What happened?
Pope Francis’s book, The Name of God is Mercy, an extended interview with Vatican expert Andrea Tornielli, was published this week. The title on the cover, in the Pope’s own handwriting in many editions, emphasises that this is a very personal work. The book contains Francis’s thoughts on the divorced, homosexuality and other issues. He emphasises that the Church “does not exist to condemn people” but to share a message of the “infinite mercy of God”.
What the media are saying
The British press in general have given favourable reports of the book, stressing the message of its title: mercy. Caroline Wyatt of the BBC wrote that Francis “makes clear that the Church does not exist to condemn people but to bring them to God’s mercy, and uses the image of a field hospital, a place for the ‘urgent care’ which is needed ‘where there is combat’”. The Telegraph headlined its report: “Pope Francis: ‘I could have been in jail if I wasn’t pontiff’. Francis calls for Church to be more welcoming of gays and divorcees as he lays bare own family’s struggles.” Pink News predictably focused on another theme: “Pope Francis urges Catholics to accept LGBT people in new book.”
What the vaticanisti are saying
Peter Stanford wrote in the Guardian: “Question-and-answer sessions, spread over 150 pages, usually feel clumsy and can be an ordeal to plough through, but Francis’s chatty tone, his repeated references to episodes in his own life and his clear, down-to-earth language, so rarely found in papal pronouncements, make The Name of God is Mercy a pleasure to read.” John Allen noted at cruxnow.com that of the five previous popes since Vatican II that Francis cites, “the one he alludes to most is John Paul I”. Allen describes the short-lived pope as “warm, compassionate, genuinely happy to be with ordinary people, a man of obvious faith who didn’t wear his piety on his sleeve or take himself too seriously”, and adds: “Sound like anyone you know?”
The most overlooked story of the week
✣Catholic care home sued for refusing euthanasia
What happened?
The family of an elderly cancer sufferer who wanted to die by euthanasia is suing a Belgian Catholic care home for refusing to let a doctor give the woman a lethal injection on its premises. Mariette Buntjens was instead removed from the Sint-Augustinus rest home in Diest and died in a private residence.
Why was it under-reported?
The media has rather lost interest in the subject of euthanasia. It is no longer a live political issue in Britain since MPs overwhelmingly voted to reject assisted suicide in September. The press, far from seeing the case of Belgium as a cautionary tale, still think of euthanasia as inevitable and show increasing intolerance to objectors. Alarming stories from Belgium – such as the move two years ago to allow child euthanasia – do not comfortably fit this narrative and so are ignored.
What will happen next?
Mariette Buntjens’s daughter is taking the care home to a civil court in a test case that could determine whether Church-run institutions have the right to refuse to be involved in acts of euthanasia or else be stripped of public funding. Euthanasia is becoming increasingly common and more widely accepted in Belgium and the Netherlands. Last week the Dutch government relaxed restrictions to allow the killing of dementia patients who had signed consent forms while mentally competent.
✣The week ahead
Pope Francis is scheduled to meet pilgrimage workers next Thursday in the first major event of the Year of Mercy. The jubilee for pilgrimage workers will begin with a Mass at the Basilica of St John Lateran on Tuesday. They will have a conference and catechesis the following day, with Eucharistic adoration and Confession, and a pilgrimage to the Holy Door.
On Sunday Francis will visit the Great Synagogue of Rome. Fabio Perugia, spokesman for the Jewish Community of Rome, said he hoped the visit would “open new doors of dialogue”. Benedict XVI (right) visited the synagogue in January 2010.
The ivory handle of a crozier used by St Pope Gregory I, who helped establish Christianity in England in the 6th century, will go on display at Canterbury Cathedral this weekend, as 38 Anglican Primates gather for a meeting of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Pope Gregory sent St Augustine to evangelise Britain in 595.
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