Please share any writings/documents you know written by Cardinal Bergoglio - now Pope Francis!

[Eufrosnia]

I thought this thread was going to be aa nice collection of links but here it’s mostly commentary.

Here is one article peppered with a few nice quotes from our new Holy Father:

Go Forth and Baptize. The Wager of the Argentine Church

Here are a few of the quotes:

“The child has no responsibility for the condition of his parents’ marriage. The baptism of children can, on the contrary, become a new beginning for the parents. A while ago, I baptized the seven children of one woman, a poor widow who works as a maid and had her children by two different men. I met her on the feast of Saint Cajetan. She said to me, 'Father, I am in mortal sin, I have seven children and have never had them baptized, I don’t have the money for the godparents and for the party… I saw her again and after a little catechesis I baptized them in the chapel of the archepiscopal residence. The woman said to me, ‘Father, I can’t believe it, you make me feel important’. I said to her, 'But madam, what do I have to do with it? It’s Jesus who makes you important.”

And

“The conference in Aparecida urged us to proclaim the Gospel by going to meet the people, not by waiting for the people to come to us. Missionary fervor does not require extraordinary events. It is in ordinary life that mission work is done. And baptism, in this, is paradigmatic. The sacraments are for the life of men and women as they are. They may not make big speeches, but their ‘sensus fidei’ grasps the reality of the sacraments with more clarity than many specialists do.”

I like him already. I feel in a unique situation right now. I grew up knowing John Paul II and I was already so familiar with Benedict before he was ever elected. Now here I am with a pope I hardly know. But I’m enjoying the process of learning. I hope this thread can turn into a nice storehouse of quotes and enecdotes about Pope Francis.

Truly beautiful. Not to just be pedantic but here is another situation that without words, would have lead to utmost confusion.

If he had just baptized, people might have misunderstood this to mean that adultery or premarital sex is not a big issue anymore. But in clarifying using WORDS, he ensure that people know what he is saying. He avoids causing scandal.

It is surprising what a few words can do but it nevertheless is important. Today, instead of using the words, people like to not use them so that they can indeed HAVE or OFFER that ambiguity. That is what I was against.

Even with ecumenism, if the Church was clear enough about what its trying to do and what it actually considered the other religions to be, then we would avoid a lot of problems like mixed marriages and Catholics leaving the Church for other churches. Instead, what we have are just actions which seem to many to imply that the Church sees all religions as equal and powerful roads to heaven. So we have AMBIGUITY and CONFUSION leading to LOSS OF FAITH.

 

[clem456]

This is pretty eloquent:
http://i48.tinypic.com/116v1it.jpg

Maybe like St. Francis he preaches by his actions more than his words.

That is beautiful.
The imitation of Christ. Being Christ to other people. Christ, who is God the Father’s only, final, and complete Word to us.
I love this Pope already, seeing his imitation of Christ and the things he has said.

 

[R_C]

One of those blessing him was a Capuchin priest.

True - thus it was a proper gesture to bow or kneel even.

And any baptized - in fact, any human being - can invoke God’s blessing upon a person. The only issue I have with that picture is the gesture of the Protestant “pastor”: his extended hand reflects his erroneous belief that he can bless like an ordained priest could, which is of course not true. The only direct blessing was that of the validly ordained minister, the rest were invocations of God’s blessing.

Also, the statement: “kneels to receive Protestant blessing” is, to say the least, erroneous and not charitable, because it passes judgment on his intentions, which are known only to God, and because it reflects a distorted, subjective vision of reality.

That being said, I kindly, most kindly ask people who don’t seem to understand the significance of Sacred Tradition, to just avoid saying simplistic remarks about “respecting X faith”, “celebrating X tradition”, et cetera. Any such statement simply reflects that you do not know or that you do not understand why such an image can be disturbing.

I profoundly dislike the argument of those who disregard the profundity of true ecumenism to which our shepherds, from the Pope all the way down to priests, are called, and at the same time I profoundly dislike the argument of those who don’t understand that there is the Catholic Church and then there are other things somehow and somewhat mysteriously related to her, for she is the Ark outside of which there is no salvation, no salvation, and yet knowledge of God’s infinite mercy makes it quite obvious to the eyes of reason and to the heart that many who are not Catholic can also attain salvation, which shows that there’s something mysterious going on here.

