The missing tech giant
On his blog, Sandro Magister detailed which members of the global super-rich have – and haven’t – gained meetings with Pope Francis. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google chief Eric Schmidt and Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom have all had audiences. Leonardo DiCaprio visited the Vatican last month, handing over a cheque “for works of charity close to [the Pope’s] heart”.
But not everybody has got through to Francis. According to Sandro Magister, Bill Gates’s proposed visit was shelved after an intervention by “a pair of African cardinals, who reminded the Pope that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is highly active in promoting abortion in poor countries”.
We’re not extremists!
Fr Dwight Longenecker regretted the news that Cruxnow.com has had its support pulled by The Boston Globe. The Catholic news site is now seeking new backers. Fr Longenecker, who wrote for the site, said it had sometimes felt too redolent of “Boston Catholicism”. He described this culture as: “‘Yes. Women will be ordained one day. We just have to wait and work harder at it. Yes. Same-sex marriage is a good thing and eventually our dear old Catholic Church will get itself up to date. Yes, abortion is OK. It’s a matter of a woman’s conscience. We’re cradle Catholics. We have fond childhood memories of Friday night fish fries, Sister Mary O’Hanrahan and her ruler and bingo in the church hall. Of course we don’t go to church every Sunday. We’re not extremists!’ You get the idea.”
Patience for penitents
In an interview at Aleteia, Mgr Charles Pope said hearing confessions had “taught me to have patience with the human condition. We all have our foibles; our struggles. There is a call to take sin seriously, but most confessions are people dealing with their struggles and I’ve discovered that people’s struggles and their strengths are closely related. Maybe a person is great at getting along with people, but they don’t stand up for things, for example.”
Mgr Pope stressed the importance of being a good listener. “There is something so powerful about listening; it allows someone to unburden themselves. What I say as a confessor is a minor part – the fact that someone can speak it out loud is powerful. I’ve learned this as a spiritual director too. In letting the person talk it through, they minister to themselves; there is a healing that goes on. Ultimately, I hope I convey that I’m so glad they are here. I want them to feel comfortable speaking.”
He also said he can’t remember what penitents confess. “Within a few years as a priest, generally, you can’t possibly remember what you’ve heard in confession by the end of the day. Poor memory is a grace God gives us.”
✣ Meanwhile…
✣ The heavy metal band Iron Maiden have paid tribute to Blessed Oscar Romero, the archbishop who was martyred in 1980. At a concert in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, the band’s drummer Nicko McBrain put on a T-shirt featuring an image of the murdered priest and the slogan “St Romero of the Americas”. Before the gig McBrain and guitarist Janick Gers visited Blessed Oscar’s tomb in San Salvador’s Metropolitan Cathedral. Blessed Oscar was assassinated for speaking out against government-led repression.
✣ A ring belonging to St Joan of Arc has returned to France after 600 years in Britain. Puy du Fou, a historical theme park in central France, bought the ring at auction for £297,000, a world record for a medieval European ring. The ring was seized from St Joan after her capture by British-allied forces in 1430. It was a gift from her parents, and bears the lettering IHS and MAR (Jesus and Mary) and three crosses. St Joan was burned at the stake the following year. Some experts have cast doubt on the ring’s authenticity. It was claimed to be St Joan’s 100 years ago by its owner at the time, Bloomsbury hostess Lady Ottoline Morrell. It passed from her to the painter Augustus John, and then into private collections.
✣ The week in quotations
I’ve never seen anything like it
Joshua Kyller of Catholic Relief Services on the mass of migrants stuck at the Greek border
Catholic News Service
They served out of love and were murdered out of hate
Pope Francis on the nuns killed in Yemen
Morning Mass homily
They carry with them this open wound that never heals
Confessor Fr Rocco Rizzo on women who have had abortions
L’Osservatore Romano
We must stand up for our brothers and sisters facing genocide
Archbishop Joseph Kurtz on Christians in the Middle East
Statement to US faithful
