Pope Francis writes about the Idolatory of money and devolving power from Rome...

[Michie]

Pope Francis gives us a blueprint for his pontificate [News analysis]


[News Analysis by CWN Editor Phil Lawler]

With his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis gives the world not only a guide to the “new evangelization” but also an outline of his plans for Church reform—the program for his pontificate.

Evangelii Gaudium [“The Joy of the Gospel”], released to the public on November 26, is a lengthy document, in which the Holy Father does his utmost to scan the entire field of Church missionary activity from every perspective. But he continually returns to a few central themes.

Evangelization, the Pope insists, is the very essence of the Church’s mission. The drive to share the Good News of the Gospel is fueled—as the title of this apostolic exhortation suggests—by the joy that believers find in their faith. Today, the Church must convey that joy to a troubled world.

As he makes this argument, Pope Francis also gives readers a clear sense of how he intends to approach his task of bringing reform to the Vatican, and promoting constructive change in the universal Church. His plan is to encourage a new sense of urgency, to pare down bureaucratic structures and attitudes. In a sentence that encapsulates his approach to reform, he writes: “Pastoral ministry in a missionary key seeks to abandon the complacent attitude that says: “We have always done it this way.”
Father Roger Landry, a Massachusetts pastor and gifted preacher, captured the message nicely, I think, when he said: “Pope Francis says that the fundamental reform the Church needs is from one of self-preservation of Church structures to a permanent state of mission.”

A hybrid text

Evangelii Gaudium is not the first major written work of this pontificate; Pope Francis has already given us Lumen Fidei. But as the Holy Father readily acknowledged, Pope Benedict XVI began the drafting of that encyclical, and the final product was a sort of hybrid, reflecting the work of both current of former Pontiffs. Evangelii Gaudium, on the other hand, is entirely the work of Pope Francis.

Nevertheless this papal document is a hybrid in another sense. Ordinarily an apostolic exhortation summarizes the themes that have emerged from discussions at a meeting of the Synod of Bishops. Evangelii Gaudium grew out of the October 2012 session of the Synod, which was devoted to the new evangelization. But Pope Francis, newly installed on Peter’s throne, said that he wanted to place the recommendations of the Synod in a broader framework.

The result is, unfortunately, a very long document. No doubt the Pontiff was presented with a summary of the themes that arose in the Synod discussions, and did his best to incorporate them all. At times that effort led the Pontiff to stray from his main focus, or to circle back to subjects that he had already discussed. The sheer length of the resulting text (222 pages, in the version released by the Vatican) will discourage many readers.

However, readers who take the time to read this apostolic exhortation—or even the opening passages, which provide a good sense of the Pope’s overall message—will be rewarded. Pope Francis can write with great energy, and the text is liberally sprinkled with short, highly quotable passages. (To illustrate, I have reproduced a few of those passages below.)

The writing style of Pope Francis is very different from that of his immediate predecessors. I feel confident in saying (although I have not made an exhaustive search) that this is the first papal document in which the official English translation contains the word “sourpusses.”

Transforming the Church

Introducing the papal document at a press conference in Rome, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the president of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, said: “Pope Francis offers this document to the Church as a map and guide to her pastoral mission in the near future.” In other words, the apostolic exhortation sets forth the Pope’s plans for this pontificate. Indeed the title of the first chapter, “The Church’s Missionary Transformation,” could almost be taken as this Pope’s goal for the Church he leads.

“There are ecclesial structures which can hamper efforts at evangelization,” Pope Francis writes; “yet even good structures are only helpful when there is a life constantly driving, sustaining and assessing them.” He is determined to streamline the organization of the Church in order to stimulate, rather than [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse], apostolic activity.

In those plans for reform, the Pope explicitly recognizes the need to decentralize. The Vatican, he says, exists to help diocesan bishops, not to control them. He proposes a greater role for episcopal conferences, to stimulate efforts at the national level rather than always looking to Rome. “Excessive centralization, rather than proving helpful, complicates the Church’s life and missionary outreach,” the Pope writes.

