Pope Francis in dialogue with Jesuits
ON 24 October, Pope Francis met Jesuits gathered in Rome for their 36th General Congregation, with “cordial dialogue” with delegates who asked him questions which Francis did not want to see beforehand.
The dialogue (PDF, 15 pages) is available for download in English at http://www.laciviltacattolica.it/articoli_download/extra/DIALOGOPAPA_ENG.pdf
Also in Italian and Spanish at http://www.laciviltacattolica.it/it/.
Some snippets:
Courage is not just about making noise, but about knowing how to do it well, when and how to do it… We need a parresia for today.
At this moment I believe that it is important, with this greater awareness that we have regarding indigenous peoples, to support the expression, the culture, of each one of them … and in the same way, evangelization, which also touches the liturgy and reaches the expressions of worship. And the Congregation for Divine Worship accepts this.
In reviewing a Mexican text on morality from the 1700s, written in a question-and-answer format, I found a question that said: “Is sexual union between a Spaniard and an indigenous woman a mortal sin?” The answer of the moralist, who was a Dominican, made me laugh: “The matter is serious, therefore it is a serious sin according to matter, but since the consequence of this would be one more Christian to enlarge the kingdom of God, it is not as serious as if it were in Europe.” (A Jesuit dig at a Dominican?!!)
One must also take into account, in the interpretation of Laudato si’, that it is not a “green encyclical”. It is a social encyclical. It begins with the reality of this moment, which is ecological, but it is a social encyclical.
Clericalism is one of the forms of wealth that we suffer from most seriously in the Church today.
One of the dangers of the Pope’s writings is that they create a little enthusiasm, but then others come along and the preceding ones are filed away. That is why I think it is important to continue working.
They would describe him as a first-class layman and then ask, “Do you think we can make him a deacon?” This is the problem: the layman who is valuable, we make into a deacon. We clericalize him… Clericalism does not allow growth, it does not allow the power of baptism to grow.
The liquidity of the economy, the liquidity of labor: all this causes unemployment. And a liquid world.