I didn't think he watched TV at all. But he did watch a Mass.
Pope praises Salesians after watching Mass on TV
ROME — Like millions of Catholics around the world, Pope Francis has watched a televised Mass and joined his prayers to those of the celebrants.
After reciting the Angelus prayer Jan. 30 with visitors in St. Peter’s Square, the pope offered greetings to the men and women of the Salesian order, “who do so much good in the church.”
On the eve of the feast of St. John Bosco, founder of the Salesians, he told the crowd, “I followed the Mass celebrated in the shrine of Mary Help of Christians (in Turin) by the rector major, (Father) Ángel Fernández Artime. I prayed with him for everyone.” The Mass was broadcast live at 10 a.m. on Italy’s main public TV station, RAI 1.
Pope Francis grew up in a family that was close to the Salesians and, in the late 1940s, when his mother was ill, he and his brother were enrolled at a Salesian boarding school.
I have always admired St. John Bosco. His story is similar to our own Father Flanagan. Both of them saw Christ in abandoned street kids.
ReplyDeleteGood for Francis. I think there is a certain professional interest among clergy in watching what other parishes and orders are doing, now that so many liturgies are being broadcast and/or livestreamed.
ReplyDeleteIt occurred to me earlier today that the wealth of broadcast/livestreamed liturgies could enable pastoral research. For example: it seems much easier now to analyze the music which is being used in the American church today. One could watch 10-20 liturgies in a single day and collect data on the music being used, all without leaving one's couch.