Pope Francis To Live In Guest House

[shelby_sun]

It sounds like Pope Francis has an overwhelming job on his hands but from a spiritual stand point and an administrative one. He does not need to be distracted by things that are not needed for him to do his job. If the guest house brings him more peace and comfort so he can focus on the big things, who are we to question him.

I am sorry, but I think with all the issues going on in the church today, this matter trivial. I trust this Pope understands himself well enough that he knows what he needs to do to best serve the church and the people.

 

[Sheeniac]

B16 didn’t live alone. He lived in community with 4 nuns, his personal secretary, and one other man. I found this out in the last month or two. Can’t recall where.

 

[JReducation]

Shelby is right.

Security should be no problem. The Swiss Guards and the Vatican police had to secure the hotel when the cardinals were there for the conclave. This is familiar territory for them. Also, the hotel is not really a hotel. It’s really a dorm. It’s inside of Vatican City not in Rome. It’s in a very secure part of the city.

I will share this. Many many years ago, when I was a young friar, back in the 70s, I was assigned to a house that had a parish and a school attached to it. It was horrible. I asked for a transfer within 18 months. Then I was reassigned to a house that had a retreat house attached and that was worse. The best living situation that I have had is my current one. Our house is not attached to our ministry.

If you’re a religious, living where you minister is horrible. People around you are not religious. They don’t understand why you get up and leave at 4PM or why you don’t show up at the office until 9:30AM. They don’t understand why you won’t speak to anyone after 8:30PM or why you disappear for a week several times a year.

Things like the Divine Office, Lectio, Grand Silence, study time, recreation, and horariums are not part of the everyday life of most Catholics, including diocesan priests. They can say the LOTH at any time of the day. They don’t have to follow the schedule. Some of them sit down and say all of the hours in one sitting, because they can’t break up their day. Lectio Divina, study time, grand silence, community recreation, community retreats and community chapters are not part of their lives. They live in the world, not outside of the world as a consecrated religious does. They don’t have to be accountable to the people with whom they live for missing an activity. They don’t do anything in common, unless they agree to it.

For the religious who lives where he works, it’s often very hard to be alone or be with community when the rule demands it. I can see the advantage for a Jesuit pope who can go to his office at a certain time of day and leave the actual building, not just go upstairs. Once he goes to Santa Martha, his business day is done. He can pray, recreate, study, rest and be ready and available for those days when he has to be front and center, like the Easter Triduum coming up and WYD. His mind is clearer when he has to deal with the many issues facing the Holy See right now.

If he can never get away from his desk, his mind is mush by the end of the week. At some point, he will begin to feel the burnout and that’s when he has to begin to depend on others who may or may not do things as he wants them done. It’s either that or burn out.

 

[JReducation]

B16 didn’t live alone. He lived in community with 4 nuns, his personal secretary, and one other man. I found this out in the last month or two. Can’t recall where.

They were four lay women from Community and Liberation, not nuns. Pope John Paul had nuns. These women live in another part of the apartment. There is a suite of rooms with their own dining area and sitting room to the back of the place. That’s where these women are housed. They take care of the papal apartments and do the cooking.

The layman that lived in the house was the butler. The other priests were Archbishop Ganswein and the Archbishop’s undersecretary.

That’s not what we in religion would call a community. That’s what you would find at any rectory. A community has a common life:

1. Common prayer life
2. Common spirituality
3. Shared worldview
4. Same goals
5. Submissive to the same authority
6. Prays, plays, eats, sleeps, works, rests, and travels together
7. There is one person in the house who controls everyone’s movements and work

When secular priests live together, they live as housemates. They don’t have to have any of this in common. Canon law is very clear that they are still part of the world. Each one builds his spiritual life according to his needs, not the needs of the community.

 

[salusanimarum17]

It’s a fine idea. I only hope the next Pope is not pilloried if he decides to live in the apartment…actually, I’m sure he will be by at least some people. That’s the problem I see with this.

 

[shelby_sun]

The Jesuits at the school where I work live right in the center of the school, with classrooms and the cafeteria around their very small living quarters. They have a tiny central room and kitchen, and they each have a single,old dorm size room of their own, plus their chapel. They each take turns shopping for food and doing chores for the community. When the President of the school, also a Jesuit, gets back to he community he is equal to all other priests there and has the same small room as the others. In fact, the rector of the community runs the house, not the president of the school.

Even though the Jesuits live in communities doesn’t men they don’t each have their own personalities, with their own likes and dislikes, and annoying habits. Some would never live together if they were not assigned to. Being in a community is there life; it is what there life plan was a Jesuit. Pope Francis has a right to keep that part of his life plan if he can still do his jobs as the Pope, which he should be able to do just fine.