The papacy itself should be reformed, Pope Francis continues, in the hope of stimulating ecumenical unity. He cites the desire of Blessed John Paul II to find a way of exercising the Petrine ministry that would preserve papal primacy while allowing full scope for the authority of diocesan bishops. “We have made little progress in this regard,” Pope Francis laments.

The heart of the message

The bulk of Evangelii Gaudium is devoted to the challenge of evangelization. Pope Francis provides a rich variety of useful suggestions for pastors and for lay people who wish to share their faith. In what may be the most detailed, practical section of the document, he focuses at length—“somewhat meticulously,” as he himself puts it—on how priests should prepare their homilies.

But here too, the Pope continually returns to a few main themes. He stresses that the faith is spread not by human efforts but by God’s grace. Faith is a gift, he writes, and “whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms.”

While he encourages energetic efforts to spread the Gospel message, the Pope is scornful of efforts to “circle the wagons” and preserve the institutional prestige of the Church. He is critical of any Catholic who “would rather be the general of a defeated army than a mere private in a unit which continues to fight.”
The recurring theme of the Pope’s advice is that effective evangelization springs from a joyous recognition of God’s gratuitous gift of Himself. The Christians who convey the faith effectively, he writes, are those who convey that sense of joy. “Instead of seeming to impose new obligations, they should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet.”

Evangelii Gaudim (full text)

Synthesis of the Apostolic Exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel” (VIS)

Pope issues first Apostolic Exhortation: Evangelii Gaudium (Vatican Radio)

Archbishop Fisichella Presents the Apostolic Exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel” (VIS)

Other Aspects of the Apostolic Exhortation (VIS)

A “pastoral conversion” is demanded of the whole Church (Vatican Insider)

Francis decentralizes the Church: More power to Bishops’ Conferences (Vatican Insider)

Pope: No more business as usual (CNN)Le pape François installe sa révolution dans l'Église (Figaro)

 

[StevenMerten]

Direct quotes from Evangelii Gaudium..:

On Capitalism.

Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalised: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.

One would think that communism would solve all these problems. The funny thing is it is not communism which is sending out aid to foreign nations but capitalist nations. Communist North Korea has people starving to death and they will not even let capitalist nations come in to feed the people because it would be to humiliating for them.

As irrational as it may sound, it is not communism, it is not even really the Church, but capitalism which is the power house caring for the poor of the world.

 

[S.ilvio]

As irrational as it may sound, it is not communism, it is not even really the Church, but capitalism which is the power house caring for the poor of the world.

Don't shoot the messenger, buddy...

 

[StevenMerten]

On the consequeces of inequality in society.

until exclusion and inequality in society and between peoples is reversed, it will be impossible to eliminate violence. The poor and the poorer peoples are accused of violence, yet without equal opportunities the different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for growth and eventually explode. When a society – whether local, national or global – is willing to leave a part of itself on the fringes, no political programmes or resources spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems can indefinitely guarantee tranquility.

Sounds like the cause of America's Revolutionary war. Taxation without representation.

I have heard that in Mexico, ten families control 90% of all the wealth in this country. It sounds to me like Pope Francis may be giving a hint to Mexicans, and other nations where all the wealth of the nation is in the hands of a few.

 

[S.ilvio]

Sounds like the cause of America's Revolutionary war. Taxation without representation.

I have heard that in Mexico, ten families control 90% of all the wealth in this country. It sounds to me like Pope Francis may be giving a hint to Mexicans, and other nations where all the wealth of the nation is in the hands of a few.

Don't close yourself off from the Pope's words.

Each and every one of us should pay heed and see how his words reflect our own realities...

 

[StevenMerten]

Don't close yourself off from the Pope's words.

Each and every one of us should pay heed and see how his words reflect our own realities...

