Posted on 03/25/2019 3:45:29 PM PDT by ebb tide
ROME, March 25, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis today made it clear that he doesn’t want the faithful to kiss his papal ring, repeatedly pulling his hand away from pilgrims who were lined up to greet him reverently during his one-day visit to the Holy House of Loreto.
A disturbing video from the Italian news site TGCOM 24 captured the Pope’s insistence that the laity not show him such reverence.
It’s not known why Pope Francis objects to this.
A bishop’s ring is a sign of his “marriage” to the diocese over which he rules. Conferred during the rite of consecration, the episcopal ring was historically regarded as emblematic of the mystical betrothal of the bishop to his church.
The formula used in the rite of consecration of a bishop when he is invested with his ring is laden with such symbolism. According to the rite, the principal consecrator places the ring on the ring finger of the new bishop’s right hand, saying: “Take this ring, the seal of your fidelity. With faith and love protect the bride of God, his holy Church.” The formula dates back to the first millennium.
According to the Council of Nicaea, a bishop was not to be moved from diocese due to the nuptial meaning of the episcopacy. Deserting the church to which he was consecrated and transferring himself to another diocese was regarded as tantamount to “adultery.”
St. John Fisher (1469-1535), the only cardinal to ever die for the faith, repeatedly refused to be translated to another diocese, even though he had been entrusted with the diocese of Rochester, one of the poorest in England. He said he would not leave his poor old wife,” (the Rochester diocese) for the richest widow (other diocese) in England.” Fisher refused to abandon his diocese and was imprisoned and martyred for refusing to accept the king’s abandonment of his wife.
The gesture of kissing the episcopal ring (called the baciamano in Italian), is a way of reminding the bishop of his promises to his people and their loyalty to him. It is a reminder of the unbreakable nuptial bond between him and his people, and the affection and loyalty for each other. Clergy and laity who kiss a bishop’s ring therefore remind him of his undertakings when he was consecrated to the episcopate.
The Bishop of Rome’s ring — the “Ring of the Fisherman” — is a sign of his husband-father relation to the Church as a whole and is smashed upon the death of a pope. It is also the symbol of the Pope’s investiture of his office. To kiss the “Ring of the Fisherman” therefore alludes to the dignity and office and is an expression of loyalty to him as the Successor of St. Peter.
When Pope Francis received the fisherman’s ring at his installation on March 19, 2013, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary and patron of the universal Church, the ring was borne in procession from the tomb of St. Peter where it had been laid.
As he received it, the following prayer was said:
Most Holy Father, may Christ, the Son of the living God, the shepherd and guardian of our souls, who built his Church upon rock, grant you the ring, the seal of Peter the Fisherman, who put his hope in him on the sea of Galilea, and to whom the Lord Jesus entrusted the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.
Today you succeed the Blessed Apostle Peter as the Bishop of this Church which presides over the unity of charity, as the Blessed Apostle has taught. May the Spirit of charity, poured into our hearts, grant you the gentleness and strength to preserve, through your ministry, all those who believe in Christ in unity and fellowship.
The episcopal ring symbolizes the unbreakable unity between the bishop and his spouse, the local Church. Pope Francis has shown himself to be uncomfortable with such traditional concepts in the past.
The Pope has also shown himself to be uncomfortable with other traditional gestures of reverence.
Shortly after his installation as Pope, he asked a young altar boy piously standing with hands joined if they were “bound together.” Attempting to pull the boy’s hands apart, Pope Francis said to him: “It seems like they’re stuck” (watch video here).
The reason for his aversion to the laity kissing his ring is unclear.
Pope Francis does seem comfortable with personal expressions of loyalty to his person rather than his office.
In comments to LifeSite after seeing the video, source close to the Vatican said: “He doesn’t get that it’s about him. It’s about the office.” Another observer noted that while Pope Francis is uncomfortable with the faithful kissing his ring, he has repeatedly welcomed expressions of personal esteem and affection though selfies and hugs.
LifeSite asked Vatican spokesman, Alessandro Gisotti, why the Pope did not want the faithful to kiss his ring during his visit to the Holy House of Loreto but has not yet received a response.
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Perhaps he felt the ring burn his finger as the pilgrim’s lips drew near.
Ping
He has no clue what humility is.
This guy’s a jerk.
It was disgusting and insulting. I noticed that he let them kiss his other hand or bow to him, however. He loves himself but hates the Petrine office and hates any sign of respect for it or for the Church.
He looked genuinely evil when he was snatching his hand away.
Wow.... what a total Marxist douchebag. The Papists should be ashamed of this disgusting creature.
Not sure if this is a bad thing. How would Peter have handled it? I don’t think he would have wanted people kissing his ring. Glory to God, not the pope.
This is sounding like mental illness. He knows that it is traditional for all people to do so.
What very few know is that the Church has blessed this act of humility with the forgiveness of venial sins (under the usual conditions that apply to the forgiveness of the Church).
By doing so, he insulted every person who attempted to kiss his Papal ring. Considering his prior actions, I suspect he does not even realize that he made an enemy of every one of those people whom he insulted. Keep it up Jorge. We Catholics in the pews patiently await a successor who will lead us back to the true Catholic Faith.
John Henry Westen’s video was very good.
It's about Pope Francis preferring personal adulation to gestures of respect for his office. His JOBis to be :servum servorum Dei," the servant of the servants of God. He himself is obliged to respect his office, and not exploit the papacy as a vehicle for his "personality," his individual sense of style, his opinions and preferences.
What we see him doing is opting for the "cult of personality" rather than a sober and humbling dedication to a Church of which he servant, not master, and a Lord who is bigger than he is.
It was like he was playing a game with them. Sickening grin on his face.
It was an outright display of contempt. And I've seen other videos of him actually shoving subordinates.
Just judging from what we can observe, he's not a humble man, but he plays one on TV.
Well, maybe he is admitting by this that he knows he is not the Pope.
Can you even imagine Jesus Christ — his model as head of the Church — doing this?
I can’t.
Can’t imagine St. Peter doing it either.
Thanks for that. Good info.
Thank you.
Give him a break! Did you ever see him with cardinals coming up to him????
He stops them too! It makes him uncomfortable as it would me, as if he were royalty which he isn’t. So he would grab a bishop by the shoulders and prevent him from bowing and kissing the ring. In the non- catholic world, kissing a man’s ring is royalty and in the catholic world....heck half don’t understand the Eucharist is Jesus Christ soul and divinity so especially American catholics cringe. So yea....deeper meaning is to suck it up and let the faithful kiss the ring but come on....this is NOT a deeper meaning pontif! Can I get an AMEN?! Lol! No offense to our separated bretheren but that seemed funny! Criticize heresies, not these things. No communion for the divorced and remarried is worth telling him...instead of kissing his ring!
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