RIO DE JANEIRO— Pope Francis' push to bring the papacy to the streets is raising challenges for Vatican officials and local police, who are struggling to guarantee the pontiff's safety as he sheds security measures used by his predecessors.
Such concerns soared this week as the pope arrived in Brazil and quickly found himself immersed in scenes of chaos. Crowds swarmed his motorcade. Protesters clashed with police outside his meeting with President Dilma Rousseff.
The commotion exposed a central challenge for history's first Latin American pontiff. Pope Francis wants to reground the Roman Catholic Church in grass-roots ministry and discard the privilege and regalia that have long surrounded the highest ranks of the church. As an archbishop in Buenos Aires, he regularly visited crime-ridden slums, cloaked in plain clothes, to minister to the poor. But as the new leader of
1.2 billion Catholics[150 Called-to-Communioners, 120 million or so nominal Catholics who fail to understand Michael Liccione's "Catholic IP", and 1.08 billion birth-control practicing Catholics in Name Only (CINOs)], the Argentine is now one of the highest-profile figures in the world and a potential target for extremists….
Monday's events started as a group of antigovernment and gay activists demonstrated outside of the pope's closed-door meeting, and ended in chaos, with police throwing and firing tear gas into the crowds. "They brought the pope into a place where there was only one access route," Mr. Gaffney said. "There was no escape route."…
Another dicey moment could come on Thursday, when the pope is scheduled to visit Complexo de Manguinhos, a large and historically violent favela, or slum. Manguinhos, whose name refers to the swamp it once was, is one of the densest parts of Rio and only recently came under government control during military and police-led "pacification." Pope Francis was known in Argentina for mingling with Buenos Aires locals in similar spots.
Mr. Gaffney said that while the area will likely remain calm during his visit, achieving that security has come at a cost, as the military doubles down there. "This militarization is what the state does to guarantee safe circulation there," he said. "In the favelas they use real bullets, rather than the rubber bullets used against protesters."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324328904578623983808151610.html
John Bugay wrote, “Jesus Christ was nowhere to be found as a new Superstar took Rio by storm.”
ReplyDeletePope Francis said,
“I have neither silver nor gold, but I bring with me the most precious thing given to me: Jesus Christ! I have come in his name, to feed the flame of fraternal love that burns in every heart; and I wish my greeting to reach one and all: The peace of Christ be with you!
“… With this visit, I wish to pursue the pastoral mission proper to the Bishop of Rome of confirming my brothers in their faith in Christ, of encouraging them to give an account of the reasons for the hope which comes from him, and of inspiring them to offer everyone the inexhaustible riches of his love.
“… I am here to meet young people coming from all over the world, drawn to the open arms of Christ the Redeemer. They want to find a refuge in his embrace, close to his heart, to listen again to his clear and powerful appeal: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations’.
“… [T]hey… find in Christ the answer to their highest aspirations, held in common, and they can satisfy the hunger for a pure truth and an authentic love which binds them together in spite of differences.
“Christ offers them space, knowing that there is no force more powerful than the one released from the hearts of young people when they have been conquered by the experience of friendship with him. Christ has confidence in young people and entrusts them with the very future of his mission, ‘Go and make disciples’. Go beyond the confines of what is humanly possible and create a world of brothers and sisters! And young people have confidence in Christ: they are not afraid to risk for him the only life they have, because they know they will not be disappointed” (Welcome Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro).
With love in Christ,
Pete
It's to his credit that he's saying these things. But it's also a virtual certainty that the vast majority of these folks turned out not for Christ, but for the rock star visitor.
DeleteHopefully the Holy Spirit will use this “rock star visitor” to bring that majority, if it is so, to conversion to the true Rock and Star of our salvation.
DeleteWhat did your son think of Mass? How has your wife been?
In Christ,
Pete
More from Pope Francis:
ReplyDelete“But today you are all here, or better yet, we are all here together as one, in order to share the faith and the joy of an encounter with Christ, of being his disciples. This week Rio has become the centre of the Church, its heart both youthful and vibrant, because you have responded generously and courageously to the invitation that Christ has made to you to be with him and to become his friends.
“Today Christ asks each of us again: Do you want to be my disciple? Do you want to be my friend? Do you want to be a witness to my Gospel? In the spirit of The Year of Faith, these questions invite us to renew our commitment as Christians. Your families and local communities have passed on to you the great gift of faith, Christ has grown in you. I have come today to confirm you in this faith, faith in the living Christ who dwells within you, but I have also come to be confirmed by the enthusiasm of your faith!...
“ ‘It is good for us to be here!’, Peter cries out after seeing the Lord Jesus transfigured in glory. Do we want to repeat these words with him? I think the answer is yes, because here today, it is good for all of us to be gathered together around Jesus! It is he who welcomes us and who is present in our midst here in Rio. In the Gospel we have heard God the Father say: ‘This is my Son, my chosen one; listen to him!’ (Lk 9:35). If it is Jesus who welcomes us, we too ought to welcome him and listen to his words; it is precisely through the welcome we give to Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, that the Holy Spirit transforms us, lights up our way to the future, and enables us joyfully to advance along that way with wings of hope (cf. Lumen Fidei, 7)…
“I want to insist with you today: ‘Put on Christ!’ in your life, and you will find a friend in whom you can always trust...
“ ‘Put on Christ’ in your life, place your trust in him and you will never be disappointed! You see how faith accomplishes a revolution in us, one which we can call Copernican, because it removes us from the centre and restores it to God; faith immerses us in his love and gives us security, strength, and hope. To all appearances, nothing has changed; yet, in the depths of our being, everything is different. Peace, consolation, gentleness, courage, serenity and joy, which are all fruits of the Holy Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22), find a home in our heart, and our very being is transformed; our way of thinking and acting is made new, it becomes Jesus’ own, God’s own, way of thinking and acting...
“ ‘It is good for us to be here’, putting on Christ in our lives, putting on the faith, hope and love which he gives us” (Greeting and Homily at World Youth Day, 7/25/13).
Another great preaching witness to Christ:
ReplyDelete“The Cross of Christ bears the suffering and the sin of mankind, including our own. Jesus accepts all this with open arms, bearing on his shoulders our crosses and saying to us: ‘Have courage! You do not carry your cross alone! I carry it with you. I have overcome death and I have come to give you hope, to give you life’ (cf. Jn 3:16)…
“[The Cross] gives us a treasure that no one else can give: the certainty of the unshakable love which God has for us. A love so great that it enters into our sin and forgives it, enters into our suffering and gives us the strength to bear it. It is a love which enters into death to conquer it and to save us. The Cross of Christ contains all the love of God, his immeasurable mercy. This is a love in which we can place all our trust, in which we can believe. Dear young people, let us entrust ourselves to Jesus, let us give ourselves over entirely to him (cf. Lumen Fidei, 16)! Only in Christ crucified and risen can we find salvation and redemption. With him, evil, suffering, and death do not have the last word, because he gives us hope and life: he has transformed the Cross from an instrument of hate, defeat and death into a sign of love, victory and life…
“[T]he Cross of Christ invites us also to allow ourselves to be smitten by his love, teaching us always to always look upon others with mercy and tenderness, especially those who suffer, who are in need of help, who need a word or a concrete action which requires us to step outside ourselves to meet them and to extend a hand to them…
“Dear friends, let us bring to Christ’s Cross our joys, our sufferings and our failures. There we will find a Heart that is open to us and understands us, forgives us, loves us and calls us to bear this love in our lives, to love each person, each brother and sister, with the same love. Amen! ” (Address, 7/26/13).