In 'n onderhoud wat oor die wêreld heen gepubliseer is, het die pous hom uitgelaat oor die kerk se obsessiewe beheptheid met 'n paar sake, terwyl die liefde en ontferming in die proses in die slag bly.
In plaas van om uit te reik na 'n wêreld in nood, spandeer kerkleiers hulle tyd aan die groot baklei oor allerhande kwessies. Intussen vertrap hulle die geweldige nood waarin mense versink het.
Hier
is 'n skakel na die onderhoud:
Die
onderhoud begin met 'n beskrywing van die pous se eenvoudige blyplek met die
paar figure wat hy in sy kamer aanhou, o.a. 'n beeldjie van Franciskus van
Assissi.
Die
eerste vraag aan die pous is: wie is hy? En die antwoord is eenvoudig: "Ek is 'n sondaar."
En,
in 'n (vir my) opvallende uitspraak vertel hy hoedat hy dikwels in Rome gaan
mediteer het voor Caravaggio se merkwaardige skildery van die roeping van
Matteus (waaroor ek vroeër 'n blog geskryf het). Hy sien ook daardie vinger van
Jesus wat na Matteus wys en sê dan:
“That finger of Jesus, pointing at
Matthew. That’s me. I feel like him. Like Matthew.” Here the pope becomes
determined, as if he had finally found the image he was looking for: “It is the
gesture of Matthew that strikes me: he holds on to his money as if to say, ‘No,
not me! No, this money is mine.’ Here, this is me, a sinner on whom the Lord
has turned his gaze. And this is what I said when they asked me if I would
accept my election as pontiff.” Then the pope whispers in Latin: “I am a
sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and I accept in a spirit of penance.”
En
hier is wat hy oor onderskeiding sê:
Sometimes discernment instead urges us to do precisely what
you had at first thought you would do later. And that is what has happened to
me in recent months. Discernment is always done in the presence of the Lord,
looking at the signs, listening to the things that happen, the feeling of the
people, especially the poor. My choices, including those related to the
day-to-day aspects of life, like the use of a modest car, are related to a
spiritual discernment that responds to a need that arises from looking at
things, at people and from reading the signs of the times. Discernment in the
Lord guides me in my way of governing.
“But I am always wary of decisions made hastily. I am always
wary of the first decision, that is, the first thing that comes to my mind if I
have to make a decision. This is usually the wrong thing. I have to wait and
assess, looking deep into myself, taking the necessary time. The wisdom of
discernment redeems the necessary ambiguity of life and helps us find the most
appropriate means, which do not always coincide with what looks great and
strong.”
En
dit is wat hy oor die mistiek sê:
I am rather close to the mystical
movement, that of Louis Lallement and Jean-Joseph Surin. And Faber was a
mystic.
Verder is hy 'n bewonderaar van Chagall (sy Wit kersfees - sien my blog oor die skildery) en, van alle mense, die (Protestantse) Bach.
Hier is ook dele van 'n berig wat in vandag se NYT oor die onderwerp verskyn het:
Six
months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Roman
Catholic church on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the church
had grown “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he
had chosen not to talk about those issues despite recriminations from critics.
His
surprising comments came in a lengthy interview in which he criticized the
church for putting dogma before love, and for prioritizing moral doctrines over
serving the poor and marginalized.
He articulated his vision of an inclusive
church, a “home for all” — which is a striking contrast with his predecessor,
Pope Benedict XVI, the doctrinal defender who envisioned a smaller, purer
church.
Francis
told the interviewer, a fellow Jesuit: “It is not necessary to talk about these
issues all the time. The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all
equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the
transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.
“We
have to find a new balance,” the pope continued, “otherwise even the moral
edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the
freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”
The
pope’s interview did not change church doctrine or policies, but it instantly
changed its tone. His words evoked gratitude and hope from many liberal
Catholics who had felt left out in the cold during the papacies of Benedict and
his predecessor, John Paul II, which together lasted 35 years. Some lapsed
Catholics suggested on social media a return to the church, and leaders of gay
rights and gay Catholic groups called on bishops to abandon their fight against
gay marriage.
But
it left conservative and traditionalist Catholics, and those who have devoted
themselves to the struggles against abortion, gay marriage and artificial
contraception, on the defensive, though some cast it as nothing new.
“Nobody
should try to use the words of the pope to minimize the urgent need to preach
and teach about abortion,” said the Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of
Priests for Life, who said he spoke Thursday about the “priority of the
abortion issue” at a Vatican conference.
The
interview with Francis was conducted by the Rev. Antonio Spadaro, editor in
chief of La Civilta Cattolica, an Italian Jesuit journal
whose content is approved by the Vatican. Francis, the first Jesuit to become a
pope, agreed to grant the interview
after requests from Father Spadaro and the editors of America, a Jesuit
magazine based in New York.
Father
Spadaro conducted the interview during three meetings in August in the pope’s
spartan quarters in Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse, where Francis
said he had chosen to live because it is less isolated than the papal apartment
in the Apostolic Palace. “I cannot live without people,” Francis told Father
Spadaro.
The
interview, kept under wraps for weeks by the Jesuits, was released
simultaneously on Thursday morning by 16 Jesuit journals around the
world. Francis personally reviewed the Italian transcript, and it was
translated by a team into English, said the Rev. James Martin, an editor at
large of America.
Nog meer boeiend as hierdie woorde is sommige van die reaksies van 1400 mense wat op die berig kommentaar lewer. Dit is boeiende leesstof. Hier is die skakel:
