Saturday, September 26, 2015

Apostolic Journey of the Holy Father to Cuba, to the United States of America and Visit to the United Nations Headquarters

NOTE: This roundup will be ongoing and updated over the course of next week, in continuity with Pope Francis' visit to Cuba, The United States and the U.N. Please stay tuned for further updates.

From the Vatican

Formal Addresses of Pope Francis

News


Cuba

  • Nine things you missed from Pope Francis' time in Havana, by María Ximena Rondón. Catholic News Agency. 09/21/15.
  • Pope Francis’s Advice to Existentially Sad Millennials The Atlantic 09/21/15. "The pontiff went off-script with some grandfatherly wisdom in Cuba."
  • Cuba: Pope Makes Unscheduled Stop at Jesuit Parish Zenit News Service 09/21/15. "the Pope stopped at the Iglesia de Reina (Church of the Queen) on his way to yesterday’s celebration of Vespers at the Cathedral of Havana. The parish, also known as the Church of the Sacred Heart and St. Ignatius of Loyola, is the home of the Society of Jesus in Cuba."
  • Photos: Pope Francis visits Cuba [Photo compilation] 09/20/15.

  • Pope and Fidel Castro Meet, Exchange Books Zenit News Service. 09/20/15:
    Vatican Radio reported that the Pope gave Castro several books, including one by Italian priest Alessandro Pronzato and another by Spanish Jesuit Segundo Llorentea. The Holy Father also gave him a book and two CDs of his homilies, as well as his two encyclical letters, Lumen Fidei and Laudato si'.

    In return, Castro gave Pope Francis an interview book titled "Fidel and Religion," written in 1985 by Brazilian priest Frei Betto. The dedication reads: "For Pope Francis, on occasion of his visit to Cuba, with the admiration and respect of the Cuban people."

    The director of the Vatican press office, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, said the meeting was "familiar and informal," and the two men spoke about "protecting the environment and the great problems of the contemporary world."

  • Pope Francis meets Fidel Castro after warning against ideology, by Nicole Winfield. Associated Press. 09/20/15:
    ... At one point, Francis was approached by a man who grabbed onto the popemobile and appeared to be speaking emotionally to the pontiff, who touched him on his hand and head before he was pulled away by security agents. Later video showed what appeared to be the same man throwing leaflets in the air, and backers of a Cuban dissident group said on Twitter he was a member of the political opposition.

    The head of the opposition group Ladies in White said 22 of the 24 members of her group who wanted to attend Mass were prevented from going by Cuban security agents. Two other well-known Cuban dissidents said agents detained them after the Vatican invited them to the pope’s vespers service at the Cathedral of Havana.

    Marta Beatriz Roque and Miriam Leiva, both longtime dissidents, received invitations from the office of the papal ambassador in Havana to attend the service but said they were arrested as they tried to travel to the cathedral.

A Cuban dissident is prevented by security personnel from approaching the popemobile as Pope Francis arrives at Revolution Square in Havana, Sept. 20, 2015.
  • [Question to Pope Francis]: "would you like to have a meeting with the dissidents, and if you had that meeting, what would you say?":
    Rosa Flores, CNN: Good afternoon, Holy Father. I am Rosa Flores of CNN. We understand that more than 50 dissidents were arrested outside the nunciature [in Cuba] as they were trying to have a meeting with you. First, would you like to have a meeting with the dissidents, and if you had that meeting, what would you say?

    Pope Francis: Look, I don’t have any news that that has happened. I don’t have any news. Some yes, yes, no, I don’t know. I don’t know, directly. The two questions are about reading the future. Would I like this to happen? … I like to meet with all people. I consider that all people are children of God and the law. And secondly, a relationship with another person always enriches. Even though it was soothsaying, that’s my reply. I would like to meet with everyone. If you want me to speak more about the dissidents, you can ask me something more concrete. For the nunciature, first, it was very clear that I was not going to give audiences because not only the dissidents asked for audiences, but also audiences (were requested) from other sectors, including from the chief of state. And, no, I am on a visit to a nation, and just that. I know that I hadn’t planned any audience with the dissidents or the others. And secondly from the nunciature, some people made some calls to some people who are in these groups of dissidents, where the responsibility was given to the nuncio to call them and tell them that I would greet them with pleasure outside the catedral for the meeting with the consecrated (religious). I would greet them when I was there, no? That did exist. Now, as no one identified themselves in their greetings, I don’t know if they were there. I said hello to the sick who were in wheelchairs. … Oops, I’m speaking Spanish. I greeted those who were in wheelchairs, but no one identified themselves as dissidents; but from the nunciature calls were made by some for a quick greeting.

  • Pope Francis lays out gentle critique of Cuba’s Socialist revolution, by John Allen, Jr. Crux 09/20/15.

  • Pope plans to duck dissidents in Cuba, spawning criticism Washington Post 09/18/15:
    Pope Francis plans to meet with Cuba’s president and its priests, its young and its sick, its churchgoers and its seminarians as he travels around the island starting Saturday. But not with its dissidents.

    The absence on Francis’ agenda of any meeting with the political opposition has sparked bitter critiques from dissidents who say they feel let down by an institution they believe should help push for greater freedom in Cuba.


