who had been molested by a Chilean priest in their youth were invited to the Vatican by Francis so he could speak with them personally and ask their forgiveness.

One of the Chilean abuse survivors, Juan Carlos Cruz, now a communications professional in Philadelphia, describes how moving the experience was for him.

"He said, 'Juan Carlos, the first thing I want to do is apologize for what happened to you and apologize in the name of the pope, and in the name of the universal church,' " Cruz says in an interview on Morning Edition. "Of course it was very emotional."...

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/05/10/609182908/pope-cannot-claim-he...

Film shows 'fearless' pope taking on church (AFP)

Pope Francis tells gay man: 'God made you like this' (Guardian)

Juan Carlos Cruz, who was sexually abused, says pontiff told him God did not mind that he was gay

Francis names 14 cardinals, surpassing numbers appointed by Benedict and John Paul (NCR)

Pope Francis named fourteen new Catholic cardinals May 20, again diversifying representation in the most elite body of church prelates with selections from places as far-flung as Iraq, Pakistan and Japan...

‘Heretic’ in the Vatican (Politico)

Pope Francis faces pushback from the church’s arch-conservatives.

New cardinal says he’ll wear the red hat for the poor (Crux)

He may be one of the figures closest to the pope and a soon-to-be Prince of the Church, but Cardinal-designate Konrad Krajewski hardly spends most of his time moving in circles of wealth and power. Instead, his milieu is among those that don’t have anything: the poor, the homeless, the migrants.

Krajewski, 54, invites the poor every day into his Vatican apartment for lunch. Around 15 needy people eat in his dining room...

>40 John5918: Oh, I like Krajewski!

“If, in this homeless or poor individual, you see Jesus, what will you give him? Damaged clothes that you don’t need any more? Old food? No! You’d give Jesus the best you have!”

Krajewski may be one of the best personifications of what the pope always says to priests, that they should smell like their sheep: “Once, I visited the Holy Father right after eating breakfast with the homeless,” Krajewski said. “All the guests in those elegant rooms could smell the Church!”

World needs leaders who are just, compassionate, merciful, pope says (Catholic News Service)

What happened to Catholic Ireland? (BBC)

Ireland between papal visits

>43 John5918:

It has sold its soul to the world, in order to be seen as 'relevant and progressive'.

Pope Francis faces twin battle in Church split over sexual abuse (BBC)

a sombre reminder that the novelty of this papacy has given way to two main battles, which are now tangled into one.

Who is challenging the Pope?

The first of these battles puts the Pope up against those who accuse him of not doing enough to tackle child abuse in the Church.

Francis's opponents are an ad hoc coalition of abuse survivors, angry Catholics, and secular leaders who believe that the Church has too much unchecked power.

The second battle sees the Pope fighting conservative Catholic critics who accuse him of diluting their faith...

The civil war in the Catholic Church (FT)

Conservative priests are using outrage over sexual abuse to try to force Pope Francis to resign...

Pope Francis, the Argentine prelate whose ascent to the chair of St Peter five years ago has given new life to the Roman Catholic Church, is facing a bitter backlash against his progressive papacy — amid a humbling crisis he has struggled to resolve over the sexual abuse of children by predator priests...

Conservatives in the Church, who had things pretty much their own way for half a century but especially under popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, are desperate to discredit Francis. For most Vatican-watchers, the shrill moral stances of men like Archbishop Viganò or Cardinal Raymond Burke, the American leader of the reaction to Francis, is inextricably linked to the fact that the pope elbowed them aside in his push to revitalise the Church...

Francis has not changed core doctrine. But he has cast orthodoxy in a new light. He has reordered priorities — calling for a missionary Church of the poor and telling bishops to be shepherds who “smell more like the sheep” — and made the theology that interprets Catholic teaching more dynamic and open. With his trademark beaming smile — and his more than 40m Twitter followers Pontifex — he has caught the imagination not just of the disillusioned Catholic faithful but many people of other faiths or, indeed, no faith...

People unwilling to be challenged by God's mercy will grumble, pope says (NCR)

Pope Bergolio is the face of modernism... unmasked. At last, we see it for all that it is...

- Adultery welcomed (amoris laetitia )
- Persecuted Catholics betrayed (China)
- Condoning homosexuality (Who am I to judge?)
- Sex abuse cover up.

He is part of the Modernist Lavender Mafia. You shall know them by their fruits.

Helping the poor is not a papal fad, but a duty, pope says (NCR)

This thread has been succeeded by Francis, part 10 (2019)