The best things people miss about Pope Francis

[Eufrosnia]

So yesterday I was happy and elated after seeing Pope Francis and today after visiting CAF, I felt like maybe my joy was a little early. But then I tried to remember what made me think that Pope Francis (Cardinal Bergoglio) was so great (someone I had not even heard of till that moment).

The most important point that many seem to not emphasize as much on this TRADITIONAL forum is that of Pope Francis’s Marian Devotion.

If you listen to the inauguration prayer, the homily he gave today to the cardinals that was posted on another thread

news.va/en/news/pope-francis-1st-homily-full-text

you see how he believes in the intercessory Prayer of Mary. I have seen many who just like to relegate our Blessed Mother as someone to imitate and then slowly brush her aside at that (just as they brush aside the role of the Church).

Now looking at a old homily he gave in Quebec City, this doesn’t seem to be a one off thing either.

catholicsun.org/2013/03/13/old-story-about-then-cardinal-bergoglio-church-remains-sanctified-through-eucharist/

Pope Francis, Cardinal at that time says the following:-

“In the same way that a set of Russian dolls includes others that are smaller, but essentially identical, Our Lady is the smallest of the Russian dolls. Because we see in her the mystery of the bond that allows the gift of God to be accepted and communicated for the life of the world,” Cardinal Bergoglio said.

Catholics can ask for the grace to receive Communion in the same way Mary received Christ. And Catholics must venerate the church in the same way that they do Mary and the Eucharist, he said.

Or to quote a recent article at the Vatican Radio

Br. Ricardo says the “the Argentinian people, we’re very Marian… Each year we always have a walking pilgrimage which (the former Cardinal) always precedes. The whole diocese of Buenos Aires’ walk until (they get to) the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lujàn (in Buenos Aires Province)…twelve hours of walking. It’s full of young people who walk all day, all night and he always wants to celebrate that mass. He always goes back to Lujàn to the Sanctuary.

That is not something you hear everyday these days.

Lets not forget,

“But, it’s interesting: he said several times (in his first speech Wednesday night) ‘Rome, Rome,Rome:’ the diocese of Rome, pastor of Rome. And he goes now to the Salus Populi Romani (the sacred Marian image displayed in St. Mary Major Basilica), the Lady of the city of Rome.”

Those who love Mary, always love the Church. They recognize that as Mary became the instrument of God’s grace in giving us Christ, the Church today carries out a similar role in bringing Christ to the world. As St. Louis De Montfort put it, the more we become close to Mary, the more we become close to Jesus.

Does it mean that Pope Francis will always be perfect in all his decision? NO. I saw in another thread how while the Pope was a Cardinal, he knelt in front of a Protestant minister to “receive a blessing”. Many, including myself, may say that this was imprudent and a bit confusing to someone who saw it as to what the Cardinal was thinking. BUT, what we fail to miss is that neither Cardinals nor even a Pope is protected by making such unwise decisions. What the deep love of Pope Francis for the Church and the Blessed Virgin Mary tells us is that he knows the importance of the Church and if there is anyone who would correct himself in the event of a mistake, that would be Pope Francis!!!. The Blessed Mother will always guide those under her care and those who love and are devoted to her away from error and to her son.

Let us also not forget his striving to live with as less luxury as possible. It is refreshing to see as someone who lives in North America where the Priest (albeit not taken a vow of poverty) feels it ok to talk about luxurious experiences they had during homilies. The Pope will set an example to all Priests, Bishops, Cardinals AND even future Popes on how they can identify with the millions of poor around the world as Christ did. It will at least make others think twice. I am just a lay person but it certainly made ME think twice on how I live my life.

Then there is the issue of the Extraordinary Form. There was concern raised over how less celebrations of the EF exists in Argentina as a whole and especially in Buenos Aires. Perhaps many didn’t realize one of the obvious conclusions that one could draw from it. Argentina has more devoted Catholics who love the Church than entire North America put together. YET, they don’t even celebrate EF as much. In North America where it is celebrated, there seems to be little impact through it anyway. So it would mean that Novus Ordo is JUST AS EFFECTIVE as EF if done properly. The problem with North America is that it has been abused so much that some faithful Catholics have developed a distaste for it (something like Pavlov’s conditioning I guess).

So in short, I think we can rest assured that we have one of the best possible Pope’s we could hope for in this day and age. It should be obvious to anyone through his words that he LOVES and is DEVOTED to the Church and the Blessed Mother. To question if he will stray is to lose our trust in the Blessed Mother in a way. She will not let those who are devoted to her go against the Church that her son established.

I just felt like I wanted to put this out there for others to at least consider

 

[Mrs_Sally]

Thank you for posting all if this. It’s good to see how much our new Holy Father loves Mary. It reminds me of John Paul II who had a great devotion to Our Lady also.

 

[Anthony86]

I saw in another thread how while the Pope was a Cardinal, he knelt in front of a Protestant minister to “receive a blessing”. Many, including myself, may say that this was imprudent and a bit confusing to someone who saw it as to what the Cardinal was thinking.

I think this deserves a bit of nuance. If I am not mistaken, this occurred at an ecumenical conference, and he was also blessed by a Capuchin priest. It is not inappropriate to kneel when being blessed by a priest. He did not kneel towards the Protestant minister, but in between the minister and the priest, facing the crowd.