Lunch With The Pope

Dispatches From the Global Village ^ | 7/9/14 | Brian Stiller

[BlatherNaut]

The inevitable question I’m asked when one knows I’ve been with the Pope is, “And what is he like?” Here are some personal observations from a recent visit. Impressions in the first moments so frame how we see an individual. This, my second meeting with Pope Francis, an almost three-hour conversation and lunch, allowed me to more carefully form impressions. From the outset his charm set us all at ease. As we moved from the greeting hall to the conversation room, he stood by the door to turn out the lights. I noticed that gone were the papal slippers and instead shoes with dangling laces. At lunch, eaten in the cafeteria, it wasn’t the waiters who served us drinks; Pope Francis served Geoff Tunnicliffe, Secretary General of the WEA and me. His presence undermines pomp or circumstance. One has to remind themself that sitting across the lunch table, smiling through moments of joy is one of the most influential persons in the world. His celebrity is muted by his kindly ordinariness. His influence is corralled by his loving affection for people. -Snip-

We talked about Christians marginalized, pressed under the weight of government power or the majority presence of other faiths. He listened and then told a remarkable story. In his years in and out of Rome, he became friends with the pastor of a Pentecostal Church in Rome. In time he came to learn that the church and pastor felt the power and presence of the Catholic Church, with its weighty presence, obstructing their desire to grow and be a witness. “So,” he said, “this July I will preach in his church on a Sunday and offer an apology from my church for the hurt it has brought to their congregation.”

[Admin Moderator]

DE-SCREAMED

[VerySadAmerican]

I think the author is in love.

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Did you say what you meant to say...?

[Admin Moderator]

Yup.

[piusv]

The title of the thread was originally in all caps, so he “De-screamed” it.