United States

  • Kim and Francis, by Dr. Robert Moynihan. Inside the Vatican 09/29/15:
    On Thursday, September 24, in the afternoon after his historic address to Congress, just a few minutes before flying to New York City, Pope Francis received, spoke with, and embraced Kim Davis — the Kentucky County Clerk who was jailed in early September for refusing to sign the marriage licenses of homosexual couples who wished to have their civil marriages certified by the state of Kentucky.

    Also present was Kim’s husband, Joe Davis.

    Kim and her husband had come to Washington for another purpose — Kim was to receive a “Cost of Discipleship” award on Friday, September 25, from The Family Research Council at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

    “Thank you for your courage“

    Pope Francis entered the room.

    Kim greeted him, and the two embraced.

    There is no recording of this conversation, or photographs, as far as I know. But “there is not any thing secret that shall not be made manifest, nor hidden, that shall not be known and come to light.” (Luke 8:17)

    Kim Davis gave me this account of the meeting shortly after it took place.

    “The Pope spoke in English,” she told me. “There was no interpreter. ‘Thank you for your courage,’ Pope Francis said to me. I said, ‘Thank you, Holy Father.’ I had asked a monsignor earlier what was the proper way to greet the Pope, and whether it would be appropriate for me to embrace him, and I had been told it would be okay to hug him. So I hugged him, and he hugged me back. It was an extraordinary moment. ‘Stay strong,’ he said to me. Then he gave me a rosary as a gift, and he gave one also to my husband, Joe. I broke into tears. I was deeply moved.

  • Pope Francis met Argentine family who travelled 11,000 miles to Philadelphia Catholic News Agency. 09/29/15.
  • I can forgive an abuser, but understand those who can't, Pope says Catholic News Agency. 09/28/15.
  • Pope makes impromptu stop at statue marking Jewish-Catholic unity Catholic News Agency. 09/27/15:
    Pope Francis paid an unscheduled visit to St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia this afternoon to bless a statue celebrating improved Vatican relations with the Jewish community.

    The bronze statue, titled “Synagoga and Ecclesia in Our Time,” depicts two figures – signifying Christianity and Judaism – sitting beside each other and displaying their sacred texts in postures of dialogue.

    “This statue is exactly a demonstration of two sisters of the same dignity, the church and the synagogue,” said Vatican spokesperson Father Federico Lombardi.

  • Pope Francis to bishops: Stop wishing for the good old days Crux 09/27/15:
    “A Christianity which ‘does’ little in practice, while incessantly ‘explaining’ its teachings, is dangerously unbalanced. I would even say that it is stuck in a vicious circle,” he said. “A pastor must show that the ‘Gospel of the family’ is truly ‘good news’ in a world where self-concern seems to reign supreme!”
  • For Pope Francis, it's imperative: religious liberty is a gift from God. Defend it. Catholic News Agency. 09/26/15:
    In a Philadelphia moment laden with symbolism, Pope Francis on Saturday encouraged all Americans and all religions to unite against efforts that would limit religious freedom.

    “May this country and each of you be renewed in gratitude for the many blessings and freedoms that you enjoy. And may you defend these rights, especially your religious freedom, for it has been given to you by God himself,” the Pope said Sept. 26.

  • Pope Francis hailed for transcending liberal/conservative divide, by Matt Hadro. Catholic News Agency. 09/26/15. "This day Congress took a pause from divisions and focused on higher things."
  • Famous Homosexual Serves as Lector During Pope Francis’ NYC Mass: Massive Scandal Erupts in NYC, by Matthew Pearson. ChurchMilitant.com. 09/26/15.
  • Pope Francis challenges priests, religious to inspire vocations, love for Church Catholic World Report 09/26/15. In homily at Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, Francis reflects on the words of Leo XIII to the young St. Katherine Drexel: "What about you?”
  • How the Pope used the environment to preach to the UN Catholic News Agency. 09/25/15. "Pope Francis’ appeal to the United Nations General Assembly to care for both the environment and the human person was actually a deft move to introduce more Church teaching to the body, a U.N. expert explained."
  • Why the Name of Jesus Wasn't Mentioned in the Pope's UN Speech, by Edward Pentin. National Catholic Register 09/25/15.
  • Francis moves from solemn to spontaneous, by Inés San Martín. Crux 09/25/15. "Pope Francis was able to shed a bit of the formality that has marked his US trip so far, meeting with the families of 9/11 victims before an interreligious service at Ground Zero, then smiling and joking with immigrant schoolchildren at a Catholic school in East Harlem."
  • With the Pope at Ground Zero, by Francis X. Clooney, SJ. America 09/25/15.
  • Destruction is always personal, Pope Francis reflects at Ground Zero Catholic News Agency. 09/25/15.
  • Pope Francis picks Ground Zero for interfaith healing, by Lauren Markoe. Crux 09/24/15:
    Much of Catholic America is excited about Pope Francis’ first visit to the United States — and so are many American Muslims.

    Francis’ visit, said Imam Sayyid M. Syeed, “is even more important for Muslims than it is for Catholics.”

    A pope 1,000 years ago exhorted Christians to launch the First Crusade against Muslims, explained Syeed, of the Islamic Society of North America. Now, he continued, there is a pope who wants to destroy hatred the world over, a pope who named himself for a 13th-century saint who counseled Christians to cease their violence against Muslims.

    “This pope,” the imam said, “is our pope.”

  • Congressman swipes Pope Francis’ drinking glass New York Post 09/26/15:
    When Pope Francis concluded his historic address to Congress on Thursday, dozens of lawmakers followed as he left the podium, hoping to clasp the hand or touch the garments of His Holiness.

    Then there was Rep. Bob Brady (D-Pa.), who instead dashed to the podium to swipe the pope’s drinking glass.

    The half-full glass of water has now become something of a holy relic for the congressman. ...

    “Anything the pope touches becomes blessed,” Brady told the paper.

  • In Pope Francis' Congress Speech, Praise For Dorothy Day And Thomas Merton NPR (National Public Radio) 09/24/15.
  • Pope in NYC: I'm with you in recovering from the abuse scandal Catholic News Agency. 09/24/15:
    In his first address in New York, Pope Francis lamented the suffering caused by the sexual abuse scandal in the United States – not only for the trauma inflicted on the Church's most vulnerable members, but also for the shame it has brought to priests and religious in general.

    “I know that, as a presbyterate in the midst of God’s people, you suffered greatly in the not distant past by having to bear the shame of some of your brothers who harmed and scandalized the Church in the most vulnerable of her members,” he said addressing clergy and religious gathered for Evening Prayer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City Sept. 24.

    “I accompany you at this time of pain and difficulty, and I thank God for your faithful service to his people,” he said, adding they have “come forth from the great tribulation.”

  • New York Sets Rock-Star Welcome for Pope Francis, by Thomas L. MacDonald. National Catholic Register 09/24/15:
    Deacon Greg Kandra of the Diocese of Brooklyn says he will find a warm welcome: "You’d be hard-pressed to find [a Catholic] in New York City who doesn’t adore this Pope,” said the popular blogger. “I hear it all the time from believers and nonbelievers, who tell me, without prompting, ‘I love this Pope.’ It’s a cliché to call him a ‘rock star,’ but let’s be honest: He is a rock star — and someone both familiar and new. I think he’s offering the world a slice of Catholicism that is often overlooked: Beyond the rules and the tradition, beyond the theology and the history and the hierarchy, there is hope."
  • The pope name-dropped a radical Catholic activist, and Bernie Sanders couldn’t be happier Washington Post 09/24/15:
    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was the lone Democratic presidential hopeful -- and the only Jewish contender -- in the House chamber for Pope Francis's speech. When he left, he was beaming, as the pope had cited an American Catholic whom Sanders had plenty of praise for.

    "The name Dorothy Day has not been used in the United States Congress terribly often," said Sanders in a short interview. "She was a valiant fighter for workers, was very strong in her belief for social justice, and I think it was extraordinary that he cited her as one of the most important people in recent American history. This would be one of the very, very few times that somebody as radical as Dorothy Day was mentioned."

  • Pope Francis Walks Among Poor and Marginalized in DC Farewell National Catholic Register 09/24/15. "After delivering an historic address to Congress, the Holy Father went to St. Patrick’s Church and Catholic Charities’ headquarters in Washington to spend personal time with the city’s social periphery."
  • Repent! Pope Francis lectures America on immigration, abortion, gay marriage and the Syrian refugee crisis in first-ever Capitol Hill address by a sitting pontiff Daily Mail 09/24/15.
  • Catholic University students and faculty moved and challenged by Pope Francis Catholic World Report 09/24/15.
  • Francis and Sophie's secret: girl who hugged pope delivers immigration plea The Guardian 09/23/15. "Five-year-old Sophie Cruz makes it past security to greet Pope Francis at parade before hand delivering letter asking pontiff to push for US immigration reform."
  • Inside Pope Francis' Tour of the White House, by Megan Keneally. ABC News. 09/23/15. The public was not able to see Pope Francis after he finished his remarks on the South Lawn and headed inside the White House, but now a collection of photos gives a sense of the pontiff's tour.
  • Pope Francis made surprise stop at Little Sisters of the Poor to show support, by Matt Hadro. Catholic News Agency. 09/23/15:
    Pope Francis paid a short visit to the Little Sisters of the Poor community in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to support them in their court case over the contraception mandate, the Vatican's spokesman revealed. ...

    The sisters had filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration for its 2012 mandate that employers provide insurance coverage for birth control, sterilizations, and drugs that can cause abortions employee health plans. The sisters have maintained that to provide this coverage would violate their religious beliefs.

  • Pope Francis to Obama: Religious freedom is beyond price, by Anne Schneible. Catholic News Agency. 09/23/15:
    Pope Francis Wednesday reminded U.S. president Barack Obama that religious freedom is one of America's most “precious possessions,” while lauding the nation's Catholics their work toward a society marked by tolerance and inclusivity.

    "With countless other people of good will, (American Catholics) are likewise concerned that efforts to build a just and wisely ordered society respect their deepest concerns and their right to religious liberty," the Pope said Wednesday, addressing the U.S. commander-in-chief at the White House in Washington, D.C.

    "That freedom remains one of America's most precious possessions."

    Echoing the appeals by the U.S. bishops on the issue of religious freedom, the pontiff told President Obama: "All are called to be vigilant, precisely as good citizens, to preserve and defend that freedom from everything that would threaten or compromise it."

  • Photos: Pope Francis visits the US Crux 09/22/15.
  • Pope Francis Ditches Lunch with Congress to Dine with DC’s Homeless, by James Woods. U.S. Uncut. 09/23/15.
    Pope Francis arrived in Washington DC today and immediately showed why his poll numbers are higher than any American politician by turning down lunch invitations from members of Congress to instead dine with 300 members of the homeless community after his scheduled Thursday address.
  • It’s official: The pope declares Junípero Serra a saint, by Ines San Martin. Crux 09/23/15:
    In what is likely to be the most controversial move of his six-day visit to the United States, Pope Francis declared Spanish missionary Junípero Serra a saint Wednesday, calling him a “protector of Native Americans.”

    The pope’s decision to canonize the 18th-century Franciscan priest drew criticism because of accusations that Serra forced Christianity on the region, was complicit in the decline or elimination of native populations, and enslaved converts to the faith.

    • Pope Francis: St. Junipero was "the embodiment of a Church which goes forth" Catholic World Report 09/23/15:
      "Junípero Serra left his native land and its way of life," Pope Francis reflected. "He was excited about blazing trails, going forth to meet many people, learning and valuing their particular customs and ways of life. He learned how to bring to birth and nurture God’s life in the faces of everyone he met; he made them his brothers and sisters."

      Although some have raised concerns about St. Junipero Serra’s work with Native Americans, Pope Francis joined many others who insist that Serra worked tirelessly to protect the rights and dignity of the people whom he served.

      "Junípero sought to defend the dignity of the native community, to protect it from those who had mistreated and abused it. Mistreatment and wrongs which today still trouble us, especially because of the hurt which they cause in the lives of many people," Pope Francis said.

    • Biography of Junípero Serra, "The Apostle of California" United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
    • Why Pope Francis' Canonization of Junipero Serra Is So Controversial, by Meredith McGraw. ABC News. 09/23/15. "Serra, a Franciscan monk who worked to evangelize the California coast during the 18th century, has been criticized for using coercive force and corporal punishment on Native Americans."
  • Pelosi, Biden Say They're Pro-Abortion and Pro-Church National Catholic Register 09/22/15:
    “I actually agree with the pope on more issues than many Catholics who agree with him on one issue,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, told The New York Times during an interview timed for Pope Francis's Sept. 24 address before Congress.

    That "one issue" is legal abortion, which has eliminated the lives of an estimated 57 million unborn children since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Roe v. Wade.

  • Pope Francis arrives in the US; denies being a leftist, by John Allen Jr. Crux 09/22/15:
    “Maybe there’s an impression I’m a little bit more leftie, but I haven’t said a single thing that’s not in the social doctrine of the Church,” Francis insisted, referring to official Catholic teaching on social questions.

    At one stage, the pontiff even challenged a journalist to give him an example of something he’s said that was “too strong.”

    Asked about a recent Newsweek cover story asking if the pope is Catholic, Francis joked that “I’m ready to recite the Creed if need be,” referring to an ancient statement of core Catholic beliefs recited at every Mass.

  • Thursday’s event will be the first time a pope has addressed a joint session of Congress, by Andrea Gagliarducci. Catholic World Report 09/21/15. "On Thursday Pope Francis will become the first Bishop of Rome to address a joint session of the US Senate and House of Representatives. During his speech he will tackle the misinterpretation of his words on economics and politics."
  • Fun facts and more about life aboard the papal plane Separating myth from reality about 'Shepherd One', by John Allen, Jr. Crux 09/18/15.
  • Pope's video message for Cuba: I will be among you as a missionary of mercy. 09/18/15:
    I wish to be among you as a missionary of God's mercy and tenderness, but allow me to encourage you too to be missionaries of God's infinite love. May no-one lack the witness of our faith and our love. May all the world know that God always forgives, that God always stays by our side, that God loves us.
  • That “strange” alliance that unites Obama and the Vatican, by Paolo Masrolilli. "The Vatican Insider" La Stampa 09/14/15. "The reports present Obama with a description of Bergoglio and the Vatican structure and then deal with specific points of common interest and areas of potential co-operation: fight against poverty and hunger, environment, war in Syria, peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine, Cuba, human trafficking."
  • Pope Francis appeases the Castros in repressive Cuba The Washington Post Editorial Board. 09/21/15:
    The pope is spending four days in a country whose Communist dictatorship has remained unrelenting in its repression of free speech, political dissent and other human rights despite a warming of relations with the Vatican and the United States. Yet by the end of his third day, the pope had said or done absolutely nothing that might discomfit his official hosts.

    Pope Francis met with 89-year-old Fidel Castro, who holds no office in Cuba, but not with any members of the dissident community — in or outside of prison. According to the Web site 14ymedio.com, two opposition activists were invited to greet the pope at Havana’s cathedral Sunday but were arrested on the way. Dozens of other dissidents were detained when they attempted to attend an open air Mass. They needn’t have bothered: The pope said nothing in his homily about their cause, or even political freedom more generally. Those hunting for a message had to settle for a cryptic declaration that "service is never ideological."

  • White House Invites Several Opponents of Catholic Teaching to Greet Pope Francis Breitbart.com. 09/16/15:
    In a stunning show of political indecorum, Obama has invited a series of individuals who publicly flout Catholic teaching, including a pro-abortion religious sister, a transgender woman and the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, along with at least two Catholic gay activists.

Commentary

  • U.S. Catholicism after the papal visit: sunrise or eclipse?, by Fr. Brian W. Harrison. O.S. LifeSite News 09/28/15:
    Last night saw the conclusion of Pope Francis' historic visit to three leading U.S. cities. We saw media adulation and adoring crowds everywhere. But many of us, trying to see the big picture, are wondering about his overall message, as indicated by the relative priority he gave to various current issues. The general tone and spirit of the Holy Father's trip was well captured by a cartoon that has been doing the rounds: a downcast Obama, in the Confessional with Francis, says, "I'm the most pro-abortion President ever"; and the Pope responds through the screen, "But what's your position on climate change?"
  • After the Pope's visit – an exclusive interview with Archbishop Chaput, by Michelle Bauman. Catholic News Agency 09/29/15:
    Francis got to see the reality of American faith and life on this trip in a uniquely powerful way. In Washington he experienced our political center. In New York he encountered our greatest financial and international city. But in Philadelphia he saw the face of a great city built and sustained by ordinary Americans – the face of nearly a million everyday working people enthusiastically in love with him. I think he'll remember that. ...

    Pope Francis told the U.S. bishops that family “is the primary reason for my present visit.” What is the significance of the Pope making his first papal visit to the U.S. in the context of the family?

    Family has been a constant theme of his pontificate. It's the basic cell of society. Because of the global influence of the United States, problems here have an impact around the world. Given all the current issues in our country related to the nature of marriage, the breakdown of families and the purpose of human sexuality, the timing of the papal visit seems pretty logical."

  • Impact of Pope’s U.S. Visit; Pope Francis and Family Issues Religion & Ethics Newsweekly 09/25/15. [Audio] "Pope Francis energized American Catholics and others with his message of peace, compassion, justice, and human dignity; and some Catholics hope that the Church under Pope Francis will be open to reform on divorce, contraceptives, and marriage."
  • US trip shows that the ‘Pope Francis honeymoon’ is still in full swing, by John Allen, Jr. Crux 09/26/15:
    There were turns of phrase or gestures along the way that might have gotten another pontiff into trouble – his disparaging reference to “crying nuns” in Cuba, for instance, or his fairly tough language on religious freedom on Saturday, or the fact that, despite being expected to meet victims in private Sunday morning, he has had very little to say publicly about the clerical sexual abuse scandals.

    None of that, however, really put a dent in the “People’s Pope” storyline.

    Perhaps that will be another sense in which Francis becomes a pope of firsts, disproving the conventional wisdom that honeymoons always someday end.

  • What Pope Francis Really Said About (Gay) Marriage -- and What He Did Not, by Michelangelo Signorile. The Huffington Post 09/25/15:
    The United States this past June did something that the Catholic Church and the Vatican have for years railed against: granted marriage equality to its gay and lesbian citizens.

    Yet, Pope Francis had nothing to say about it. Not then and not now.

    Considering that Pope Benedict often vocally expressed harsh condemnation of marriage equality -- even traveling to Spain to speak out against it when that country was among the first to legalize marriage for gays and lesbians and called it a "threat to the future of humanity"-- it's astonishing how silent Francis is on the issue.

  • Weigel: “The Church the Pope wants in the US already exists” "Vatican Insider" La Stampa 09/25/15. The conservative Catholic intellectual says he hopes Francis "fills out" the picture of the United States and American Catholicism that he will bring to its shores.
  • Francis at the United Nations, by R.R. Reno. First Things 09/25/15:
    The speech to Congress was in all likelihood ghostwritten by someone in Cardinal Wuerl or Cardinal McCarrick's stable. That would explain its cautious, small feel. They represent a wing of American Catholicism that wants to get along with the dominant liberal establishment, which requires downplaying “divisive” issues. It was telling that in that speech “a man and a woman” or “a mother and a father” made no appearance in the material on the importance of the family.

    No so the United Nations speech. It had vim and vigor. He emphasized the leitmotif of his papacy: criticism of our global system and its “social and economic exclusion.” He warned his audience not to be satisfied with “declarational nominalism,” a wonderful turn of phrase that both draws on specialized Catholic insider terminology (nominalism) and chastises the United Nations (and other international organizations) for issuing empty declarations.

  • Pope Francis, Abortion, and a Missed Opportunity with Congress, by Jonathan Leidl. National Catholic Register 09/25/15:
    Yesterday, Pope Francis addressed a number of issues by name when he spoke to Congress. He talked about immigrants; he delved into economics; and he got very specific on environmental degradation, the arms trade, and abolishing the death penalty.

    One issue that Pope Francis did not get specific about was abortion.

    • Planned Parenthood Slams Pope Francis Over Abortion Speech, Women's Rights International Business Times 09/25/15. "Planned Parenthood has harsh words for Pope Francis after the leader of the Roman Catholic Church championed life -- including before birth -- in his address to Congress on Thursday. Francis and the church are limiting women's rights by urging Catholics not to use contraception, said a spokesman for the women's health organization."
  • The Political Evanescence of the Papal Visit: Pope Francis, the One Week Wonder, by Matthew Franck. First Things 09/25/15:
    In the internal life of the Church in the U.S., Francis’s visit has undoubted real meaning—in the lives of bishops, priests, religious, and lay people who flock to his Masses and other gatherings, or only view them from afar, and in the things he does and says as supreme pontiff during his visit. Still more important will be his episcopal appointments, his reforms of canon law, his guidance on the pastoral care of the family during and after the upcoming Ordinary Synod, and a hundred other decisions he will make from Rome. These practical deeds of the Pope, as Ross Douthat observes, will carry more weight in shaping the future, not just of American Catholicism but of the universal Church.

    But here in a free and democratic society, Francis will come, and he will go, and our politics will go on as though he had never visited. This I count as fundamentally a good thing.

  • Francis and the Politics of Projection, by Matthew Hennessey. City Journal 2015:
    ... While the Left fantasizes about an imaginary Hero Pope come to beat up the American Right for its views on social issues, the real Pope will be on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, endorsing a markedly traditional Catholic view of the family, reflecting the structure of the Holy Family itself and forming a kind of fortress against what he’s called the “ideological colonization” of same-sex marriage. The family, he said earlier this year, is “threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life.” Does that sound like a pope come to tear the Church down—or a pope come to protect it?
  • Even on Wall Street, Pope Francis attack on 'idolatry of money' strikes a chord, by Harriet Sherwood. The Guardian 09/24/15. Some commentators find the pontiff’s apparent scepticism about capitalism troubling but some in finance feel his call for more humanity is needed.
  • A hidden gem in the Pope's speech to Congress, by Phil Lawler. CatholicCulture.com 09/24/15. "Too many options, and yet not enough options? There’s material there for a modern-day Chesterton: a paradox that exposes the insanity of our society."
  • Pope Francis' Awesome Drop Mic Moment on Religious Liberty, by Matthew Archbold. National Catholic Register 09/24/15. "OK. You've gotta' admit, this is the perfect response to the most blatant display of hypocrisy seen in days in our nation's capital ..."
  • 20 Key Quotes from Pope Francis’s Address to Congress, by Joe Carter. The Acton Institute. 09/24/15.
  • When Francis Came to Cuba: Questions from a Cuban Catholic, by Carlos Eire. First Things 09/24/15:
    Pope Francis is not exactly the silent type when it comes to social, political, or economic issues. When he thinks something is wrong, he lets the world know, as he has just done in his encyclical Laudato Si’, in which he champions environmentalism and excoriates materialist consumerism. A few months ago, in Bolivia, he spoke of “the unfettered pursuit of money” as nothing less than “the dung of the devil.”

    So, why is it that he refrained from calling the Castro regime and other such failed experiments in materialist totalitarian communism “the dung of the devil”? Is communist materialism any less fiendish? Is communist political and economic repression any less reprehensible? Why didn’t he call Raúl and Fidel Castro to repentance? Why did he praise them instead?

  • What Francis Said and Didn't Say in Congress, by R.R. Reno. First Things 09/24/15:
    Francis gave no support to Catholics who have fought abortion, the redefinition of marriage, doctor-assisted suicide, and other cultural issues. He also made no mention of threats to religious liberty.

    He may have omitted some of these topics because he wants to steer clear of appearing to intervene directly in our political debates. Congress presently has before it specific legislation to defund Planned Parenthood and expand religious liberty (an issue tied to conflict over same-sex marriage). This is a good reason to take care. Nevertheless, complete silence on these issues demoralizes those who are on the front lines of these battles.

    The only specific issues Francis mentioned before Congress are associated with progressive politics: abolition of the death penalty, global warming, and arms control. This reinforces the trends of this papacy, at least in relation to the United States. Francis discourages conservative Catholics, more by silence than anything else. He encourages progressives, both by his silences and his affirmations.

  • Some Quick Thoughts On the Pope’s Congressional Address, by Steve Skojec. OnePeterFive 09/24/15:
    In addition to the fact that this [Francis' reminder of the "Golden Rule"] is the most bare-bones acknowledgement of the sanctity of life one could get in a speech before a governmental body that sends half a billion dollars a year to an organization that kills millions of children and sells their parts to the highest bidder, the entire emphasis was placed on abolition of the death penalty, which is not even consonant with the long-held teaching of the Church. (And as a friend asked me after reading the speech, “When did ‘murderer on death row’ become a stage of human development?”)
  • Pope Francis, Dialogue and Affirmative Orthodoxy, by Fr. Gaurav Shroff. "Pope Francis clearly said today that he is speaking in continuity with his predecessors. His call to humble parrhesia, to be a Church that speaks from a position of poverty, is one that is eminently in line with his immediate predecessor."
  • Pope Francis' Challenge to Conservatives, by Ramesh Ponnuru. Bloomberg.com. 09/23/15:
    Aside from a line about how the Golden Rule requires the protection of human life at all stages of development, and a veiled reference to his opposition to same-sex marriage, Pope Francis said nothing that would discomfit a progressive (at least one who can put up with a lot of mentions of God). He called on Americans to be generous to immigrants, to abolish the death penalty, to fight poverty and hunger "constantly and on many fronts," and to protect the environment. These are, of course, goals that are more often associated with the American left than with its right, and so Francis' words carry more of a challenge to Republicans than to Democrats.

    But the pope's argument was couched in terms that appeal to Americans of all political persuasions. There was no pointed rebuke of those who oppose particular climate change policies or immigration initiatives. The only specific policy Francis endorsed was abolishing capital punishment. Liberals can easily make the case that their policies flow naturally from the values the pope invoked in his speech. But most conservatives accept those values too, and those conservatives who listened to the speech with an open mind can make the case that they have a superior understanding of how to act on them.

  • Counterpoint: Pope has listened to conservative Americans, by Samuel Gregg. Chicago Sun-Times 09/24/15:
    For me, however, as a migrant to the United States, it was especially gratifying to watch Francis say very positive things to say about America. The word “liberty” was used no less than five times, "freedom" seven times, and "subsidiarity" (a Catholic expression for protecting liberty) twice. He also invoked America’s "spirit of enterprise," and repeated what he’s said elsewhere: that "Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world.” And while insisting that more needs to be done to address poverty, the pope also exclaimed, "How much has been done in these first years of the third millennium to raise people out of extreme poverty!"

    All this suggests that Francis has listened — as he said he would — to those American Catholics who’ve suggested that some of his previous statements about economic life weren’t attentive to the facts about poverty and the most effective ways of diminishing it.

  • Why Pope Francis Sounds Like a Democrat, by Molly Ball. The Atlantic 09/24/15:
    Francis is not an American politician, but his perspective on the state’s role in these issues lines up pretty well with that of most American Democrats. To greatly oversimplify, Democrats believe the U.S. needs to regulate the economy and the environment, while allowing people to make their own choices about whom they marry and whether to have an abortion. Republicans—again, oversimplifying greatly—think people should generally be able to do what they want with their money and their carbon footprint, but social behavior should be regulated by the state. Francis aligns more with Democrats than Republicans on other issues: He favors immigration reform, played a major role in the Obama administration’s détente with Cuba, and supports the Iran nuclear deal. No wonder the president and other American liberals are trying to claim him—and conservatives see him as a threat.
  • Simplicity Si, Oversimplification No, by the Editors. National Review 09/24/15:
    Where Pope Francis and many of those who share his tendencies go wrong is on a question of priority: They simply assume prosperity sufficient to support their redistributionist programs. “Business,” the pope says, “is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world. It can be a fruitful source of prosperity, . . . especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service to the common good.” There is some bad economics in that (jobs are a means, not an end) and some vast understatement: It is not the case that business “can be a fruitful source of prosperity” — it is, in human material experience, practically the only source of prosperity. And it doesn’t just happen. Rather, there are necessary preconditions without which prosperity cannot emerge: the rule of law, physical security, property rights, the freedom to engage in commerce and trade. The pope is not the first man of his political stripe to implicitly argue that we can put to good use the fruits of capitalism while holding capitalism itself at arm’s length. The pope’s antipathy here is difficult to miss: In an act of sweeping equivocation, he spoke of the need to “combat violence perpetrated in the name of a religion, an ideology, or an economic system,” as though Google executives were posting Internet videos of Bing users being beheaded.

    "No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions," Margaret Thatcher wryly observed. "He had money as well." The United States, the English-speaking countries, Western Europe, and Japan grew wealthy for particular reasons, just as Argentina stagnated for particular reasons. Our great complaint with the Holy Father is that he does not seem to be much interested in what those reasons are.

  • A Contemplative Visits Congress, by Kathryn Jean Lopez. "The Corner" National Review 09/24/15.
  • Francis falters in addressing sex abuse, by Dennis Coday. National Catholic Reporter 09/23/15:
    I have to wonder where is the forthrightness we have come to expect of Pope Francis. At the very least he could have used the words "clergy sexual abuse of minors." This oblique reference will do nothing to assuage the fears of victims’ advocates who believe Francis is more public relations manager than crisis manager when it comes to sexual abuse.

    Praising the bishops for the courage they have shown before acknowledging the pain of the victims, will undoubtedly raise the charges of "he just doesn’t get it."

  • What Did Pope Francis Say About the Unborn at the White House?, by Steve Skojec. OnePeterFive 09/23/15:
    There was ... something about being “committed to building a society which is truly tolerant and inclusive, to safeguarding the rights of individuals and communities, and to rejecting every form of unjust discrimination”. A brief mention of religious liberty made it in, too. But a statement about protecting the unborn in the presence of the most pro-abortion president in US history — especially as Congress is attempting to defund Planned Parenthood — didn’t make the cut.
  • Francis 2.0 emerges in America: Pope and Church are a package deal, by John Allen Jr. Crux 09/23/15:
    ... Without sacrificing his charismatic, populist edge, Francis appears determined to reinsert himself into the context of the Church he leads, and the teaching and world view it represents.

    Pope Benedict XVI was fond of saying that Christ can’t be separated from the Church, as if one could follow Jesus but reject his Church. Maybe part of what Francis is saying now is that’s it also a mistake to separate the pope from the Church.

