“Being with Jesus demands that we go out from ourselves, and from living a tired and habitual faith” @pontifex, 27 March 2013
“To experience Holy Week is to enter more and more into God’s logic of love and self-giving” @pontifex, 27 March 2013
“Support your priests with your love and prayers, that they may always be shepherds after Christ’s heart” @pontifex, 28 March 2013
“Accept the risen Jesus into your life. Even if you have been far away, take a small step towards him: he awaits you with open arms.” @pontifex, 31 March 2013
“God loves us. We must not be afraid to love him. The faith is professed with the lips and with the heart, through words and through love.” @pontifex, 4 April 2013
“How beautiful is the gaze with which Jesus regards us – how full of tenderness! Let us never lose trust in the patience and mercy of God.” @pontifex, 7 April 2013
Hi Jimmy, I hope you don’t mind me writing to ask you a question.
I have been eagerly awaiting your take on Pope Francis. I trust your opinion like no other.
I am wondering why you have not posted your opinion. I do not mean to put you on the spot, but I’m worried and am wondering if you are too.
First, let me say that I don’t mind the reader writing at all. I only wish I had the opportunity to respond to all the emails I receive. I’m afraid that I’m not able to, but that should never stop anyone from writing, though.
The reader is also too kind in his interest in my opinion. There are many qualified Catholic commentators who have opinions as good–or better–than mine.
No Blogging Yet?
Regarding my not (yet) blogging in this case, I have to plead the fact that this has been a very busy few days for me.
I’ve been giving interviews about Pope Francis right and left, as well as preparing materials about him that will be published soon by different Catholic outlets.
It’s been a hectic time(!), and I haven’t been able to blog in any depth on the subject.
First Thoughts
I’ve been blogging on his election in the small ways I’ve been able to, and I’ll undoubtedly blog more soon, but for the moment, allow me to offer a few thoughts:
1) I’m jazzed to have a new pope!
2) Like everybody else in the English-speaking world, I don’t know Pope Francis as well as I knew Pope Benedict when he assumed office.
When Pope Benedict was elected, I already knew him really well. I’d followed him and read his writings (which had been translated into English) for years. He was a known quantity, and I was super-jazzed about his election.
Pope Francis isn’t as well known (by me).
I already knew about him, but–given his age–I didn’t expect him to be elected pope (he’s only two years younger than Pope Benedict was when elected, and after Pope Benedict’s resignation for age-related reasons, I expected the cardinals to go with a younger man).
As a result, I haven’t focused on him as much–plus there is the fact that his writings as a cardinal are in Spanish and haven’t yet been translated into English.
Currently, I’m working on a book that he wrote with a rabbi (a kind of dialogue book, where they give their views on different topics), but my Spanish isn’t great, and it’s slow going.
I’m also reading his speeches as pope as soon as English translations are available.
As a result, like many people, I’m still getting to know Pope Francis.
3) I trust the wisdom of the college of cardinals.
These are a group of men guided by God–and appointed by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
That’s gotta count for a lot.
If they think this man is the best person to entrust with the ministry of St. Peter, who am I (or any of us?) to question that?
My default position is thus, even if I don’t know as much about Pope Francis as I would wish, I should proceed with an open, trusting attitude toward the decision of the pastors of the Church, as rendered below the fresco of Michaelangelo’s Last Judgment.
We should trust them.
4) From what I knew about Cardinal Bergoglio before his election, I had no reason to doubt that he would make a worthy successor of St. Peter.
I had a positive impression of him then, and I still do now.
5) From what I’ve been (rapidly!) learning about him since his election, my belief that he can be a good pope has only strengthened.
I am more reassured now than I was when he was first announced, and I have every confidence that this will grow even stronger, given what I am learning. Thus . . .
6) I’m expecting good stuff ahead!
I’m sure that there will be surprises during Pope Francis’s tenure. There always are when a new pope is elected.
But God guides his Church, we have Jesus’ word on that, and we may look to the future with confidence.
Would you like to express your love and gratitude to Pope Benedict for his service to the Church? Here is a way you can do it.
After I heard the news that Pope Benedict was renouncing the papacy, I felt moved to record a brief, from-the-heart video expressing my thoughts and feelings. (I don’t like the word “renounce” either, but it is the technically correct term, and it was used by Pope Benedict in his announcement.)
I decided to do the video unscripted, in the form of a video open letter to Pope Benedict, expressing my admiration for him and my gratitude for his service to the Church.
