Pope Francis Visit

Okay, well it looks like at the UN and in the halls of Congress the aura of the Pope's visit didn't last all that long but I am still on cloud nine. I think he is the type of leader the world sorely needs. Someone who is respected even by those who may strongly disagree with him. Someone who walks the walk and talks the talk, and does both with humility, sincerity, and love.

I also noticed that Pope Francis indeed carries both of the keys of St. Peter, meaning that he is a spiritual man for sure, but also is deft at politics, inter-religious, ecumenical, and world relations. He also seems to turn on for small groups, like when eating with the homeless or visiting a prison or small Catholic school in Harlem. One of my priest friends got to meet him personally after the UN talk and he rehearsed a couple of lines in Spanish to say. When the Pope got to him he said, "Your Holiness, you have finally converted me." The Pope responded by saying, "Probably for the worse" and then pulled the priest's mother and father together to take a group photo. After the photo the Pope smiled and said, "A picture with three fathers." I love that story.

In Philly I noticed that when he was I the crowds kissing babies he was very different in his demeanor than when celebrating the Mass, which is of course appropriate. When he is addressing the UN or Congress he is reading a prepared text when closing the concert for the World Meeting of Families he goes totally off the cuff and was the most animated I saw him the entire trip (and that was Saturday evening!). Which leads me to also wonder at his stamina throughout this the longest trip of his pontificate. He was great throughout and seemed up and prepared for every event. What a shot in the arm for Catholics, Christians, and people of good will.

I also think his presence was a reminder of how important the voice of faith is to the discussion of our modern problems in the world today. To not apply such time honored philosophical and religious principles such as the Golden Rule, the power of sacrifice for the common good, the equality of all human beings no matter if they are poor or powerful, etc. I think in his UN speech he defined sin as: disorder caused by unrestrained ambitions and collective forms of selfishness. It is hard to find a solution to a problem if we don't first understand its cause.

I think later I will give a one or two line executive summary of the talks that I heard, watched, and read. There were over 20 so I didn't see them all, but I did catch most of them. I think everyone can say in summary that the Pope Francis honeymoon is still far from over and that he has been a great blessing for the Catholic Church and the world in general.

Quote: PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE FAMILY

Declaration on the Decrease of Fertility in the World
February 27, 1998
As a consequence, the Pontifical Council for the Family invites all people of goodwill, and especially Christian associations, to do their part in making the truth regarding current demographic trends widely known. It invites them to condemn with courage the Malthusian programs which remain totally unjustified and completely in violation of human rights.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/family/documents/rc_pc_family_doc_29041998_fecondita_en.html

I have never heard the world's decreasing fertility described using the adjective Malthusian before. Usually you think of a Malthusian disaster as the inevitable consequences of high fertility.

Quote: FrGamble

I think everyone can say in summary that the Pope Francis honeymoon is still far from over and that he has been a great blessing for the Catholic Church and the world in general.

Really? That's what you think, when he's so
disliked by so many in his own Church, that
a schism is likely coming?

"How likely is schism? Consider this: the majority of bishops in Germany support the change. But over the border, the Polish episcopate has implied that it could never be accepted. That makes consensus at the synod highly unlikely. Francis will then have a tricky decision. If he permits Communion for the remarried, he will face uproar in the Catholic powerhouse of Poland (and elsewhere). If he rejects it, he will alienate the eyewateringly rich German Church."

http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9492802/why-pope-francis-could-be-facing-a-catholic-schism/

Quote: FrGamble

By the way I was distracted at the beginning of the Pope's homily in Philly and so I only caught the second half. Since my Spanish is not very good and I had already lost the context I just decided to count the times he said Jesus. I know I felt bad at the Mass worrying more about the number of times he said Jesus than the message but that's okay. Anyway, I thought for sure I had lost until I found out that in the first couple of paragraphs he mentioned the Holy Name three or four times. Sorry about that Wizard. I promise to keep working on getting you a license plate. Would any Vatican employee license plate be okay?

Out of curiosity, does the format of the Mass change at all, even slightly, when a Bishop or the Pope say it?

Quote: AZDuffman

Out of curiosity, does the format of the Mass change at all, even slightly, when a Bishop or the Pope say it?

