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The world circulated more sensational words taken out of context: “Catholic, not a rabbit”, which were immediately commented on, duplicated, commented again and comments repeated, forgetting about the sources of the statements. Before anyone noticed what Pope Francis really said, there was a correction made by the author of the alleged statement himself. Because the Pope is surprised.
http://gosc.pl/doc/2331756.Papiez-zaskoczony-slowa-wyrwano-z-kontekstu
I have always thought that when a Catholic Pope said something, it should mean something and that people should pay attention to it. But I did not always have the same impression as during the pontificate that is currently underway. Namely, that the Catholic pope has become a media gadget sending a series of text messages out into the world, which everyone immediately sends to each other commenting, caricatured, equipping with “emotes”.
Pope Francis said. Pope Francis admonished. Pope Francis noted. The Pope has finally been heard. Hooray! one would like to shout. But I’m somehow unhappy.
Because who really hears the Pope?
Sometimes I ask Catholic schoolchildren, friends and relatives, different people sometimes hearing news from the Church about what they know about the teaching of Popes such as John Paul II or Benedict XVI. The Polish Pope is associated with missionary trips, with cream cakes, with photos showing a cool priest, with singing in highlander, with sermons to young people who gather during meetings with him.
What did he say about life, about the Church, about believers following Christ? Hardly anyone remembers.
Benedict XVI is concrete, they say, a scientist, some kind of incompetent to the crowd, not the previous one. Too difficult texts to read, no one understands – they say. He was specific, firm, sometimes gentle, made some important gestures. But it’s good that he quit, now we have a nice pope. He speaks like our man. We understand it.
What do you understand, I ask?
It’s nice that he reminds others that wealth must be divided among the poor, that the Church “becomes impoverished” (quote from the student), that people are together. Others – the older ones like Pape Frank because he talks wisely about condoms, meets dissenters, somehow closer to him and he is closer to us.
And when the synod on the family was a little disappointed, it was already going so well, he stopped progress. But cool, let’s wait, he will make it, he will live with the sisters in the Church, he will understand in which direction we Catholics should go. He is different, he will finally change something in the Church.
Yes, I know, I write colloquially, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit with the form, it’s hard to call it meaningful writing. However, when I listen to and read such statements, I start looking for Christ. Where are you Lord? Am I sure I am still among Catholics?
Who is Pope Francis, who is so spelled and talked about? Because I hear and read some other.
I hear a man who cares for the whole church, for every man ever in the community. Whether he currently believes or not. I hear in the statements of Pope Francis a genuine Christian concern for another human being.
Has no one heard it in the words of previous popes?
When I read the statements of Pope Francis about the family, I understand them only that it is better for me to be a mother with many children, the wife of one husband, a person faithful to the call to serve God and the Church as part of the service of the family. What the media is doing with the statements of Father Francis about the family could easily be qualified as manipulation, lies and attempts to falsify the image of the earthly viceroy of Christ.
When many people around me panickedly absorbed the news from the synod devoted to the family, worried – what will this Pope do now, what will he say, what will he say, subtracting final decisions about the direction of teaching or developing a thought in the Church.
And the Pope did not let me down personally. He impressed me. He convinced me that he is a person chosen by God, who observes calmly, reacts to what is happening in the Church. It is certainly not easy for him, today nothing is easy at all among Christians.
I am only annoyed by the fact that he is treated like a mascot, which you just need to press on the tummy and say something happy, something memorable that is easy to remember and easy to forget. I understand that people want to treat important personalities as celebrities, know more about their lives than the etiquette predicts, identify with them by absorbing their thoughts, costumes, and the fashions they prefer (including behavior and gestures).
However, the Pope, however, it is someone who has a big task to accomplish, a mission entrusted by God. It is to lead the Church, that is, the community of people gathered around Christ.
Can someone working with God be treated as a buddy, like a robot for inventing golden thoughts to comfort hearts? Because I guess that’s what the media looks like. Unfortunately, even in the Catholic media.
A cursory overview of the so-called Internet headlines The opinion-forming Catholic press about the Pope’s statements makes me sick. For the first time in my life, I don’t trust Catholic journalists. As if they had stopped developing attentive listening skills, as if they had no time in this incessant war of opinion to write a specific text on a specific topic of the Pope’s authentic teaching. That is why I always try to get straight to the full statements of the Pope.
And – I don’t know, maybe I just can’t read, – I often don’t know on what basis someone says that the Pope encourages “something”. I have a completely different impression.
Sometimes I am a bit disturbed by the freedom of his speech (but as I know life, it can be a matter of poor translations). But on the other hand, I like the fact that he is not a slave to the function he is supposed to perform. He is himself. And maybe that’s what we can’t forgive him, what we can’t jump over. And what we cannot understand, so just in case, we make the content of what he says shallow, so that it does not accidentally turn out to be a defender of basic and fundamental Christian values. Those whom many – I am writing this with pain – Catholics are trying to bear, not choosing their means. Even in the mass media.
I would like to remind you that John Paul II also terribly upset others, especially his closest associates. He was free, but when he said something about values, it turned out that many people in the Church hurt.
I think about Pope Francis, between running after my kids (five of them), my job, cooking, cleaning, taking care of my hobbies, and walking around the shops in search of the products I need to live.
And I find that it is worth listening to him carefully, calmly and patiently. Because he is a Pope who is an extremely wise priest, endowed with the charism that the Church needs at the moment. It will lead us in the right direction. I hope so.
I wish you, Holy Father, cheerfulness, endurance and bravery in the face of the enemy who confuses and lies between words. Be strong and brave!
Let’s seek the truth. Especially where it is, not where it is not.
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