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Pope Francis seen as humble man who can unite, rebuild Church
cna ^ | March 14, 2013 | Adelaide Darling

Posted on 03/15/2013 3:30:38 PM PDT by NYer

(L-R) Kim Daniels, Prof. Robert George, and Maureen Ferguson

Washington D.C., Mar 14, 2013 / 05:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- American Catholic scholars and commentators praised Pope Francis as a spiritual leader for our times, with the ability to unify and renew the Catholic Church.

“As a man who can both preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ boldly and confidently, yet exhibit humility, he looks like he’s got the design for the time and situation that we’re in,” said Catholic intellectual Robert P. George, who is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University.

On March 13, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was elected as Pope, taking the name Francis. He is both the first Jesuit Pope and the first Latin American Pope.

George told CNA that the election of Cardinal Bergoglio as Pope is “not completely surprising.”

The new Pope is one of the “leading Latin-American Cardinals,” a strong candidate in the 2005 conclave and “highly respected in the Church,” he explained.

The professor also commented that the new Pope is “a man of simplicity and humility,” taking public transportation while he was archbishop of Buenos Aires and living in a modest apartment where he cooked for himself.

George noted the new Pope’s adamant teachings on caring for the poor and observed that the Pontiff is “a strong critic of homosexual conduct and same-sex marriage,” while maintaining what he described as a humble and charitable approach. 

The professor recounted the story of the Holy Father as an archbishop visiting an AIDS hospice on Holy Thursday in order “to wash and kiss the feet of twelve AIDS patients.” These actions, he said, symbolize “that the Church does not condemn the person, but affirms and loves,” even as it rejects sin.

George also commented on the Pope’s outreach to Eastern Churches, a trait that he said few people have noticed. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis served as Ordinary of Eastern-rite Catholics in Argentina, who lacked their own ordinary.

“Relations with those Churches, especially in the Middle East, is very important, especially in a time when Christianity is beginning to disappear from the Middle East because of political problems,” George stressed.

He added that it is “very important for the Church to have a continuing Christian presence in the Holy Land” and for the new Pope to understand the problems faced by Eastern-rite Churches and how to support Christians in that region.

“This is a pope that you cannot put in a box,” said Maureen Ferguson, senior policy advisor for the Catholic Association. “This is a Jesuit who is now named Francis who is also associated with Communion and Liberation. I certainly cannot put him in any ideological box.”

“Through his example and through his teachings, he is going to lead the Church so beautifully in the New Evangelization,” she remarked.

Ferguson also discussed the “global perspective” the Pope brings by merging his Argentine roots with a familiarity of Europe and the global focus of the Jesuit order.

In addition, the Pope defies clear categories and “will do a good job of uniting the Church,” she said, pointing to the new Pontiff’s diverse background, humble life and staunch orthodoxy, as well as his scholarly work and familiarity with the Curia.

Pope Francis shows us that there is not a “divide between liberal Catholic issues and conservative Catholic issues,” Ferguson stressed. Rather, he teaches us that there should be a “unity of the whole - that we defend the voiceless whether that’s the poor immigrant or the unborn.”

“The fact that the conclave came to consensus so quickly when there was thought to be no front-runner,” she continued, “indicates that he will really unite the Church.”

Echoing these sentiments was Kim Daniels, director of Catholic Voices USA, a group of lay faithful seeking to defend Catholic teaching in public life.

Daniels told CNA that Pope Francis’ election “shows that the Catholic Church doesn't fit into familiar left/right categories.”

She added that “Cardinal Bergoglio brings so much to the papacy,” as a man “of great personal holiness and humility who leads a life of simplicity.”

“At the same time he's an intellectual, a pastor, and something of an outsider at the Vatican,” she explained.

“Most of all his choice demonstrates that the Church serves the voiceless and the vulnerable wherever we find them: he's deeply committed to the unborn as well as for the poor.”

The faithful can be sure that Pope Francis will strive to follow St. Francis of Assisi in responding to God’s call to “rebuild my Church,” Daniels said.

Even from his initial address to the faithful from the balcony of St. Peter’s, she said, “we know that he seeks to unite Catholics and to evangelize the world, especially in cultures that have grown indifferent to the faith.”


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Ministry/Outreach
KEYWORDS: catholic; popefrancis
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1 posted on 03/15/2013 3:30:38 PM PDT by NYer
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To: netmilsmom; thefrankbaum; Tax-chick; GregB; saradippity; Berlin_Freeper; Litany; SumProVita; ...
George also commented on the Pope’s outreach to Eastern Churches, a trait that he said few people have noticed. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis served as Ordinary of Eastern-rite Catholics in Argentina, who lacked their own ordinary.

