Pope Francis signals new course for the papacy

[cbayer]

http://www.religionnews.com/2013/03/18/pope-francis-signals-new-course-for-the-papacy/

David Gibson | Mar 18, 2013

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Ahead of his formal installation as pontiff on Tuesday (March 19), Pope Francis is sending clear signals that he intends to lead a papacy markedly different from his predecessor — and perhaps different from that of any other pope in modern times.

In weekend meetings with the cardinals who elected him and in encounters with parishioners after Mass on Sunday, in a Saturday audience with journalists and in his first public appearance since his election, Francis set a tone of informality and approachability and indicated that it was no longer business as usual in the church.

Consider:

As he concluded a Saturday morning meeting with some of the thousands of reporters who have been covering the papal transition, Francis said he would bless the group, but out of respect for their differences would not make the sign of the cross over the gathering. “Given that many of you do not belong to the Catholic Church, (and) others are nonbelievers, I give this blessing from my heart, in silence, to each of you, respecting the conscience of each one, but knowing that each of you is a child of God,” he said, to applause.

At the same event, Francis went off script to explicitly mention both the church’s “virtues and her sins.” In highlighting again his emphasis on solidarity with the poor, he indicated that it should extend beyond mere charity. “How much I would like a poor church, for the poor!” the pope exclaimed.

more at link

[valerief]

1. New course when hell freezes over. Nothing important ever changes. nt

[cbayer]

2. While I don't expect anything radical, the more I learn about this guy, the

more I feel a little hopeful for some change, even if it's just a change in attitude.

[okasha]

4. Nothing important ever changes?

The Democratic Party of my childhood was racist, corrupt and frequently violent. That has changed, and I think it's pretty important.

[goldent]

5. How about within the last year?

How about the change in position on gay marriage by one "highly placed Democratic party leader?" And I don't believe he was forced into this by mass desertion from the party.

[okasha]

6. More than one, actually.

I see the change among young people, including Catholics and Mormons, almost every day. I'm a retired teacher who has gone back to school for a BFA, and somewhere close to half the art majors, including me, are LGBT. I've seen nothing but support from the straight students and profs, of all religions and none. This is also a huge and marvelous change from the world I grew up in

[goldent]

7. Of course you are right that it was many more than one

But there was a particular person, high up in the party hierarchy, that I had in mind Now the time before that seems so long ago.

[okasha]

8. Seems to be contagious, doesn't it?

«Patient Zero» must have sneezed at 7 or so on the Richter scale.

[goldent]

3. Well, if nothing else,

he is going to have a lot of people (including me) paying a lot of attention to him, and trying to interpret his actions.

[cbayer]

9. Agree. He will be under close scrutiny, but seems to be looking at a reasonable path

at this point. We shall see.