Being "friends" with the pope

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I remember how when John Paul II died many people mourned and said that they really felt a special connection with him, how they felt like they had grown in the faith b/c of him and how they did literally grow up with him b/c he was pope for much of their lives. At the time, I was Catholic but really only in name, since I was only a child and at most a young teenager before I ended up leaving the faith informally but completely around the age of 15… So, I was not very interested in the pope, what he had to say etc… but later, I remember the impression that he made on many people, and now since returning to the Catholic faith and being older I feel like Pope Benedict is my pope, so to speak. You know what I mean? Like, I hear people saying that he is a doing a great job, and that we live in a golden age of popes, and I just want to learn more about him and feel a connection with him and his mission much like people did with JPII.

What suggestions do you have for this? I guess I can obviously start by reading his books. Is there one that would be a good place to start?

Thank you.
 
I see no problem trying to develop a type of spiritual friendship with the pope. I do the same thing. 🙂

There are a few books I would recommend starting out with. Light of the World might be the best starting point. It is a book-length interview with the Holy Father that came out last November. It is very conversational in tone and easy to read. It also gives great insight into the mind and heart of our wonderful pope. He has a few other book-length interviews from his time before he was pope: Salt of the Earth (1997) and God and the World (2002).

Next, I would highly recommend reading Jesus of Nazareth Volume 1 and Volume 2. These books are phenomenal. They give great insight into the relationship that Benedict has developed with our Lord and Savior over the course of his lifetime of service to the Church.

Of course, I would be remiss not to plug his Wednesday Audiences. 🙂 As with John Paul II, Pope Benedict gives a weekly audience on most Wednesdays. These audiences are the pope’s catechesis (i.e. teaching) for the whole Church. As it can be difficult to find specific audiences on the Vatican website, I have created a website (catechesisofthepopes.wordpress.com/) that organizes these audiences by theme (I’m a couple months behind at the moment :o 😊). Benedict spent most of his pontificate teaching on the lives of the Early Church Fathers and the great Saints and Thinkers from throughout Church History. Back in May, he started a series on Christian Prayer. It’s good stuff. 🙂

I think the more you read from someone, the closer you’ll feel to them. I think the same holds true for the Bible. 😛 😉
 
A few years ago I sent the pope a few emails with my suggestions, but he did not reply and I haven’t seen the changes made yet. 😛

Alan
 
Ahimsa said:
Can you “friend” him on Facebook?
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Just tried to do that b/c it sounded a lot easier than reading a bunch of books… 😃 j/k…

Anyway, I tried to friend him and says only request to be friends if you know him personally…🤷
 
Link0126 said:
Just tried to do that b/c it sounded a lot easier than reading a bunch of books… 😃 j/k…

Anyway, I tried to friend him and says only request to be friends if you know him personally…🤷
Click to expand...
Does he have a personal FB page? USNCorpsman posted the public page similar to what many public figures have which enables you to “like” them. Is it possible to “friend” him as well?
 
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