Hello S.ilvio,

I believe that God gives us the poor so that those who follow, believe and Love God have an avenue to Love God through choosing to obey God and tithe to feed the poor. I do not yet hear Pope Francis yelling out to Catholics to turn from their evil sin and obey God in tithing, their money, to feed the poor. Catholics do not want to hear about how evil they are in hording their money while the poor starve. So Popes, like Pope Francis, write long letters implicating that secular power is responsible for all the woes in the world and not sinful Catholics who worship and Idolatorize money, rather than abundantly spreading their wealth out to the poor to save their lives.

If the Pope is indicating that it is secular power, not Catholics Idolatorizing money while the poor starve to death, then lets get going with the revolutions in small countries oppressed by a few rich families. That is how the secular world works when people are being oppressed by a few rich families.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Sounds like the cause of America's Revolutionary war. Taxation without representation.

I have heard that in Mexico, ten families control 90% of all the wealth in this country. It sounds to me like Pope Francis may be giving a hint to Mexicans, and other nations where all the wealth of the nation is in the hands of a few.

Well, the 1% who control the laws and government of the United States, so don't think that the Pope is only talking about places like Mexico.

We're slowly but surely heading in that direction if we fail to defend the rights of every human being.



Jim

 

[Michie]

Pope Francis has a few thoughts about the global economy. We added these 13 charts...

 

[Michie]

Crisis recently featured a stimulating discussion on finances centered on Dave Ramsey’s principles of financial planning. The first piece by Richard Becker, “Of Dave Ramsey, Babies, and Birth Control, contrasted Ramsey’s approach to finances with Catholic openness to life. The response by Stephen Herreid, Dave Ramsey-Our Favorite Catechist...

How should Catholics respond to the Pope's call for a poor Church?

 

[ebia]

Don't close yourself off from the Pope's words. Each and every one of us should pay heed and see how his words reflect our own realities...

Excellent post.

Every reader should be looking for where the document challenges them and their communities, not how it ought to challenge someone else.

 

[MikeK]

Excellent post.

Every reader should be looking for where the document challenges them and their communities, not how it ought to challenge someone else.

Amen brother! There are far too many people telling others what they should do differently instead of confessing what they do wrong and asking forgiveness. It seems we're always talking about other people's sins on here instead of our own, myself included.

 

[StevenMerten]

Pope Francis has a few thoughts about the global economy. We added these 13 charts...

Hello Michie,

I read your link. The problem with the Pope's charts is that they are only a snapshot of the present. They do not show the evolution of free enterprise and capitalism. Even with a few in possession of much, the poor are better off today than they were hundreds of years ago. Democracy, free enterprise and capitalism have made it this way. The pope is only showing the disparage between the haves and have-nots of today. The Pope is not showing the rise in the standard of living for all, haves and have-nots, from the levels of our past. Example: in the past, when a hurricane hit the Philippines, they just died. Today, many of the have nations are there to help.

Up until a few hundred years ago, almost all nations were run by little Hitlers. The guy with the strongest army dominated his little section of the world and took all the money while the masses suffered and starved. This has a lot to do with God handing over Israel and the world to be ruled by Satan. Satan being man's evil pride in secular power.
Fallen Angel, Morning Star, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon

If you look at history, Greece was the first nation to break out into democracy, free enterprise, and capitalism. Greece became a rich, world power, because of it.

Post WWII American democracy and her Allies have helped many nations rise up from poverty, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and many others. Presently the US is striving very hard to bring Iraq and Afghanistan into democracy and away from dictatorships and chaos. Every human on earth will work hard to support their family, once you get rid of the little ruthless dictator who's only desire is to take all the money of his country for himself. Today, Syria, Egypt and many Middle Eastern countries are striving, in brutal revolutions, to do just this. Even if the US and rich nations were to hand over 90% of their wealth equally to all nations on earth, this would do nothing for the poor. It would only make poor peoples, evil ruthless dictators, very rich. In order to help the poor of the world, the world's evil, wicked, ruthless dictators must be dealt with.

Ok, that is were we are in the secular world. Now let us take a look at what we, the Catholic Church, should do to fulfill God's will to rescue the poor.

