Yes, your post has hit the nail on the head. It seems like the modern world view has shrunk to only what we can perceive with our senses and our science.I think the one part of this talk, and many other talks by Pope Francis, that will be ignored by the Media is the fact that he does in fact refer to the devil. He often refers to good and evil supernatural realities, including the evil of Satan, who influences individuals and whole societies. Unlike many Catholic and Protestant preachers, the pope doesn’t regard Satan as a literary symbol, or catch-all phrase for human selfishness. He regards Satan as a real person, a source of potential evil if people yield to him, though not the only source of evil.
This is a priest who performs exorcisms!
The supernatural aspect of his ministry is constantly overlooked by those who believe all evil comes from social, economic and political inequality, and therefore rely on “religion” only as a facilitator for political action, and “prayer” as a kind of community-building exercise. We live in an anti-supernatural era, when most children will never learn of angels, except maybe as decorations. Sadly, most Catholics never hear of the supernatural side of Francis’ papacy.
Very true. The message being preached is that society is made up of purely human social constructs, nothing more. The Church or any other organized religion that teaches anything even remotely resembling the truth are ignored out of hand.I think the one part of this talk, and many other talks by Pope Francis, that will be ignored by the Media is the fact that he does in fact refer to the devil. He often refers to good and evil supernatural realities, including the evil of Satan, who influences individuals and whole societies. Unlike many Catholic and Protestant preachers, the pope doesn’t regard Satan as a literary symbol, or catch-all phrase for human selfishness. He regards Satan as a real person, a source of potential evil if people yield to him, though not the only source of evil.
This is a priest who performs exorcisms!
The supernatural aspect of his ministry is constantly overlooked by those who believe all evil comes from social, economic and political inequality, and therefore rely on “religion” only as a facilitator for political action, and “prayer” as a kind of community-building exercise. We live in an anti-supernatural era, when most children will never learn of angels, except maybe as decorations. Sadly, most Catholics never hear of the supernatural side of Francis’ papacy.