 

[Trishie]

Thank you kindly JR. You are one of our most respected members if not the most…Even so, honestly, my response remains the same. Others greater than me may have better perspectives, but Christ’s life itself remains the litmus test for me. I can’t help that any more than others can their responses, but I’m sure your wise words reassure and enlighten others in this regard. You are undoubtedly correct, but my response remains the same and I can’t pretend otherwise, even if I’m roundly criticized. However it was also St Francis’ response, as he grieved when grand buildings were built and when his original dream for his Order underwent change at the hands of others even as he lived. He had wanted simplicity, humility, poverty in union with Christ. There are more issues than simply palatial buildings, but I shan’t comment further. We all are different utterances of God’s love, so we don’t all view things similarly. The field daisy’s perspective is going to differ from the rhododendron’s, and I’m a field daisy.

However, what is, is. The Pope will do what he can. How far he can, is another matter. Yes I do know, in as much as my limited mind can grasp, of the glory proper to God though not to men, but I also know that God’s praise is also in the whisper and in the humblest gesture of charity. And charity is this world’s great need on a temporal and spiritual level.

God’s kindest blessings to you.

 

[Sheeniac]

T
That’s not what we in religion would call a community. That’s what you would find at any rectory. A community has a common life:

1. Common prayer life
2. Common spirituality

I stand corrected. But, still he didn’t live alone.

However, I read that they did meet daily to pray and be together, so while not a community that a religious would call it, it is still some type of community.

 

[JReducation]

It’s a fine idea. I only hope the next Pope is not pilloried if he decides to live in the apartment…actually, I’m sure he will be by at least some people. That’s the problem I see with this.

The Jesuits at the school where I work live right in the center of the school, with classrooms and the cafeteria around their very small living quarters. They have a tiny central room and kitchen, and they each have a single,old dorm size room of their own, plus their chapel. They each take turns shopping for food and doing chores for the community. When the President of the school, also a Jesuit, gets back to he community he is equal to all other priests there and has the same small room as the others. In fact, the rector of the community runs the house, not the president of the school.

Even though the Jesuits live in communities doesn’t men they don’t each have their own personalities, with their own likes and dislikes, and annoying habits. Some would never live together if they were not assigned to. Being in a community is there life; it is what there life plan was a Jesuit. Pope Francis has a right to keep that part of his life plan if he can still do his jobs as the Pope, which he should be able to do just fine.

Living in community is like a marriage of convenience. That’s the best way that I can describe it.

Living as these Jesuits live is how we lived in that assignment at the retreat house. We had quarters similar to what your describe, smack in the middle of the building. The only difference is that we share rooms. There are usually three or four to a dorm size room. Only the superior has his own room. If the needs are such that you don’t have to put too many men in one house, there may be a house where each one has a cell. Sometimes you have to share. We often felt that we were going to suffocate.

 

[JReducation]

I stand corrected. But, still he didn’t live alone.

However, I read that they did meet daily to pray and be together, so while not a community that a religious would call it, it is still some type of community.

If I’m not mistaken, they prayed morning prayer and mass together daily. And there are pictures of them sitting around watching something on TV, maybe a move or the news.

You’re right. It’s better than loneliness. Pope John XXIII changed this. Prior to this, the pope had no company. Bl. John hated it.

 

[Corki]

It’s a fine idea. I only hope the next Pope is not pilloried if he decides to live in the apartment…actually, I’m sure he will be by at least some people. That’s the problem I see with this.

I have wondered about that too. Many of the Pope’s recent actions are tied to his personal spirituality and his belonging to a religious order. I doubt that anyone in media and very few “regular” Catholics (those who don’t haunt internet forums ) understand that. The next popes are not likely to be from religious orders.

The next pope might decide to move into the apartment AND wear red shoes.

 

[JReducation]

I have wondered about that too. Many of the Pope’s recent actions are tied to his personal spirituality and his belonging to a religious order. I doubt that anyone in media and very few “regular” Catholics (those who don’t haunt internet forums ) understand that. The next popes are not likely to be from religious orders.

The next pope might decide to move into the apartment AND wear red shoes.

The chances electing the next pope from a religious order look slim to me. Cardinal Pell is too old. Cardinal O’Malley is in his mid-60s. There’s a possibility. The other papabili were all secular priests.

 

[chaunceygardner]

Most of the people who live at Santa Marthae are not clergy. They’re the Vatican staff: gardeners, cooks, secretaries and some priests in lower ranking positions.

Even better! Then Pope Francis is truly among the people of God, not just a certain clerical segment of it.

I did not realize who all lived there. I understood it to be a guest house, providing rooms for those who were visiting or perhaps working or studying at the Vatican for periods of time (not long term). I saw the photo of the Pope at morning prayers in the Chapel with people who were still wearing jackets and coats, and who were identified as Vatican workers. So I assumed they lived in homes and apartments outside of the Vatican and had come to the chapel for prayers and Mass before reporting for duty.

 

[livnlern]

I am not sure how far it is between the Pope’s new living quarters and where his office would be. It seems like he will be the one who will have to “walk to work” each day. As far as his household staff, I would think that they would be accomodated somehow.