So please, if you don’t have a grasp of what Sacred Tradition has to say and about the solid foundations of true Catholic ecumenism, then don’t come up with your own interpretations and ideas such as “the ceremonies that were given to the Jewish people by God are both gifts and calls of God and the can not be revoked”, because as beautiful as that may sound to my heart, that does not mean that a Catholic can go celebrate a Jewish ceremony without incurring in a grave sin against faith and to risk the sin of apostasy and an automatic excommunication. Now, when a bishop participates in an ecumenical event, he knows what he’s doing. He’s a bishop, for goodness sake, he doesn’t just act on whatever idea crosses his mind - especially not this one, since he eventually became the Pope.

 

[R_C]

That is beautiful.
The imitation of Christ. Being Christ to other people. Christ, who is God the Father’s only, final, and complete Word to us.
I love this Pope already, seeing his imitation of Christ and the things he has said.

It is beautiful. It is not up to us to judge his intentions, nor is it proper or charitable to think that there may be in his act anything more than sheer love for Christ.

Please think about how that poor kid felt, seeing this awe-inspiring figure showing him such great love and imparting upon him such great dignity. I can see why he chose the name Francis. The Pope has as the Vicar of Christ the greatest office a man could ever be called to, but is at the same time called to be the smallest and lowest of his brothers. This will become more and more evident in this and the centuries to come, without ever diminishing the greatness of the Holy See, but in fact further confirming that she presides in charity over all the churches.

 

[Eufrosnia]

True - thus it was a proper gesture.

And any baptized - in fact, any human being - can invoke God’s blessing upon a person. The only issue I have with that picture is the gesture of the Protestant “pastor”: his extended hand reflects his erroneous belief that he can bless like an ordained priest could, which is of course not true. The only direct blessing was that of the validly ordained minister, the rest were invocations of God’s blessing.

Also, the statement: “kneels to receive Protestant blessing” is, to say the least, erroneous and not charitable, because it passes judgment on his intentions, which are known only to God, and because it reflects a distorted, subjective vision of reality.

That being said, I kindly, most kindly ask people who don’t seem to understand the significance of Sacred Tradition, to just avoid saying simplistic remarks about “respecting X faith”, “celebrating X tradition”, et cetera. Any such statement simply reflects that you do not know or that you do not understand why such an image can be disturbing.

I profoundly dislike the argument of those who disregard the profundity of true ecumenism to which our shepherds, from the Pope all the way down to priests, are called, and at the same time I profoundly dislike the argument of those who don’t understand that there is the Catholic Church and then there are other things somehow and somewhat mysteriously related to her, for she is the Ark outside of which there is no salvation, no salvation, and yet knowledge of God’s infinite mercy makes it quite obvious to the eyes of reason and to the heart that many who are not Catholic can also attain salvation, which shows that there’s something mysterious going on here.

So please, if you don’t have a grasp of what Sacred Tradition has to say and about the solid foundations of true Catholic ecumenism, then don’t come up with your own interpretations and ideas such as “the ceremonies that were given to the Jewish people by God are both gifts and calls of God and the can not be revoked”, because as beautiful as that may sound to my heart, that does not mean that a Catholic can go celebrate a Jewish ceremony without incurring in a grave sin against faith and to risk the sin of apostasy and an automatic excommunication. Now, when a bishop participates in an ecumenical event, he knows what he’s doing. He’s a bishop, for goodness sake, he doesn’t just act on whatever idea crosses his mind - especially not this one, since he eventually became the Pope.

I like your post very much

One thing I’d like to add though is that perhaps all leaders of the Church as they engage in these ecumenical activities should explain what they are doing to the faithful. Or at least make sure that the parishioners are taught and catechized enough to know what ecumenism is about.

In my experience, I have had many people come up to me and object to claims against other faiths quoting events where Pope, a Cardinal or a Bishop participated in an event. They would then conclude that it means all faiths are now treated as equally valid, we do not need to convert anyone or it is now completely OK to marry outside the Catholic faith.

So I think true ecumenism is perfectly fine as long as it is done with the right intent. That being said, even when doing it with the right intent, it is super important to CLARIFY to the Catholic faithful as well as the other faith party involved as to what the Church is doing. **NOT because the Pope or Bishop owes an explanation or needs permission from the faithful BUT because they love their flock and do not want them to be mislead or confused as to what their actions mean. **

 

[Lormar]

I like your post very much

One thing I’d like to add though is that perhaps all leaders of the Church as they engage in these ecumenical activities should explain what they are doing to the faithful. Or at least make sure that the parishioners are taught and catechized enough to know what ecumenism is about.