The opening greeting is changed to "Peace be with you." A Bishop or the Pope are the only ones who can say this simple greeting. Also the final blessing can change if the Bishop or Pope so chooses. There is also a little change in the Eucharistic prayer if the Bishop or Pope is saying the entire prayer it changes from, "We pray for Francis our Pope, and ________ our Bishop" to "for me your unworthy servant". I can't think of anything else that really changes in the Mass. There is usually incense and stuff used but anyone can do that.
There is of course more vestments. A bishop or Pope wears a zucchetto (the little beanie), a miter, and carries a crozier. A bishop can also wear underneath his vestments the robes of a deacon to show he is truly the fullness of the holy orders - deacon, priest, and bishop.

Quote: FrGamble

The opening greeting is changed to "Peace be with you." A Bishop or the Pope are the only ones who can say this simple greeting. Also the final blessing can change if the Bishop or Pope so chooses. There is also a little change in the Eucharistic prayer if the Bishop or Pope is saying the entire prayer it changes from, "We pray for Francis our Pope, and ________ our Bishop" to "for me your unworthy servant". I can't think of anything else that really changes in the Mass. There is usually incense and stuff used but anyone can do that.
There is of course more vestments. A bishop or Pope wears a zucchetto (the little beanie), a miter, and carries a crozier. A bishop can also wear underneath his vestments the robes of a deacon to show he is truly the fullness of the holy orders - deacon, priest, and bishop.

Thanks for the reply, I get fixated on weird, small details and love hearing them. I never thought of it even on the Bishop level that you have to change the "X, our Bishop." My brother had the Diocese Bishop do his confirmation but I probably didn't even notice what with being the sponsor and having getting that right on my mind. I remember at mine the altar boys had to wear an apron-looking thing so they did not touch the "Bishop items" which I guess was the miter and crozier.

One question, "Peace Be With You" is it different as the opening greeting? "Peace Be With You" was always part of one of the prayers and the priest's part in the dialogue.

Quote: AZDuffman

I remember at mine the altar boys had to wear an apron-looking thing so they did not touch the "Bishop items" which I guess was the miter and crozier.

Ha, those are the infamous and humble vimp bearers. They actually are the last in every procession even with a Pope.

Quote:

One question, "Peace Be With You" is it different as the opening greeting? "Peace Be With You" was always part of one of the prayers and the priest's part in the dialogue.

If you listen close the phrase the priest says is, "The Lord be with you." or another variation. The specific words, "Peace be with you" as a greeting is reserved only to a bishop. Now there is the part of the Mass where the priest will say, "The peace of the Lord be with you always." but it is not the same as the words reserved for the bishop alone. By the way this comes from the Gospel of John 20:19 where the first words of the Resurrected Lord to the disciples is, "Peace be with you!"

Grandiose interpretations of photo opportunities and the creative journalism of PR flacks..... I guess the process is pretty much the same as it was 2,000 years ago when PR flacks "created" the Bible from records of some visitor passing through town.

Faith ain't much in a foxhole. I remember when some fifth grade teacher announced the US won WW-II because we had God on our side. I told him I'm pretty sure the Germans felt God was on their side as well.

>He has been a great blessing for the Catholic Church and the world in general.
He's been doin' a lot of globetrotting known as "fence mending" and the PR flacks have been very busy.

Quote: Fleastiff

I told him I'm pretty sure the Germans felt God was on their side as well.

Absolutely, the Germans and Russians have
always been very religious, no matter who
is in charge at the moment. FrG is under the
illusion that WWII was an atheist war, that
just because a leader waves his imperial hand
all the people no longer believe in god. It
doesn't work that way. Being an atheist takes
the ability to think for yourself, and most
religious types cannot do that. The soldiers
in WWII clung to their religious beliefs right
to the end, no matter what twaddle the Church
has filled FrG's head with.

Atheism has no monopoly on thinking for yourself. In fact it is often a very lonely thinking, where you become the only one, the only opinion, that matters. It is not wisdom to throw away other's advice, wisdom, experience, and expertise. By all means think for yourself but not by, with, and for yourself.

The soldiers that clung to their religion in WWII were either shot or imprisioned. If they truly lived their faith in the midst of official persecution and hatred they would not have followed the unjust orders of their atheist leaders.