It is God, not ruthless dictators themselves, who put ruthless dictators in power over mankind. God did so because of all the massive unrepentant sins of Israel and the world. In 587 B.C., God ripped Israel out of the Promised Land and put king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as ruler over them. Nebuchadnezzar was just as ruthless as Adolph Hitler. Nebuchadnezzer was not a guy who worried about whether or not the poor got fed. God has Jeremiah tell the Israelites that anyone who does not submit to Nebuchadnezzar, God Himself will put to death. Until Messianic Reign comes, where Jesus Rules the world, the world is still being punished by God through ruthless dictators.
The Rise, Fall And Restoration of Israel
Fallen Angel, Morning Star, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon

So lets just say that Pope Francis is able to use his whole time on earth as Pope to get secular power to balance wealth, and succeeds. When Pope Francis stands before Jesus, Jesus will ask him, Why did you not teach Catholics to tithe out of love for Me, to feed the poor? Pope Francis will say, hey, Catholics did not want to share their wealth, to feed the poor out of love for You, so I was able to feed the poor, via secular power, instead. Look at all the good I did, by getting secular power to feed the poor! Jesus will respond, The poor were on earth so that Catholics could show love from their hearts to Me through feeding the least of My brothers. You did not get Catholics to tithe, hold to their wedding vows, not have abortions and the like, because you were to busy telling secular power what to do. Your job was to get Catholics to love God through obedience to God. Out of My site you worthless servant. I, Myself, could have fed the poor.

Building the Kingdom of love for God is done in the hearts of Christ's followers, not through secular power. To Love God is to obey God.
www.iloveyougod.com


,

 

[Michie]

In his hand written notes that formed the basis of his presentation during the General Congregations prior to the Conclave, then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio penned the following: When the Church does not go out of herself to evangelize, she becomes self-referential, she grows ill (like the stooped woman in the Gospel)...

Evangelii Gaudium feels like the jab of a shepherd’s staff, and resonates like a shepherd's terse call to the sheep...

 

[Michie]

The Church according to Pope Francis is outlined in the nearly 260 page-long Apostolic Exhortation «Evangelii Gaudium» (The Joy of the Gospel), that he wrote in two weeks in Spanish (with some neologisms and slogans) with a clear core message: the Church must come out, to the streets, and announce the Gospel to all. The Church, he notes...

Pope Francis reshapes his revolution...

 

[StevenMerten]

Pope Francis reshapes his revolution...

Hi Michie,

Wow! I do not know if I understand everything in this, what seems to be amazing article. I do like the part with Pope Francis tearing the Vatican directory in half and telling his director that the Curia half can be thrown away.

Pope Francis seems nevertheless to have a clear notion of what he wants to achieve. When he appointed Lorenzo Baldisseri as General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, he called him in for a meeting in which he tore in half the Pontifical Annuary (the Vatican’s annual directory). Referring to the Roman Curia half of the torn apart directory, the Pope told Baldisseri: «You do not need that part.»

This sounds good. Pope Francis bringing in outsiders to baby sit and expose corruption when it occurs in the Vatican.

Within the Secretariat of State there are ultimately two schools of thought. The first approaches the renewal of the Church from a managerial perspective, appointing external commissions and trusted advisers, launching media campaigns to underline the breach with the past and that times have changed. The second one is that of men within the institution, who must bear the decisions and are asked to tolerate the earnings that consultants and outsider specialists received ad-hoc, sometimes from outside donors. The men within the institution are working to give the Holy See a solid structure, moving beyond the episodes of corruption and resisting power play pressures.

I am very impressed with what Pope Francis is doing here.

 

[Root of Jesse]

Direct quotes from Evangelii Gaudium..:

On Capitalism.

Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalised: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.

“Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a ‘disposable’ culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the ‘exploited’ but the outcast, the ‘leftovers’.”

On Abortion.