In my experience, I have had many people come up to me and object to claims against other faiths quoting events where Pope, a Cardinal or a Bishop participated in an event. They would then conclude that it means all faiths are now treated as equally valid, we do not need to convert anyone or it is now completely OK to marry outside the Catholic faith.

So I think true ecumenism is perfectly fine as long as it is done with the right intent. That being said, even when doing it with the right intent, it is super important to CLARIFY to the Catholic faithful as well as the other faith party involved as to what the Church is doing. **NOT because the Pope or Bishop owes an explanation or needs permission from the faithful BUT because they love their flock and do not want them to be mislead or confused as to what their actions mean. **

I agree. It would be helpful to all of us if they would clarify their actions.

 

[R_C]

I agree. It would be helpful to all of us if they would clarify their actions.

Yes. Then again, Christ simply went and had dinner with the publican, and Peter immediately visited the Roman centurion when the Holy Spirit guided him to do so. Sometimes we ought to trust in the divine guidance of Christ the Head and of the Spirit that takes what is His and gives it to the Apostles, even in the face of what is confusing.

 

[Lormar]

Yes. Then again, Christ simply went and had dinner with the publican, and Peter immediately visited the Roman centurion when the Holy Spirit guided him to do so. Sometimes we ought to trust in the divine guidance of Christ the Head and of the Spirit that takes what is His and gives it to the Apostles, even in the face of what is confusing.

From experience I can tell you that is easier said than done. Many years I spent in traditional chapels outside the Church and much harm has been done to my thinking that I struggle, struggle very hard, to regain.

 

[Eufrosnia]

Yes. Then again, Christ simply went and had dinner with the publican, and Peter immediately visited the Roman centurion when the Holy Spirit guided him to do so. Sometimes we ought to trust in the divine guidance of Christ the Head and of the Spirit that takes what is His and gives it to the Apostles, even in the face of what is confusing.

Well, what is confusing is always confusing, no? As in what do you believe afterward?

In the case of Jesus, the Apostles wrote about it afterward so its very clear what it meant and that Christ was not promoting or accepting of the publican’s life style. Christ in the Scriptures didn’t say the publican was doing a good thing and had probably condemned such actions many times which is why he must have repented. The story itself makes clear that the person repented. If we just had the story that Christ used to have dinner with people like the publicans while avoiding pharisees, then indeed the faithful would be confused as to what it means. Thankfully, that is not the case.

In the case of Peter, the doctrine was indeed yet to be revealed regarding the Church’s position on gentiles. So for Peter and the Church, that was a moment of divine revelation.

But now it is no longer the case. Doctrine has been revealed. The Church position is known to those who are in the position of Bishop, Cardinal or Pope. Then it is a matter of properly articulating it to the faithful so that they may not go astray.

The problem with saying that we should just trust even when it is confusing is that you squarely put the issue on trust. The issue is not trust. The issue is regarding what the faithful must follow or infer from witnessing that action. The faithful might take the action to mean something else entirely that is contrary to doctrine which has already been revealed. In times like these where there is a lot of “Church has changed” mentality, this can be especially the case. So a priest who goes and kneels in front of a Protestant minister for a blessing can be confusing. Some may interpret it to be an acknowledgement of Protestant holy orders. Or some might think it to mean that both are now the same and in perfect communion. Some might take it further then in thinking perhaps marrying a non-Catholic is perfectly fine etc.

So I think I do have to disagree on this issue though. The matter is not about trusting the Pope, Bishop or Cardinal. The matter is with the level ambiguity present in the message that could be inferred by the faithful from the specific action. So in a way, the issue is indeed that they trust but they trust in the interpretation they themselves gave for the act of the Pope/Cardinal/Bishop. In the absence of clarification, what else can the faithful do anyway?

 

[MarcoPolo]

I thought this thread was going to be aa nice collection of links but here it’s mostly commentary.

Here is one article peppered with a few nice quotes from our new Holy Father:

Go Forth and Baptize. The Wager of the Argentine Church

Here are a few of the quotes:

“The child has no responsibility for the condition of his parents’ marriage. The baptism of children can, on the contrary, become a new beginning for the parents. A while ago, I baptized the seven children of one woman, a poor widow who works as a maid and had her children by two different men. I met her on the feast of Saint Cajetan. She said to me, 'Father, I am in mortal sin, I have seven children and have never had them baptized, I don’t have the money for the godparents and for the party… I saw her again and after a little catechesis I baptized them in the chapel of the archepiscopal residence. The woman said to me, ‘Father, I can’t believe it, you make me feel important’. I said to her, 'But madam, what do I have to do with it? It’s Jesus who makes you important.”