  • The Invincible Ignorance of Pope Francis, by Rich Lowry. Politico 09/23/15:
    The pope’s capitalism is parody seemingly drawn from the pages of Noam Chomsky. It is a system “where the powerful feed upon the powerless.” This kind of exploitation has been the norm through human history, and it will never disappear. But there is less of it in the advanced West, where property rights, the rule of law, open political systems and market competition make it much harder for an entrenched elite to despoil ordinary people. That the pope doesn’t realize this constitutes a serious moral blind spot.
  • Pope Francis gives hope to gay Catholics, by Matthew Albright. USA Today 09/23/15. "I am married to a man, and I’m sure that if he met me (Francis) would say congratulations and be very happy about it."
  • Pope Francis arrives and he's not the 'Prada Pope', by Maria Puente. USA Today 09/23/15.
  • The Limits of Papal Celebrity
    1. Personalities tend to be more popular than institutions, so we should be skeptical about claims that the popularity of a given pope will translate into a “revived” church.

    2. Francis’s appeal is based largely on his anti-institutional image—his willingness to disregard rules and call out entrenched interests—and so his popularity is especially unlikely to translate into increased attachment to the church. ...

  • What's a Jew to Do When the Pope Comes on Yom Kippur?, by Emma Green. The Atlantic 09/22/15.
  • As the Pope Comes..., by Joseph McAuley. America 09/22/15.
  • A "Son of the Church", Francis Confounds both the Right and the Left, by Michael J. Nader. Catholic World Report 09/22/15. "Like his predecessors, Pope Francis’ economic teachings are squarely within the Catholic social tradition."
  • 6 Times You Were Flat-Out Lied To About Pope Francis, by Michael Marinaccio. Medium.com. 09/21/15:
    Ahead of the Pope’s visit to the United States, a trip that will be wrought with sound-bytes, drama, and press releases, I thought it would be fitting to put together a short list of instances where the Holy Father has been completely taken out of context or mis-reported (flat-out lied about) by the national media and press corps. ...
  • For Conservatives, Sowing Confusion, by Amanda Erickson. Washington Post 09/18/15:
    When Steve Skojec heard that Jorge Mario Bergoglio had been elected pope, he got a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He can’t say why, exactly — though he follows Vatican politics closely, he didn’t know much about Francis then. But as he watched the new Catholic leader greet the crowds on his office television in Manassas, Va., he was filled with dread.

    "I felt a discontinuity," he said. "A disruption."

  • Why conservatives are going nuclear on Pope Francis, by Damon Linker. The Week 09/22/15. "For today's conservative movement, politics has become the first thing, the last thing, and everything in between. No wonder it's lost all patience for the politically inconvenient pontiff."
  • America Meets Francis, by Joan Frawley Desmond. A Nation Awaits a ‘Pastor and Prophet’. National Catholic Register 09/21/15. "Pope Francis’ tendency to speak off the cuff and dispense with formality adds a wild card to a high-stakes visit that has stirred hope and excitement, but also defies hard predictions."
  • Pope Francis could reframe the US religious freedom debate, by John Allen Jr. Crux 09/21/15.
  • The Patron Saint of the Left: Why Pope Francis isn’t the liberal rock star American Catholics think he is, by William Saletan. Slate 09/20/15.
  • Why the Pope's Friendliness to Castro? Cardinal's Story Might Offer a Clue, by Edward Pentin. National Catholic Register 09/21/15:
    Some Cuban human rights activists are looking wistfully on Francis’ predecessor, whose more direct approach, in contrast to the more dialogue-based Ostpolitik of Blessed Paul VI, helped lead to the downfall of Soviet communism.

    Much of this affinity no doubt has to do with Francis' clear sympathy for some Marxists even if he disagrees with the ideology (he once said he has met many "who are good people").

    But an exchange between Cardinal Renato Martino and Fidel Castro in the 2000s also partly shows why Francis, the Holy See — and Benedict XVI, too, to a large extent — have stressed more dialogue than condemnation when it comes to dealing with the Cuban regime.

    Meeting Fidel during a visit to the country as president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Martino presented the former communist revolutionary with a copy of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church that his dicastery had just produced. “He responded with some surprise,” Cardinal Martino, now honorary president of the Dignitatis Humanae Institute, told me. “Castro said that in his view, much of the teaching it contained was identical to what he and his regime had been trying to apply to Cuban society for years!”

  • Pope Francis: A Red Line between the US Trip and the Synod, by Andrea Gagliari. Monday Vatican 09/21/15.
  • Francis’ visit to Cuba and the US will be about politics but above all about pastoral care, by Andrea Tornielli. "The Vatican Insider" La Stampa 09/18/15.
  • "Conservative" Catholics, Pope Francis, and CNN Spin, by Carl Olson. Catholic World Report 09/17/15. "It's an unfortunate fact that secular media outlets so often resort to sensationalism, shallow reporting, and partisan rhetoric when addressing the complexities of Catholicism."
  • INTERVIEW: Head of US Bishops: Pope Does Not Speak as Economist Nor Politician, But as Pastor of Souls Zenit News Service. 09/17/15. In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with ZENIT this week, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, a native of Pennsylvania who was appointed Bishop of Louisville, Kentucky, by Pope Benedict, said Pope Francis is not coming to the United States to teach economic theory, but to very firmly and strongly reaffirm the tradition of our Catholic social teaching and to celebrate God's plan for marriage and the family.
  • Stephen Colbert on Pope Francis, Politics and Faith Salt & Light Television. "Fresh off his premiere on CBS’ The Late Show, comedian Stephen Colbert discusses Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to the United States."

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