Fr. Barron’s interpretation is probably correct, since he knows a lot and listens carefully.
However, it occurred to me that mercy could also be about being merciful to those we are harming (who might be innocent) by reducing our harm to them.
What is greatly attracting the non-Catholics that I know to the Pope is his emphasis on mitigating climate change and other environmental problems. It is as if they, the young people, have been ignored by the world that would leave them in a dire place without ability to survive and thrive, and Pope Francis is bucking that indifference and calling on us all to do the needful.
Now, of course, JPII and BXVI have also been calling on us to do the same, but for some reason Catholics and the world have been ignoring them on these types of issues. Now not only are Catholics hearing that message – some of them rejecting it maybe because they cannot face that they may be harming others and need to do something about it – but also non-Catholics. I’m running into my non-Catholics friends (advisees and students) who are hugging me and saying how much they love the Pope for his environmental message. They even approached the Catholic Campus Ministry to get involved in our local Climate March this year, and even our Bishop is coming and will speak.
Will some of them convert? I don’t know. But I do know that many non-Catholics don’t hate Catholicism as much as they did before Pope Francis.