I know he doesn’t know who I am and that he may never see the video, but I wanted to do it anyway.
I have very much valued the service Pope Benedict has given the Church. I have been an admirer of his for many years before he was elected pope, and his service to the Church was already staggering.
When he agreed to shoulder the burden of being the successor of St. Peter, the vicar of Christ, I cheered!
I had been afraid to let my hopes get up that he would be elected pope, but he was!
He is an awesome teacher and a man of deep thought, profound piety, and amazing humility.
I will miss him terribly. I respect and accept his decision. But I could not let this occasion pass without expressing the burden of my heart.
Here’s the video . . .
Now that I’ve had my say, it’s time for yours.
After making the video, it struck me that it would be possible to get people’s expressions of love and gratitude to Pope Benedict after he leaves office. (He’ll be far too busy beforehand.)
Therefore, I invite you to use the comments box to express your prayers and best wishes to Pope Benedict.
After his departure, I will print your messages in a large-type, easy-to-read format and send it to him, along with a cover letter again expressing my own gratitude to him.
(Before sending it, I will also delete any inappropriate messages, so keep it positive.)
But please, do, let him know how much you love him and value his service as the successor of St. Peter and how you support him at this challenging time.
Pope Benedict XVI has announced his resignation. Here is the full statement and first reaction.
Pope Benedict has announced his resignation and the election of a new pontiff.
This is not a joke.
This is the first time this has happened since 1415.
Here is Pope Benedict’s statement and some first thoughts on it.
The Statement
Here’s the full statement from Pope Benedict on his resignation:
Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church.
After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.
I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering.
However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.
For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects.
And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff.
With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
First thoughts . . .
1. I’m disappointed. I think Pope Benedict is an amazing teacher, and I have truly valued his time as pope.
2. I have to accept his judgment. He knows his personal situation and the demands of his office better than I do. If he thinks it’s time to go, I have to respect that.
3. It’s not entirely a surprise. He himself has said things before that indicated this could someday be a live possibility for him.
4. It’s not without precedent. A number of popes have resigned before, most recently in 1415, when Gregory XII resigned.
5. It’s good that this happened “out of the blue,” rather than when there were calls for a papal resignation. The latter could encourage divisiveness (that is, if dissidents got the idea that all they had to do to oust a pope they don’t like is make a big enough stink).
We know that John Paul II thought about resigning repeatedly but didn’t, likely in significant part because there were calls for his resignation and it would have set a terrible precedent.
6. While there were no resignations for almost 600 years, just as there were no non-Italian popes for 450 years, we’re probably going to see more of both in the future.
While the next pope might be an Italian, the diversification of the college of cardinals has already resulted in a trend toward non-Italian cardinals. That will continue.
More to the present subject, the on-the-job demands for a pope have gone up in recent years. Being the leader and public face of the billion-member Catholic Church in a time of rapid change and diminishing faith is not an easy task.
At the same time, advancing medical technology means increasingly long lifespans with a longer period of frail health.
It is not easy to be eighty five (Pope Benedict’s age) or ninety or ninety five and feel confident steering the ship of Peter in today’s world.
Unless we get really wizard regenerative medical technology really soon, we’re likely to have more popes in that kind of situation, and thus there are likely to be more resignations in the future.
7. Pope Benedict may follow the pattern of previously resigned popes and spend the rest of his days in a monastery. Alternately, he may live quietly with his brother. Either way, he will do his best to stay out of the public eye so as to give his successor the freest hand possible. (This is the same thing that usually happens when a U.S. president leaves office; it’s traditional for him to more-or-less vanish, at least for a time.)
8. The fact that Pope Benedict chose to do this now, just before Lent begins, so that his resignation takes place in two weeks and we should have a new pope before Easter, means that his deterioration of health is serious. This is also the case in view of the big agenda he set for this year (the Year of Faith) and that he will now not complete.
9. I hope he does release his new encyclical–on faith–before his resignation is effective. His successor could release it anyway, with any suitable modifications he deemed appropriate. Or it could not come out at all. But I hope it will, and under Pope Benedict’s name, while he’s still pope.
10. Let us all fervently pray for both Pope Benedict, for his successor, and for the Church.
This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 27 March 2013 – 7 April 2013 (subscribe here; get as an eBook version for your Kindle, iPod, iPad, Nook, or other eBook reader):