I really like the idea that Francis will actually be able to interact with people other than his inner circle on a regular basis. That is good for him, good for the Church, and shows that he is not placing himself above everyone around him. Plus, when he finds it really difficult to make the journey from his living space to his office, it will be a good indication that he is near retirement.

I can’t imagine Peter ever distanced himself from the other disciples or from the people on the roads he traveled or in the villages he visited. I think this Pope has really got the right idea. Bless him.

Agreed! It’s great that he will live with other priests and not be contained within an “inner circle”. Not that members of that circle would be a bad influence, but it’s better for him to not be too closed off from the common people. Pope Paul was in residence when I was a little girl and he seemed so far off and kind of shut away from the rest of the world. Then when John Paul II came in (after JP I’s short time), he seemed to burst open the doors to the papacy and brought it all to the people of the world. That’s what we need today as well.

 

[JReducation]

Even better! Then Pope Francis is truly among the people of God, not just a certain clerical segment of it.

I did not realize who all lived there. I understood it to be a guest house, providing rooms for those who were visiting or perhaps working or studying at the Vatican for periods of time (not long term). I saw the photo of the Pope at morning prayers in the Chapel with people who were still wearing jackets and coats, and who were identified as Vatican workers. So I assumed they lived in homes and apartments outside of the Vatican and had come to the chapel for prayers and Mass before reporting for duty.

I think there are different people there. Some are lay, religious and clergy who work in the Holy See. Others are visitors.

 

[graciew]

I think there are different people there. Some are lay, religious and clergy who work in the Holy See. Others are visitors.

Just like in any neighbourhood in Buenos Aires… It does not matter,we are neighbours,Simple everyday life. A “good morning” here ,a question about what we talked about yesterday, there:
a comment from the newspaper or the soccer match last Sunday,a couple of “mates”(our national kind of tea) or coffee,and ready to hop on to a bus or start the day…I do hope he feels at home,from my heart.

 

[shelby_sun]

Living in community is like a marriage of convenience. That’s the best way that I can describe it.

Living as these Jesuits live is how we lived in that assignment at the retreat house. We had quarters similar to what your describe, smack in the middle of the building. The only difference is that we share rooms. There are usually three or four to a dorm size room. Only the superior has his own room. If the needs are such that you don’t have to put too many men in one house, there may be a house where each one has a cell. Sometimes you have to share. We often felt that we were going to suffocate.

Bro. you are truly a holy man for choosing this kind of life for God. Someone would surely hurt me before the end of the first day if they had to live with me under those circumstances. I admire you for your life choice.

 

[graciew]

Bro. you are truly a holy man for choosing this kind of life for God. Someone would surely hurt me before the end of the first day if they had to live with me under those circumstances. I admire you for your life choice.

True. Thanks a million for a that life choice.
I would be “kicked out” …
Now I was thinking,that the people he visited,as an archbishop,don´t have even this “comfort”.
Roofs of tin,sharing beds(best of cases),dust on the floor,and walls of cardboard,maybe tin,maybe piled up brick. And more…and worse.I would say he does not want to forget,he needs to stay down to earth.It is them who he does not want to fail,our forgotten ones especially.All over Earth.Jesus…
What a Pope we have!

 

[JReducation]

Bro. you are truly a holy man for choosing this kind of life for God. Someone would surely hurt me before the end of the first day if they had to live with me under those circumstances. I admire you for your life choice.

The hardest part of this life is community. As I said, it’s a marriage of convenience. You don’t know each other when you come together. You’re thrown into a situation and you make the best of it. You have to love, even when you want to throttle.

Just tonight, after the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, I had to walk with a brother who is going through a stressful time. As his superior, it is my role to take on his stress. St. Francis commands this. This is easier said than done. Very often, people don’t want to let go of the very thing that is causing them stress and let someone else worry about it. You keep trying to throw them a life preserver and they throw it back at you. You get to a point when you’re tempted to throw them a boulder to see if they just sink and go away. But you can’t do that. You must always remember love.

I think this is what living in community may mean to our Holy Father. It may be his way of not forgetting love. When one is in authority, it’s easy to get wrapped up in business that one forgets all about love. One tends to become more efficient and less dependent of God.

True. Thanks a million for a that life choice.
I would be “kicked out” …
Now I was thinking,that the people he visited,as an archbishop,don´t have even this “comfort”.
Roofs of tin,sharing beds(best of cases),dust on the floor,and walls of cardboard,maybe tin,maybe piled up brick. And more…and worse.I would say he does not want to forget,he needs to stay down to earth.It is them who he does not want to fail,our forgotten ones especially.All over Earth.Jesus…
What a Pope we have!

This is a very good point. That’s the reason that when I travel I never stay at hotels. I find a homeless shelter and sleep there. The wanderer does not have a warm cozy bed. “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

 

[shelby_sun]

This is a very good point. That’s the reason that when I travel I never stay at hotels. I find a homeless shelter and sleep there. The wanderer does not have a warm cozy bed. “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”