Pope Francis urges Catholics to shake up dioceses

[Iheartcoffee]

I am very happy about the fact that Pope Francis urges the faithful to shake things up a bit. My grandmother recently told me about a priest at her church who didn’t want the Women’s group to pray outside of an abortion clinic unless they dedicated equal time to his social justice program. I was furious when I heard that. Does he not realize that none of his social justice activities matter if the most at-risk populations among us aren’t even born? If he really believed in social justice he would applaud the women’s group for their desire to pray outside of an abortion clinic rather than trying to stifle it because pro-life is pro-Catholic Social Justice. Real social justice starts with the right to be born.

All I can say is that he is very very lucky I wasn’t there during that conversation. I would have had a few words with him. Pope Francis is urging the faithful to call out injustice even if it means ruffling some feathers. The priest that told my grandmother and her friends that they need to spend equal time on his projects is someone that needs to get out of his office and into the real world. It’s not about negotiating and obsessively measuring how many hours are allocated to his pet projects. It’s about helping people, period. If the women’s group feels called to dedicate most of their time to pro-life activities then he needs to support them. He can certainly invite them to join him in his work, but he has no right to demand that they restrict their prayer efforts with some kind of contract to spend time on other things. The women’s group at her church is under no obligation to take on assignments. Rather, they have always had the autonomy to plan their own outreach (obviously within the realm of appropriate charitable work in line with church teaching).

I hope that he tries to say that again when I am around. My grandmother was so surprised by what he said that I don’t think she or any of the other women in the group knew how to respond. They certainly never expected a priest to tell a bunch of grandmothers to cut back on their pro-life work with moms and babies.

I think grandmothers are the PERFECT group for this kind of work because they have all raised children themselves. They can honestly tell those women that they know what being pregnant and having children entails. My grandmother was so poor when she and my grandfather were first married that they bought their food from the defect shelf at the store because it was all they could afford. It was the shelf with slightly dented cans and cans that had no label to indicate what was inside. My grandmother nearly died in childbirth when she was pregnant with my mom after a long and hard pregnancy. I think she is someone that can tell any woman at a clinic she has been through rough times herself and it is possible to get through it! The women’s group expected to hear support for their decision to plan prayer vigils at the abortion clinic, not an ultimatum that they must provide manpower for the priest’s other projects if they want to pray at the clinic. If he needs help with his projects he needs to realize that he won’t get passionate help by twisting the arms of grandmothers. Coerced charity is not charity. He will get help by inviting people or by forming a group that supports his charitable work. Perhaps God actually needs the women’s group to spend more time in prayer and witness on the sidewalks than this priest thinks should be spent. I want to remind him that as poor as the people are that he works with, he is working with the PRIVILEGED because he is working with those allowed to be alive long enough to be poor - or not poor! As human beings that are alive there is always hope that their situations can improve. He is working with people who, by the very fact that they are alive, have the opportunity to rise above their circumstances. They have hope. Those killed in abortion will never have the chance to overcome anything. The unborn are the poorest of our poor.

Well, I guess I have just written a rant, but I think it is precisely what the Pope is talking about. The faithful need to be ready to shake things up when needed. As long as there are human beings that make up the Church there will be problems and it’s up to us to call them out and fix them, even if we bruise a few egos along the way.

 

[graciew]

This is disconcerting and sad to me. What it tells me is that lay Catholics and religious are much further from each other than I ever thought.

.

Brother,I share your being disconcerted .
Your reading comes from your knowledge about Catholicism.Thanks!
Just my token that comes from the streets… “Hacer lío” is such a familiar,colloquial and non-aggressive word for us,that I still can´t see the issue.
To put a plain example. I would tell my kids “NO hagan lío”. Meaning"don´t misbehave,leave everything in order". In consequence,they will stick to their ipods,ipads,video games tv,and the house will be neat.
Grandpa and grandma would say “En casa se puede hacer lío”,meaning "you can make a “little mess” at home…which means live,move,play,be creative,let us enjoy your disorder,learn and have you participating,moving.
The message goes straight into the heart.Our bishops must be smiling and clapping.
And I am clapping too
He is amazing.
God bless you and very glad to read you in the forums.