“Relations with those Churches, especially in the Middle East, is very important, especially in a time when Christianity is beginning to disappear from the Middle East because of political problems,” George stressed.

While many of you here in the west may not yuet recognize the timeliness of this, one need only look towards Europe to see what awaits us in another few years. There are villages in Syria where the entire christian population has now been eradicated. Ethnic cleansing. Today, Syria ... tomorrow, the US.

2 posted on 03/15/2013 3:32:58 PM PDT by NYer (Beware the man of a single book - St. Thomas Aquinas)
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To: NYer

We are blessed to have this Pope at this time in history.


3 posted on 03/15/2013 3:39:13 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: trisham

AMEN....THANK YOU, GOD!!!


4 posted on 03/15/2013 3:48:02 PM PDT by Ann Archy
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To: NYer; HarleyD; fish hawk; Alex Murphy; wmfights

Perhaps all the various splinter groups of the RCC need uniting. He will never bring those who have been given biblical faith anywhere near Rome. On the contrary, we invite any still in that organization to swim the Tiber the other direction...into the light of Jesus Christ, alone. That is, if He permits.


5 posted on 03/15/2013 3:50:27 PM PDT by Dutchboy88
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To: Dutchboy88
On the contrary, we invite any still in that organization to swim the Tiber the other direction...into the light of Jesus Christ, alone. That is, if He permits.

A good dose of humor on a week of celebration. Thanks!

6 posted on 03/15/2013 4:17:52 PM PDT by NYer (Beware the man of a single book - St. Thomas Aquinas)
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To: Dutchboy88

Still trying to plug the dike? :D


7 posted on 03/15/2013 4:30:09 PM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas is a state of mind - Steinbeck)
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To: Dutchboy88; NYer; HarleyD; fish hawk; Alex Murphy; wmfights; JCBreckenridge
Perhaps all the various splinter groups of the RCC need uniting.

All 2,942 of them!

8 posted on 03/15/2013 4:50:46 PM PDT by Alex Murphy ("If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all" - Isaiah 7:9)
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To: NYer
"On the contrary, we invite any still in that organization to swim the Tiber the other direction...into the light of Jesus Christ, alone. That is, if He permits."

"A good dose of humor on a week of celebration. Thanks!"

If this is your definition of humor, it explains a great deal. But, you are welcome. Now, to the Epistles...

9 posted on 03/15/2013 4:58:42 PM PDT by Dutchboy88
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To: Dutchboy88
"He will never bring those who have been given biblical faith anywhere near Rome."

ROTFLMAO

No one has been given "biblical" anything much less acceptance of our Savior Jesus Christ as He makes Himself known in the Bible when they first throw out seven books of the Bible, and then refuse to accept the words of Jesus Christ Himself in the Luther Subset they do keep.

Such poor deluded folks are blinded by the powerful popular delusion that following Eve and worshiping their own, "Most High and Holy Self", is the same thing as following Christ.

10 posted on 03/15/2013 5:14:00 PM PDT by Rashputin (Jesus Christ doesn't evacuate His troops, He leads them to victory.)
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To: Dutchboy88; Rashputin
On the contrary, we invite any still in that organization to swim the Tiber the other direction...into the light of Jesus Christ, alone. That is, if He permits.

According to Scripture, Christ wanted us to be one (John 17:22-23). We are all as a Church to be of one mind and to think the same (Philippians 2:2; Romans 15:5). There is only to be one "faith" (Ephesians 4:3-6), not many. For the Church is Christ's Body and Christ only had one Body, not many.

So you are offering catholics an opportunity to leave the Church, founded and established by Jesus Christ, for any one of the 60,000+ denominations that all consider themselves to be "the" church of Jesus Christ. Tell us, dear friend, in which one of those will we find the Truth?

11 posted on 03/15/2013 5:39:55 PM PDT by NYer (Beware the man of a single book - St. Thomas Aquinas)
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To: Dutchboy88; NYer

Dear, dear Dutchboy, perhaps you are drawn to these Catholic threads because the Holy Spirit is directing you toward joining us in the one true Church.


12 posted on 03/15/2013 6:12:51 PM PDT by Bigg Red (Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved! -Ps80)
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As a Methodist, and watching the smoke stack in Rome, and waiting on seeing who was named Pope, I silently prayed God was watching over this decision......

I felt Blessed and Honored when he came forward as Pope Francis 1 and I feel good, really good with this decision...may He heal this world and get people back down on their knees...

