The Pope's Spiritual Influences

[Verus_Israel]

Hi all!

I was just wondering if anyone could help me out with a little information. I was really interested in a speech the current pope gave in New Zealand recently and wanted to know more about his spiritual influences. Does anyone know to what extent he was influenced by John of the Cross?

Thanks much!

 

[jimmy]

Hi all!

I was just wondering if anyone could help me out with a little information. I was really interested in a speech the current pope gave in New Zealand recently and wanted to know more about his spiritual influences. Does anyone know to what extent he was influenced by John of the Cross?

Thanks much!

I think that is probably very difficult to pin down. His knowledge covers a vast amount. He is heavily influenced by St. Augustine and St. Bonaventure as far as I know. I am sure he is quite knowledgable of the Carmelites like St. John of the Cross but I don’t know how much it has influenced him.

 

[Verus_Israel]

I think that is probably very difficult to pin down. His knowledge covers a vast amount. He is heavily influenced by St. Augustine and St. Bonaventure as far as I know. I am sure he is quite knowledgable of the Carmelites like St. John of the Cross but I don’t know how much it has influenced him.

Thanks for the info! I know a bit about Augustine, but I’ll look up Bonaventure.

The reason I ask is because in his speech, he referred to the “spiritual desert” of this world; a metaphor which appears quite often in rabbinic literature. I understand that there was a modern Catholic theologian (whose name, unfortunately, escapes me at the moment) who used the phrase often in his writings, who in turn appropriated it from John of the Cross (who, I believe also spoke of “the dark night of the soul”?).

 

[Dempsey1919]

As has been mentioned above, the Holy Father was heavily influenced by St. Augustine.