Francis tends to be very blunt when talking with fellow Jesuits:
Pope Francis in Conversation with the Editors of European Jesuit Journals
On the mission of Jesuit publications:
The Society of Jesus should not be interested in communicating abstract ideas. It is interested, instead, in communicating human experience through ideas and reasoning, through experience. Ideas are to be discussed. Discussion is a good thing, but for me it is not enough. It is human reality that is to be discerned. Discernment is what really counts. The mission of a Jesuit publication cannot be only to discuss, but it must be above all able to help discernment that leads to action.
When you enter the world of ideas alone and move away from reality you end up with what is ridiculous. Ideas are discussed, reality is discerned. Discernment is the charism of the Society. In my opinion, it is the first charism of the Society and it is what the Society must continue to focus on, including in its cultural journals. They must be helpful and promote discernment.
On Ukraine:
To answer this question we have to move away from the normal pattern of “Little Red Riding Hood”: Little Red Riding Hood was good and the wolf was the bad guy. Here there are no metaphysical good guys and bad guys, in an abstract sense. Something global is emerging, with elements that are very much intertwined. A couple of months before the war started I met a head of state, a wise man, who speaks very little, very wise indeed. After we talked about the things he wanted to talk about, he told me that he was very concerned about the way NATO was moving. I asked him why, and he said, “They are barking at the gates of Russia. They do not understand that the Russians are imperialists and will allow no foreign power to approach them.” He concluded, “The situation could lead to war.” This was his opinion. On February 24, the war began. That head of state was able to read the signs of what was taking place.
Someone may say to me at this point: so you are pro-Putin! No, I am not. It would be simplistic and wrong to say such a thing. I am simply against reducing complexity to the distinction between good guys and bad guys without reasoning about roots and interests, which are very complex. While we see the ferocity, the cruelty of Russian troops, we must not forget the real problems if we want them to be solved.
What signs of spiritual renewal do you see in the Church? Do you see any?
In the European Church I see more renewal in the spontaneous things that are emerging: movements, groups, new bishops who remember that there is a Council behind them. Because the Council that some pastors remember best is that of Trent. What I’m saying is not nonsense.
Restorationism has come to gag the Council. The number of groups of “restorers” – for example, in the United States there are many – is significant. An Argentine bishop told me that he had been asked to administer a diocese that had fallen into the hands of these “restorers.” They had never accepted the Council. There are ideas, behaviors that arise from a restorationism that basically did not accept the Council. The problem is precisely this: in some contexts the Council has not yet been accepted. It is also true that it takes a century for a Council to take root. We still have forty years to make it take root, then!
He's trying to finesse the Russia/ Ukraine thing. However I think the Nato nations understand only too well that Russia is imperialist. I know the pope isn't pro-Putin. But he's fooling himself if he thinks he can influence him through Kiril. I am praying that a way can be found to negotiate a cease-fire.
ReplyDeleteIf one defines “imperialism” as the stationing of troops on another territory of another country, the US, Britain, France, and Spain have all been “imperialist” countries. The difference has been that we have all been “naval imperialists” stationing our troops at far distance countries almost anywhere in the world.
DeleteRussia and China have been land-based imperialists expanding ever more into lands around them which seems to me to be a more natural imperialism than the sea going type.
The one notable Russian seafaring exception was their sending of missiles to Cuba. That provoked the last nuclear power crises. So, it is natural for Russia to see the extension of American led NATO into the Ukraine as a similar event to their attempt to place missiles in Cuba.
Of course, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been a disaster as bad as our invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.
While Argentina has not been occupied by a foreign country they have long been dominated by American and European financial interests. So, he understands Western economic imperialism.
Part of the agreement for Russia to not have missiles in Cuba was that we would not have missiles in Turkey. Turkey is much further away than the Ukraine.
DeleteJournalists fail to remind us that Benedict and Francis had far different approaches to the Vatican Diplomatic Service.
ReplyDeleteWhen Benedict became Pope, he installed his right-hand man from the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith as Secretary of State despite the fact that Bertone had no diplomatic experience. He probably did that because he wanted to get control of the Secretariat of State which had always been at odds with his influence on JP2. He felt he needed loyalty more than diplomatic experience there.
Furthermore, Benedict ceased to meet with each papal nuncio when he came back to visit Rome periodically. That was probably because he was not interested in world politics like JP2. He was likely quite content to have papal nuncios represent him to the bishops of the country. He did not need to understand countries political or ecclesial interests in Rome.
Francis dramatically changed that within a few months. First, when the nuncios came to Rome for a group meeting, he spent a lot of time with them. There was a famous picture of an empty papal seat at a papal concert. Where was Francis? He was spending time with diplomats. That empty seat was a way of winning their hearts. He made it clear that he valued their expertise, appointed one of their number as Secretary of State, and has placed much emphasis upon their training, professional and carrier development.
Francis' fame as a pastor should not lead us to think that he does not think that politics and politicians are important. Quite the contrary, he values them and sees them as making an important contribution to the identity of each people. He said in the Joy of the Gospel that each country has to rediscover its identity with each generation. That is a really lofty political goal.
Francis' brand of liberation theology is a theology of the people. His model of globalism is not a smooth sphere but rather a multifaceted polyhedron (as befits someone whose early training was in chemistry). Yes, countries are all interrelated but also each is unique. Politicians err both if they overemphasize global trends or try to make their culture a museum of the past.
"When you enter the world of ideas alone and move away from reality you end up with what is ridiculous. Ideas are discussed, reality is discerned. "
ReplyDeleteThis is a restatement of a guiding principle of Francis to which Jack has called our attention more than once: "Reality is greater than ideas". This speech is the best explanation of it I've seen so far:
https://slmedia.org/blog/reality-is-greater-than-ideas