And

“The conference in Aparecida urged us to proclaim the Gospel by going to meet the people, not by waiting for the people to come to us. Missionary fervor does not require extraordinary events. It is in ordinary life that mission work is done. And baptism, in this, is paradigmatic. The sacraments are for the life of men and women as they are. They may not make big speeches, but their ‘sensus fidei’ grasps the reality of the sacraments with more clarity than many specialists do.”

I like him already. I feel in a unique situation right now. I grew up knowing John Paul II and I was already so familiar with Benedict before he was ever elected. Now here I am with a pope I hardly know. But I’m enjoying the process of learning. I hope this thread can turn into a nice storehouse of quotes and enecdotes about Pope Francis.

Thanks, Joe. This qualifies.

 

[simple_soul]

I agree. It would be helpful to all of us if they would clarify their actions.

Well, between you, me, and the eyes around here I really do believe those actions are about to be most certainly clarified. I was just agreeing with a friend of mine who had referred to yesterday as being a glorious day. I responded that yes I do believe that it was a glorious day indeed. It is so wonderful to see and experience the Holy Spirit blowing the cobwebs of chaos and confusion out of our cluttered minds these days and I am beginning to believe that He will do this with and through Pope Francis I and those who stand with him. I know it’s just my two cents so take it for what it is.

 

[Lormar]

Well, between you, me, and the eyes around here I really do believe those actions are about to be most certainly clarified. I was just agreeing with a friend of mine who had referred to yesterday as being a glorious day. I responded that yes I do believe that it was a glorious day indeed. It is so wonderful to see and experience the Holy Spirit blowing the cobwebs of chaos and confusion out of our cluttered minds these days and I am beginning to believe that He will do this with and through Pope Francis I and those who stand with him. I know it’s just my two cents so take it for what it is.

Yes. I believe that you are right. For a Catholic has two choices - trust the Church or their own judgment (or the judgment of the person, or publication, of their choice). I haven’t received a mandate from Our Lord entitling me to do the latter, so I will joyfully and peacefully do the former.

 

[Arrependida]

Omg the Pope respects the Jewish faith! He must be a wolf in sheep’s clothing! Get a grip people…

Yeah, but ecumenism with devil worshipper afro-brazilian Umbanda “priest”? Indiferentism, maybe?

 

[Kopratic]

I’m not sure if this has been posted, but it’s his homily from the Mass with the Cardinals today. Sorry if this is a repeat post!

vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130314_omelia-cardinali_it.html

I had to use Google Chrome’s translation option, since I know hardly any Italian. From what I read {of the, admittedly, choppy translation} was a message about movement: walking, building, and confessing. We must walk with the Lord, in the light of the Lord. We must build on rock and confess Jesus Christ is Lord. However, we must do so with the Cross. We preach Christ crucified and must build the Church on his blood, which was shed on the Cross.

EDIT; Here is the video of the homily.

 

[PJM]

=msokeefe;10480890]Kneels to receive protestant blessing

traditioninaction.org/RevolutionPhotos/A306rcBergoglioBless.html

Is this the start of “catholic bashing 101?”

Everyone CAN offer a Blessing.

Their is but One God offering His Grace

Those that choose to call themselves “catholic” and buy into this trash-talk would do well to get to Confession!

His Excellecny Kneels because the blessing is through the Minister; BUT FROM OUR GOD

Are we to assume like the OPseems to, that protestants have nothing good to offer; to share? They may not have the Fullness of truth that we have; but IF they are working for God its a good thing!

GOD HELP our Pope and each other! AMEN

pat/PJM

 

[Eufrosnia]

Is this the start of “catholic bashing 101?”

Everyone CAN offer a Blessing.

Their is but One God offering His Grace

Those that choose to call themselves “catholic” and buy into this trash-talk would do well to get to Confession!

His Excellecny Kneels because the blessing is through the Minister; BUT FROM OUR GOD

Are we to assume like the OPseems to, that protestants have nothing good to offer; to share? They may not have the Fullness of truth that we have; but IF they are working for God its a good thing!

GOD HELP our Pope and each other! AMEN

pat/PJM

By your reasoning, the Pope should bow to me as well if I were to offer him a blessing. Not to attack the actions of the Pope here (they may well be defensible) but just pointing out that your reasoning does not add up.

