Jul 5, 2013 It's Time to Admit: Pope Francis Is Kind of Awesome By Stephen Marche at 7:00AM Getty Images It began when the Pope paid his bill. The day after Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was named the leader of the world's billion Catholics, he asked his driver to go back to the hotel in the Vatican where he'd been staying during the Congress of Cardinals, to pay his bill. The payment was completely symbolic of course. That hotel belongs to the Church, and the Church belongs to him. The Pope paid "because he was concerned about giving a good example of what priests and bishops should do." Paying a bill is a small but vital gesture — it is the most ordinary way that normal people fulfill their obligations. It was the first in a series of moves that have established Pope Francis I as, by far, the coolest, most interesting and potentially revolutionary Pope in memory. It has now been a little over a hundred days since Francis took over the Vatican, but for Pope-watchers, the excitement has just begun. There is serious upheaval in the Vatican, with outsiders brought into major positions of power, and Francis speaking openly of "a current of corruption" in the Curia, but, as an atheist, I don't really care about any of that. I'm sure it takes guts and brains to try and reform the Church, but whether the Vatican is a strong or a weak institution is of the smallest possible concern to me. What is much more important is how he has used many small gestures to demonstrate the possibilities of compassion. He has said that he believes priests should be "shepherds with the smell of the sheep" and he is living that way. He has, pointedly, not moved into the papal apartments, remaining at a cheap hotel where reportedly he eats breakfast with ordinary people. He refuses to take the papal limousine, traveling by minibus instead. More significantly, on Holy Thursday this year, Pope Francis became the first Pope in history to wash the feet of a woman. Not only did he wash the feet of a woman, but that woman was a Muslim. Not only was she a Muslim woman, she was a female inmate at a local prison. He has become famous in Rome as the "chatty" Pope, stopping to embrace children with disabilities. Recently after a kid with Down's syndrome pointed to the Popemobile, Francis gave him a free ride around Saint Peter's Square. He has a sense of humor, too. He's been known to give blessings to groups of Harley Davidson bikers. These little gestures make a big difference. The Catholic Church may be the last major institution in the world that makes a coherent argument against total absorption in consumer capitalism. It was one thing to hear Benedict XVI talk about the poor — on a golden throne draped in ermine. It's quite another to hear it from a guy on the minibus who pays his bills. Not that these little gestures will change the Catholic Church or its reputation overnight. Just this week, another scandal has erupted in the New York diocese, where Cardinal Dolan was caught moving church assets into shadowy accounts to prevent the victims of child abuse from knowing about 130 million dollars. Nonetheless, the Pope offers some real reasons for hope. He's even said that atheists, if we lead a good life, aren't necessarily going to hell. Which is nice, I guess. A measure of civility between the faithful and nonbelievers has been sorely lacking. He might even be able to bridge that chasm, which would in itself be a huge achievement. As a Catholic friend said to me, "He could be amazing. All he has to do is not get assassinated." *This article originally stated that Pope Francis said, "The Carnival is over." This quote has turned out to be false. The article also said the Pope washed the woman's feet on Good Friday. It was Holy Thursday. We regret the errors. ALSO: WHAT IF JESUS MEANT ALL THAT STUFF? PLUS: HOW TO PRAY WHEN YOU'RE PISSED AT GOD Tags: stephen marche | pope francis | Catholic Church Read more: Pope Francis Awesome - Pope Francis Is Kind of Great - Esquire Follow us: @Esquiremag on Twitter | Esquire on Facebook Visit us at Esquire.com
Its kind cool to see an atheist write an article about how awesome the Pope is, even being thankful that the Pope said atheists may not necessarily go to hell. Small steps...maybe he has started down the road to conversion! You just never know.