 

[Kamaduck]

This is disconcerting and sad to me. What it tells me is that lay Catholics and religious are much further from each other than I ever thought.

This expression, “shake up the dioceses” is a direct quote from a letter that St. Ignatius of Loyola sent to his Jesuits which said that problem of Protestantism was not a problem at all, because the Church needed to be shaken from her sleep. He encouraged his sons to challenge the clergy to go out beyond their status quo. In order to do so, St. Ignatius suspended all community activities, including praying together and living in community houses, when it was necessary for the sake of the ministry. It shocked the establishment of his time, because religious lived in community, traveled in pairs or more, prayed together and did not stray too far from the community without permission.

St. Ignatius idea was that the only way to rescue the Church from the Protestant Reformation was to rattle the establishment to return to fidelity and to apostolic activity.

As I was listening to the Franciscans on EWTN, it was very clear to the friars and to other members of religious orders what the Holy Father meant and that his idea came from the early letters of St. Ignatius.

But I did not realize how many people are not familiar with the founders of the great orders. This is not the first time that something has been said or done that comes from a particular religious tradition and it leaves everyone (except religious men) grappling for comprehension.

I guess that our mistake has been to assume that people understand us and those around us know about our founders, our history and our vision of the Church.

The solution is to work harder in the area of catechesis, to get back to a time when people knew what a Jesuit was thinking, why a Franciscan looked like a slob, or what a Dominican was preaching.

Wow. That is an awesome reference.

I don’t know anything about the founders of the great orders, because I wasn’t raised Catholic. Thank you for the explanation!

The article confirms my belief that every time the pope says something, he makes the world a more awesome place.

 

[Sarabande]

This is disconcerting and sad to me. What it tells me is that lay Catholics and religious are much further from each other than I ever thought.

This expression, “shake up the dioceses” is a direct quote from a letter that St. Ignatius of Loyola sent to his Jesuits which said that problem of Protestantism was not a problem at all, because the Church needed to be shaken from her sleep. He encouraged his sons to challenge the clergy to go out beyond their status quo. In order to do so, St. Ignatius suspended all community activities, including praying together and living in community houses, when it was necessary for the sake of the ministry. It shocked the establishment of his time, because religious lived in community, traveled in pairs or more, prayed together and did not stray too far from the community without permission.

St. Ignatius idea was that the only way to rescue the Church from the Protestant Reformation was to rattle the establishment to return to fidelity and to apostolic activity.

As I was listening to the Franciscans on EWTN, it was very clear to the friars and to other members of religious orders what the Holy Father meant and that his idea came from the early letters of St. Ignatius.

But I did not realize how many people are not familiar with the founders of the great orders. This is not the first time that something has been said or done that comes from a particular religious tradition and it leaves everyone (except religious men) grappling for comprehension.

I guess that our mistake has been to assume that people understand us and those around us know about our founders, our history and our vision of the Church.

The solution is to work harder in the area of catechesis, to get back to a time when people knew what a Jesuit was thinking, why a Franciscan looked like a slob, or what a Dominican was preaching.

Thank you for the historical context of the phrase. I attended Catholic school from age two to 16 and never heard or read about this, even though I was one who enjoyed my religion and history classes. And as much as I try to read up on the history of my faith there is still so much more I need to learn. I think you are correct that our lay and religious leaders assume that everyone will understand what they are talking about. I mean, most people I know haven’t even heard of St. Ignatius of Loyola, unless there is a parish nearby named after him. We have a priest who I believe used to be an educator. I love his homilies because he often gives an historical background and it really gives me a fuller perspective as to why we do things in the mass or why we believe a certain way or even an understanding of the political climate at the time, etc. I know not everyone appreciates it as they would rather “get in and out” of mass, but for me, who wants to understand the “why” for our beliefs and practices, I love it.