 

[Mrs_Sally]

I like your post very much

One thing I’d like to add though is that perhaps all leaders of the Church as they engage in these ecumenical activities should explain what they are doing to the faithful. Or at least make sure that the parishioners are taught and catechized enough to know what ecumenism is about.

In my experience, I have had many people come up to me and object to claims against other faiths quoting events where Pope, a Cardinal or a Bishop participated in an event. They would then conclude that it means all faiths are now treated as equally valid, we do not need to convert anyone or it is now completely OK to marry outside the Catholic faith.

So I think true ecumenism is perfectly fine as long as it is done with the right intent. That being said, even when doing it with the right intent, it is super important to CLARIFY to the Catholic faithful as well as the other faith party involved as to what the Church is doing. NOT because the Pope or Bishop owes an explanation or needs permission from the faithful BUT because they love their flock and do not want them to be mislead or confused as to what their actions mean.

I don’t know how much that would help - especially with an event separated in time from the discussion like this discussion. I know of situations in which a priest explained wat he was doing to those around him at the time, but things still got twisted up.

Part of it is the problem of a “telephone chain” - we don’t always hear or understand what is told to us. Part of it is people placing the worst possible interpretation on an event they can for reasons of their own.

This picture surfaced without any explanation attached - and may have even if one had been given at the time. No one has sited the source for the picture but many people have felt perfectly comfortable saying what they “know” is going on at the time the picture was taken.

No one should have to constantly explain or defend every action,especially not when we as Christians have a duty to give events the most charitable interpretation unless we know (directly) otherwise.

 

[Eufrosnia]

I don’t know how much that would help - especially with an event separated in time from the discussion like this discussion. I know of situations in which a priest explained wat he was doing to those around him at the time, but things still got twisted up.

Part of it is the problem of a “telephone chain” - we don’t always hear or understand what is told to us. Part of it is people placing the worst possible interpretation on an event they can for reasons of their own.

This picture surfaced without any explanation attached - and may have even if one had been given at the time. No one has sited the source for the picture but many people have felt perfectly comfortable saying what they “know” is going on at the time the picture was taken.

No one should have to constantly explain or defend every action,especially not when we as Christians have a duty to give events the most charitable interpretation unless we know (directly) otherwise.

So ok, just to clarify, when I say that Church leaders should explain or clarify, I do not mean that they should do so to obtain permission or because they have an obligation to report to the faithful. Neither am I speaking about faithful who take a look at the picture and assume the worst like the person is a closet Protestant or something along those lines.

Rather, I am speaking of the average Catholic who sees it and sincerely assumes that it means the Protestant minister has valid authority (or holy orders) and that Protestantism is just as much a valid path to heaven as Catholicism. It is this issue that I am honestly more concerned with.

Those who know cannot get scandalized. Though at times even those who know can feel uncomfortable when others who don’t know start waving these pictures of high profile Church leaders as justification for their erroneous positions. It is the average Catholic, who could be my son or daughter, who sincerely tries to decipher an interpretation from these actions that I am worried about.

This is why I first said that actions can be ambiguous by themselves. One requires words to put the action in to context and communicate intent. Otherwise, we just project our OWN ideas on to the action. This is especially true in the case of such ecumenical acts. I have encountered many Catholics who personally would quote something like Assisi to justify the idea that all religions are equal or that all religions should be respected.

That being said, you bring up a good point about the comments made around the event by the person sometimes disappearing over time and people just seeing the photo. I guess one solution would be to take in to account the existence of modern media today and try and avoid such confusing situations as much as possible. At the same time, also engage in actually telling the faithful very CLEARLY what the goal of these sort of ecumenical work is suppossed to be. We recently had a World day of prayer. The priest didn’t bother to explain what it was and afterward (the social held afterward as well), I had ladies arguing with me on how they thought Luther was a great person and what he did was justified. That kind of thing could be avoided if people KNEW what they were doing with ecumenism. Right now, the main idea given by the Church is that ecumenism is some “lets get along because all our religions are equal” attitude.

 

[MarcoPolo]

As Cardinal Bergoglio, Lenten Letter 2013 from February

.

 

[MarcoPolo]

As Cardinal Bergoglio in 2002 sermon: “To those who are now promising to fix all your problems, I say, ‘Go and fix yourself.’ . . . Have a change of heart. Get to confession, before you need it even more! The current crisis will not be improved by magicians from outside the country and nor will [improvement] come from the golden mouth of our politicians, so accustomed to making incredible promises.” (WSJ link)