Pope Francis!

[KnightofChrist]

Francis is the 267 pope in my life :|

I knew Pope Stephen II was a real Pope.

[Myles Domini]

Pope to wash feet of young prisoners on Holy Thursday

[homeschoolmom]

The greater the number of popes a person has lived through does begin to help pin point their year of birth. Pope Francis is the sixth pope during my lifetime, which means I am old.   :spike:

Only five for me! You *are* old. ;)

[KnightofChrist]

[Myles Domini]

Pope meets Pope: Francis tells Benedict 'we're brothers'. Daily Telegraph has video clip ;)

[Apotheoun]

Video of Pope Francis celebrating Mass on 17 March at St. Anne's parish in Rome.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYmbgKvoppQ

[Apotheoun]

Those interested can get a pdf copy of the inauguration booklet (containing the prayers for the installation mass of Pope Francis) at the link below:

 

Inauguration Booklet

[Lil Red]

Homily for the Mass of the Lord's Supper: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130328_coena-domini_en.html

 

Homily for the Passion of Our Lord: http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-passion-of-our-lord-sermon-full-text

Edited March 29, 2013 by Lil Red

[Myles Domini]

Symbols adjusted on papal coat of arms

[Lil Red]

Pope Francis and the Reform of the Priesthood

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-and-the-reform-of-the-priesthood

 

One of the most urgent reforms facing him is the restoration of the moral credibility of the hierarchy, and especially of the priesthood. The scandals of clerical sex abuse and tales of Vatican corruption have not only severely undermined the Church’s moral authority, but given the impression that living by the Church’s teachings forms freaks and moral monsters rather than saints.

The first is with regard to priestly simplicity.

 

Diocesan priests do not take a vow of poverty, but commit themselves to a simple lifestyle. In many places, this principle is given lip service, as members of the clergy drive fancy cars, frequent the finest restaurants and live in exquisite digs. Cardinal Bergoglio’s example of living in a small apartment rather than an episcopal palace, taking public transportation rather than a car with a driver and cooking for himself cannot help but lead priests to a sincere examination about the sincerity of their own spiritual poverty.

 

Second, throughout his time as archbishop, the future Pope spoke out forcefully against priests’ living a “double-life.” When he was asked in a 2010 book-length interview, El Jesuita, about the common saying in Argentina, “I believe in God, but I don’t believe in priests,” he replied, “Many of us priests do not deserve to have them believe in us.”

 

He wants to change that, by calling, helping and requiring priests to live with genuine priestly integrity.

 

This leads to the third aspect of his reform of the priesthood: bringing about priestly accountability.

 

Paying his pre-conclave bill at the priests’ residence personally immediately after his election was not just a nice gesture indicating a total absence of a sense of privilege, but it was a real sign that not even popes should consider themselves exempt from the demands of ordinary justice.

 

Fourth, he is likewise sketching out an authentic revision of the use of clerical power.

 

As he emphasized in the homily of his inaugural Mass, a priest’s authority must be linked to service, to the tender affection and protection given especially to the poorest, weakest, the least important and most easily forgotten. Like the Good Shepherd, the priest must seek to be the servant, not the lord, of the rest. This is the exact opposite of the haughty clericalism that in many places has hurt many and wounded the Church.

Whenever priests ask him for advice, he noted in El Jesuita, his answer is always, “Be merciful.” His motto Miserando Atque Eligendo (“Lowly But Chosen”) highlights that his own vocation was born in an experience of God’s mercy, when as 17-year old boy he went to confession on the feast of the St. Matthew, the great convert. Pope Francis’ reminder in his first Angelus address that God never tires of forgiving us is a clear call to priests never to tire in faithfully dispensing that mercy, sacramentally and extra-sacramentally.

 

Sixth, he is calling all priests to live out the real spirit of the liturgy.

 

After decades of enduring liturgical craziness, many Catholic priests were grateful for Pope Benedict’s leadership in the liturgical reform of the reform. Many focused, however, on the external reverential markers Benedict and his liturgical team established: Communion on the tongue to those kneeling, the crucifix and candles on the altar, the use of chant and the beautiful vestments.

 

Pope Francis will continue the reform, but will focus much more on the interior markers. He shares with Pope Benedict a clear recognition that Jesus, not the priest, is the center of the liturgy and truly prays the Mass. He also shares with Benedict a profound love for the thought of the great liturgist Romano Guardini, on whom Pope Francis wrote his dissertation.

 

Finally, Pope Francis wants to form priests to be real agents of the New Evangelization.

 

A perennial temptation for the clergy, he stressed in El Jesuita, is to be administrators rather than pastors. Priests need to “go out to meet the people,” especially the lost sheep; the pastor who stays in his rectory, he declared, is not an “authentic pastor.”

 

He praised one priest for knowing his parishioners so well that he knew not only their names, but also their pets’ names. In an age in which so many priests, bishops and curial officials are enslaved by administrative tasks, Pope Francis is summoning them to reprioritize toward the Church’s evangelical mission.

 

Pope Francis knows that every true reform in Church history has begun with a reform of the clergy. And he’s already hard at work in seeking to bring it about.

Edited March 30, 2013 by Lil Red

[Myles Domini]

Full text of Pope Francis’s homily at the Easter Vigil

[Lil Red]

General Audience today: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130403_udienza-generale_en.html

[FutureSister2009]

I finally have a Pappa Franky Holy Card! :like3:

[Papist]

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/04/03/watch-megyn-kellys-emotional-interview-with-dr-paul-gondreau-dad-of-disabled-boy-embraced-by-pope-francis/

 

[dominicansoul]