I am watching and reading about Francis in Brazil in awe and amazement. I'm no where near Rio and I feel his energy and a sense of renewal. Thank you Holy Spirit for our Vicar of Christ! "Possessions, money and power can give a momentary thrill, the illusion of being happy, but they end up possessing us and making us always want to have more, never satisfied" "To you and to all, I repeat: never yield to discouragement, do not lose trust, do not allow your hope to be extinguished" "I want the Church, parish colleges, the institutions to go into the streets," http://www.france24.com/en/20130726-pope-crowd-1-5-million-copacabana-speech-brazil
Joel Osteen Attends Mass in St. Peter’s Square, Meets With Holy Father » Pope Francis: Rigid Traditionalists and Cafeteria Catholics “Aren’t Really Catholics” June 7, 2014 By Kathy Schiffer 44 Comments Half-hearted Catholics–those who believe only some of the Church’s teachings–aren’t really Catholics at all. “They may call themselves Catholic,” said Pope Francis at his morning Mass at the Domus Sancta Marthae, “but they have one foot out the door.” * * * * * The Holy Father drew his inspiration from the Gospel reading for June 5, taken from John 17:20-26, and Jesus’ prayer that there would be unity, not divisions and conflict, among his followers. He singled out three groups of people whose half-hearted acceptance of faith drew into question their membership in the Church: “Uniformists” who believe that everyone in the Church should be just like them. ”They are rigid!” said the Pope. “They do not have that freedom the Holy Spirit gives,” and they confuse what Jesus preached with their “own doctrine of uniformity.” Jesus never wanted the church to be so rigid, Pope Francis said. Such people “call themselves Catholics, but their rigid attitude distances them from the Church.” The Pope likened the “uniformists” to the early Christians who demanded that pagans become Hebrews before they could enter the Church, when this was not what God intended. “Alternativists” are those who hold alternative teachings and doctrines. They, according to Pope Francis, have “a partial belonging to the church. These, too, have one foot outside the church. They rent the church,” not recognizing that its teaching is based on the preaching of Jesus and the apostolic tradition. The “alternativists” are today’s “Cafeteria Catholics” who accept some teachings, but not the teachings which they find inconvenient or which they don’t really understand. “Businessists” are those who use the Church “for personal profit.” Pope Francis noted that they call themselves Christians, but don’t enter into the heart of the Church. “We have all seen them in parish or diocesan communities and religious congregations,”said Francis, “they are some of the benefactors of the Church. They strut around proud of being benefactors; but in the end, under the table, they make their deals.” * * * * * The Church, Pope Francis taught, is made up of people with a variety of differences and gifts. If one wants to belong to it, he or she must be motivated by love and must enter with “your whole heart.” The Pope explained the correct approach to the Church, according to L’Osservatore Romano: But Christ’s message is quite different: to all these types, the Pontiff continued, Jesus says that “the Church isn’t rigid, it’s free! In the Church there are many charisms, there’s great diversity in people and in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says: in the Church you must give your heart to the Gospel, to what the Lord has taught, and never have an alternative for yourself! The Lord tells us: if you want to enter the Church”, do so “for love, to give all, all your heart and not for doing business for your benefit”. Indeed, “the Church is not a house for rent” for all those who “want to do as they please”; on the contrary, “it is a home to live in”. And to those who object that “it’s not easy”, to keep both feet in the Church, because “there are so many temptations”, the Rome’s bishop recalled that he who “creates unity in the Church, unity in the diversity, in the freedom, in the generosity” which is the Holy Spirit, whose specific “duty” is to actually create “harmony in the Church”. Because “unity in the Church is harmony. Everyone — he added with a joke — we’re different, we’re not equal, thank God”, otherwise “it would be hell!” But “we are all called to be docile to the Holy Spirit”. And this is exactly the virtue that will save us from being rigid, from being “alternativists” and from being “advantagists” or swindlers in the Church: docility to the Holy Spirit, he who “builds the Church”. Pope Francis called for a docility which transforms the Church from a house “for rent,” into a house in which everyone feels at home. ”I’m at home,” he said, “because the Holy Spirit gives me this grace.” In the Prayers of the Faithful, Pope Francis prayed for the grace of unity in the Church: to be brothers and sisters in unity, feeling right at home. He prayed for “unity in the diversity of everyone… but free diversity,” without imposing conditions. In his closing invocation, he prayed that we would create this harmony in our communities, parishes, dioceses, and movements. He reiterated the message from his first Mass in Jordan, when he said: Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kathyschiffer/2014/06/pope-francis-rigid-traditionalists-and-cafeteria-catholics-arent-really-catholics/#ixzz346mPI9ay
