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Under the ever watchful
eye of the Christ the Redeemer statue looking down from the mountains
surrounding Rio de Janeiro Papa Francesco, Pope
Francis, ended World Youth Day with over 3 million of the faithful on the Copacabana Beach.
As far as the eye could
see there was a mass of humanity, many who camped out on the beach overnight to
share this moment with Papa.
Finally even the western
media in the US
had to cover the story, I mean three million peaceful people in one place is
quite a story in this day and age. The
fact the vast majority were youth makes it a better story.
Here in America we get a daily dosage of money, murder,
drugs and demons it seems but during his stay in Brazil the past few days the Pope actually defined the false gods of
today and told the youth they must work to stop edifying such idols of evil.
Pope Francis led his first
large mass on Wednesday since returning to his native Latin America,
decrying "ephemeral idols" like money and power at Brazil's most revered shrine.
"It is true that
nowadays, to some extent, everyone, including our young people, feels attracted
by the many idols which take the place of God and appear to offer hope: money,
success, power, pleasure," he said at the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida
basilica.
"Often a growing
sense of loneliness and emptiness in the hearts of many people leads them to
seek satisfaction in these ephemeral idols," he said.
In a meeting with bishops
and cardinals from South America he talked about the loss of Catholics in Brazil.
"At times we lose people because they don't understand what we are saying,
because we have forgotten the language of simplicity and import an
intellectualism foreign to our people," he said. "For ordinary people
the mystery enters through the heart."
The pope also warned the bishops against assimilating fashionable values of
secular culture.
"People today are attracted by things that are faster and faster: rapid
Internet connections, speedy cars and planes, instant relationships," he
asked. "Is the church herself caught up in the frantic pursuit of
efficiency? Dear brothers, let us recover the calm to be able to walk at the
same pace as our pilgrims, keeping alongside them, remaining close to them,
enabling them to speak of the disappointments present in their hearts and to
let us address them."
Among the pope's specific recommendations for the church in Brazil were
deeper engagement by bishops in national debates on such "pressing
concerns" as "education, health and social harmony"; and more
attention to collegiality within the episcopate, downplaying "central
bureaucracy" in favor of "local and regional elements."
He gave special attention to the needs of the Amazon basin, in terms of both
ecological protection and the training of indigenous clergy to serve indigenous
peoples there.
"'Pastoral care' is nothing other than the exercise of the church's
motherhood," the pope said. "She gives birth, suckles, gives growth,
corrects, nourishes and leads by the hand.
"So we need a church capable of rediscovering the maternal womb of
mercy," he said. "Without mercy we have little chance nowadays of
becoming part of a world of 'wounded' persons in need of understanding,
forgiveness and love."
Pope Francis told leading
Latin American bishops that all Catholics must renew the Church with a
“missionary spirit,” acknowledging that he and other bishops are “lagging
somewhat” in spiritual renewal.
“Bishops must be pastors,
close to people, fathers and brothers, and gentle, patient and merciful. Men
who love poverty,” the Pope said.
He praised bishops with
“simplicity and austerity of life,” urging them not to act like “princes” or to
be “ambitious” in seeking to lead another diocese.
Rather, bishops should be
“pointing the way” for their people, preventing them from “being scattered”
while “ensuring that no one is left behind.” They should be men capable of
guarding and protecting their congregation while also instilling hope “so that
light will shine in people’s hearts,” the Pope said July 28.
The Pope criticized
pastoral plans that “clearly lack nearness, tenderness, a warm touch” and are
incapable of sparking “an encounter with Jesus Christ” and with other people.
“Christ’s followers are
not individuals caught up in a privatized spirituality, but persons in
community, devoting themselves to others,” the Pope said.
Pope Francis focused on
two challenges to missionary discipleship: the “inner renewal” of the Church
and dialogue with the world. He noted the Second Vatican Council’s guidance in
engaging modern life.
“Responding to the
existential issues of people today, especially the young, listening to the
language they speak, can lead to a fruitful change, which must take place with the
help of the Gospel, the magisterium, and the Church’s social doctrine,” the
Pope said.
He noted the need to
engage the many subcultures of the modern city on their own terms.
“If we remain within the
parameters of our ‘traditional culture,’ which was essentially rural, we will
end up nullifying the power of the Holy Spirit,” he warned. “God is everywhere:
we have to know how to find him in order to be able to proclaim him in the
language of each and every culture; every reality, every language, has its own
rhythm.”
Pope Francis praised the
spread of Bible groups, ecclesial base communities and pastoral councils. He
said these advance the responsibility of the laity and help overcome
“clericalism.” He particularly praised expressions of popular piety as a
“healthy thing” that shows greater lay autonomy.
He also warned against
several temptations that are false visions of the missionary spirit.
He said clericalism, an
excessive lay dependence on or privileging of priests, is “a temptation very
present in Latin America.”
“The phenomenon of
clericalism explains, in great part, the lack of maturity and Christian freedom
in a good part of the Latin American laity,” he said.
Both laity and priests
take refuge in clericalism “because it is easier,” he lamented. This causes
some Catholics to fail to grow in Christian life or to take refuge in ideology.
The Pope warned against
turning the message of the Gospel into an “ideology,” whether it is “market
liberalism” or Marxism.
He said the
psychology-focused tendencies of some spirituality courses and spiritual
retreats reduce the encounter with Jesus Christ to “self-awareness,” a
“self-centered approach” that “has nothing to do with the missionary spirit.”
He mentioned the new age practice of the Enneagram as one example.
He criticized the “gnostic
solution” of elite groups of “enlightened Catholics” who offer a “higher
spirituality.” He said some advocates of ordaining nuns to the priesthood or of
giving communion to the divorced and remarried fall into this error.
He also warned against the
“Pelagian solution” that seeks a “purely disciplinary solution” through “the
restoration of outdated manners and forms which, even on the cultural level,
are no longer meaningful.”
Repeating his previous
criticisms, he warned against reducing the Church to “the structure of an NGO”
focused on quantifiable results, statistics, and a business-like organization.
He said some bishops’ conferences open more and more departments that do not
help the mission of Church.
Concerning the inner
renewal of the Church, Pope Francis stressed the need for “pastoral conversion”
focused on “Jesus Christ as the bearer of God’s Kingdom” and trust in the
guidance of the Holy Spirit.
He posed many questions to
the bishops for their own self-examination.
He said bishops should ask
whether they and their priests are working to ensure that their work is “more
pastoral than administrative” and whether they serve “the People of God as a
whole” rather than “the Church as an organization.”
He asked the bishops to
examine whether they “manipulate” or “infantilize” the laity.
“In practice, do we make
the lay faithful sharers in the mission?” he asked.
He said bishops should not
simply react to complex problems, but should promote opportunities to “manifest
God’s mercy.”
The Pope concluded with an
exhortation: “I beg that we take seriously our calling as servants of the holy
and faithful people of God, for this is where authority is exercised and
demonstrated: in the ability to serve.”
Pope Francis addressed the
bishops hours after celebrating Sunday Mass for millions of World Youth Day
pilgrims gathered on Rio’s Copacabana
Beach.
In spite of security
concerns Papa Francesco has safely returned to Rome.
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