13 posted on 03/15/2013 7:02:47 PM PDT by haircutter (,,,)
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Many years ago I had a customer who went to Our Lady of Fatima, and then on to the Vatican to visit with Pope John Paul ll and she had her metals and crosses Blessed by him... I was one of the very fortunate ones to receive a metal that I wear on a gold chain with a cross, a gift of my daughter and mother...I sweetly touch this metal when I need peace and comfort...I feel Blessed... Thank You dear friend for this cherished gift..♥
14 posted on 03/15/2013 7:11:38 PM PDT by haircutter (,,,)
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To: haircutter
What a truly touching tribute to your customer! You wrote: Many years ago I had a customer who went to Our Lady of Fatima, and then on to the Vatican to visit with Pope John Paul ll and she had her metals and crosses Blessed by him.

Medals are considered 'sacramentals'. What makes them very special is that they have the blessing of the priest (in your case, Pope John Paul II), who has received the special anointing for consecrating the bread and wine used in the celebration of the mass. You not only have a medal blessed by a pope but one who, since his death, has been elevated as a Blessed and will soon be declared a saint. Here is an interesting and true story about a blessing given by JPII.

JERUSALEM (CNA) -July 2008 - In the Jubilee Year of 2000, Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land stopping at one point to bless an olive tree on the Mount of the Beatitudes. A forester with the Jewish National Fund reports that this tree is the only one producing olives this year.

"It is a miracle," Yossi Karni from the JNF, which maintains the plot, told local media.

During a visit to northern Israel, in March of 2000, the late Pontiff blessed an olive tree that was planted on the Mount of Beatitudes, which was previously called Mt. Eremos. According to tradition, Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount on this mountain, which is located near the Sea of Galilee.

Israel is currently facing what Uri Shani, Israel’s Water Authority director, called “the worst crisis in 80 years.” “Israel's major sources of drinking water, including the Sea of Galilee and the mountain aquifer, are below their ‘red lines,’ meaning they are not recommended to draw water,” he said at a news conference last month.

Karni explained that all the trees on the plot were treated equally, but the ones that did not receive the blessing have not given fruit this year.

"They get treated the same, watered the same," he said, adding that some trees had even started to wither, which he could not explain.

When he was asked what he would do with the olives, Karni told Israel's Channel 10 he might market their "holy oil.



Olive tree planted by pope JP II

May this cherished gift continue to accompany you on your journey and lead you to the Truth.

15 posted on 03/16/2013 4:20:50 AM PDT by NYer (Beware the man of a single book - St. Thomas Aquinas)
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Comment #16 Removed by Moderator

To: NYer
THANKS for your comforting message..♥
17 posted on 03/16/2013 9:05:36 AM PDT by haircutter (,,,)
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To: NYer; RnMomof7; HarleyD; fish hawk; Alex Murphy; wmfights
"According to Scripture, Christ wanted us to be one (John 17:22-23). We are all as a Church to be of one mind and to think the same (Philippians 2:2; Romans 15:5). There is only to be one "faith" (Ephesians 4:3-6), not many."

Well, you have some of this correct. There is, however, no such word as "church" in the Scriptures. Here is yet another fabrication of Rome (or perhaps Germany). The Greek word for "assembly" implies a unified gathering. And, it was a common word used even for the riotous group in Ephesus (Acts 19:30). Now this particular use matches the Roman organization well.

It is Jesus who is building His gathering, not Rome. And, He did not build it in Rome, but in His mind and heart and from among the elect, those He has chosen before the foundation of the world. He is the Chief Cornerstone, the Apostles are the initial blocks, and those pre-destined by the Messiah Himself are a part of it. Rome has been left in its chains of error.

Certainly, Rome attempted to hijack the concept of the universal gathering described by Jesus (around 250 AD...you folks may wish to read non-revisionist history), but they created instead one of the most skewed cults in the human experience second only, perhaps, to Isalm (its vile cousin). It is the RCC cult which we are inviting you to leave...if Jesus permits it. If not, then Esau and Rome will be long time partners.

18 posted on 03/16/2013 9:10:24 AM PDT by Dutchboy88
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To: Dutchboy88

The Reformation churches in Holland and the rest of NW Europe have morphed into stinking synagogues of Satan.

How can you be sure you are right?


19 posted on 03/16/2013 9:15:23 AM PDT by Jim Noble (When strong, avoid them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise.)
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To: Jim Noble
"The Reformation churches in Holland and the rest of NW Europe have morphed into stinking synagogues of Satan.

How can you be sure you are right?"

You are right. Certainly any group which departs from the Scripture will end in the sewer. Rome is a perfect example (pedophile priests, homosexual supporting universities, etc.). So, rocks and glass houses and all of that, my FRiend.

If you define "right" as adhering to the Scriptures, you have identified the biblical method...stick to the Scriptures not tradition.

20 posted on 03/16/2013 10:10:50 AM PDT by Dutchboy88
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