It is not ‘progressive’ to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life. On the other hand, it is also true that we have done little to adequately accompany women in very difficult situations, where abortion appears as a quick solution to their profound anguish, especially when the life developing within them is the result of rape or a situation of extreme poverty. Who can remain unmoved before such painful situations?

So what do these quotes mean to you? I think that's the real issue, how people interpret what the pope, any pope, says.

 

[S.ilvio]

So what do these quotes mean to you? I think that's the real issue, how people interpret what the pope, any pope, says.

The Pope is crystal clear in his words. He sees the effects of Capitalism, the greed it engenders and calls on us to recognise its negative effects on us, personally, and see the despair of our poverty stricken brethren in the Third World and indeed, closer to home...

 

[StevenMerten]

So what do these quotes mean to you? I think that's the real issue, how people interpret what the pope, any pope, says.

Hello Root of Jesse,

To me, Democracy and Capitalism, respects people and the poor far better than Communism and dictators, and in the old days kings, lords and monarchies. Things were very brutal to the poor in the Dark Ages and for most of the world's past until Democracy and Capitalism came about.

I personally would like Pope Francis to explain that as ugly as Capitalism is to him, it is leaps and bounds, far better for the world than communism, dictators and the kings of the old days.

Besides, now you have hundreds of millions of wealthy Christians who could tithe, which would eliminate poverty around the world. They simply choose not to do so which is hatred to Jesus. In the old days, when everyone was poor, except the kings, lords and monarchies, then the Popes should have targeted secular power. Today, I think it would be more positive for Pope Francis to target rich Christians who do not tithe as the big ugly bad guy. Of course, Pope Francis knows it is far more popular for him to target secular Capitalist power.

NAB MAT 25:31

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

 

[StevenMerten]

I think we all agree that it was Communist Russia, not Western Capitalism, that the Blessed Mother of Fatima had us praying rosaries over so that they would be converted to Democracy and Capitalism. Capitalism may not be perfect but it is a hole lot better than the oppression of Communism.

 

[Root of Jesse]

Hello Root of Jesse,

To me, Democracy and Capitalism, respects people and the poor far better than Communism and dictators, and in the old days kings, lords and monarchies. Things were very brutal to the poor in the Dark Ages and for most of the world's past until Democracy and Capitalism came about.

I personally would like Pope Francis to explain that as ugly as Capitalism is to him, it is leaps and bounds, far better for the world than communism, dictators and the kings of the old days.

Besides, now you have hundreds of millions of wealthy Christians who could tithe, which would eliminate poverty around the world. They simply choose not to do so which is hatred to Jesus. In the old days, when everyone was poor, except the kings, lords and monarchies, then the Popes should have targeted secular power. Today, I think it would be more positive for Pope Francis to target rich Christians who do not tithe as the big ugly bad guy. Of course, Pope Francis knows it is far more popular for him to target secular Capitalist power.

NAB MAT 25:31

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.' And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

The problem is that, in regards to faith and morals, of which tithing is a principal, the Church needs to speak to everyone. So when you tell everyone to tithe, you're telling the woman with two coins to give 10% of her two coins, while at the same time, telling the rich to do the same. You can't tell some people to do one thing without telling everyone to do the same. And then there's the problem of enforcement.

And then there's attitude. I know Protestants who are wealthy who tithe. They faithfully write that check every month. But they do not revere the poor any better than we do. Their check writing is as if to dismiss the issue. We (Catholics) try to give from our own-sacrificial giving. The Rice Bowl concept during Lent. Sacrifice something, and then give the money you saved by making the sacrifice to the poor. So, if you sacrifice a daily Latte from Starbucks, at the end of lent, you should give the $200 you saved to help the poor. I take 1/4 of my lunch and give it to a homeless guy. How do I know it's 1/4? I used to eat 4 nutrition bars through the course of my day. Now I eat 3 and give one to the homeless guy. I also sacrifice to put money in the weekly collection. And then most people don't know what I give to other Catholic Charities. So it's not a public display of giving, it's just doing it.