Daily Telegraph 11-Nov-13 By Cristina Odone [A RC. DFP]
More than half of Italy's priests are reporting a surge in Mass attendance. Why? Pope Francis. The new pontiff's popularity has transformed the image of the Church in its homeland.
The people and even the cynical press have taken him to their heart: "modest", "simpatico" and "fun" are the epithets used to describe the first Argentinian pontiff. I can't think of the last time a spiritual leader boasted such a combination of tributes: "modest" could have been said of Benedict XVI, but the German intellectual was not really fun. John Paul II could have been called "simpatico", but I'm not sure that he could be accused of modesty.
No, Francis is like no other Pope. It's taken less than a year for Papa Francesco to rewrite the script – his lines, and the media's too. No more snide asides about paedophile priests, a misogynist hierarchy, and innate corruption. Journalists prefer to focus on heart-warming anecdotes that reveal the Pope's kindness, charity and self-deprecating humour.
Even before he hired a gorgeous PR woman (a masterstroke: Francesca Chaoqui is young, sexy and NOT a nun), the Pope had rebranded Mother Church. Not just in Italy, either. He entered the international arena to stand resolutely against military intervention in Syria: war, he warned, is never a good solution. His position has won him some unappetising allies (Putin and China) but his motives are transparently holy. "Make me a channel of your peace", the opening words of a prayer attributed to St Francis (set to schmaltzy music in the 60s), are the Pope's marching orders.
Syria is not the only international issue to have engaged the Pope. Politicians have wasted millions of words on the subject of immigration; no one has believed them. How different, Francis's simple message at Lampedusa: we must help the stranger who comes knocking on the door. No posturing, no gimmicks, no reference to economic gain or social loss. This was our duty, as Christians AND humans.
Inspired by their new Pope, Italian Catholics are returning to Church. Soon, Catholics around the world will follow suit. It's too early to speak of another Saint Francis, but this Pope is a miracle worker.
More than half of Italy's priests are reporting a surge in Mass attendance. Why? Pope Francis. The new pontiff's popularity has transformed the image of the Church in its homeland.
The people and even the cynical press have taken him to their heart: "modest", "simpatico" and "fun" are the epithets used to describe the first Argentinian pontiff. I can't think of the last time a spiritual leader boasted such a combination of tributes: "modest" could have been said of Benedict XVI, but the German intellectual was not really fun. John Paul II could have been called "simpatico", but I'm not sure that he could be accused of modesty.
No, Francis is like no other Pope. It's taken less than a year for Papa Francesco to rewrite the script – his lines, and the media's too. No more snide asides about paedophile priests, a misogynist hierarchy, and innate corruption. Journalists prefer to focus on heart-warming anecdotes that reveal the Pope's kindness, charity and self-deprecating humour.
Even before he hired a gorgeous PR woman (a masterstroke: Francesca Chaoqui is young, sexy and NOT a nun), the Pope had rebranded Mother Church. Not just in Italy, either. He entered the international arena to stand resolutely against military intervention in Syria: war, he warned, is never a good solution. His position has won him some unappetising allies (Putin and China) but his motives are transparently holy. "Make me a channel of your peace", the opening words of a prayer attributed to St Francis (set to schmaltzy music in the 60s), are the Pope's marching orders.
Syria is not the only international issue to have engaged the Pope. Politicians have wasted millions of words on the subject of immigration; no one has believed them. How different, Francis's simple message at Lampedusa: we must help the stranger who comes knocking on the door. No posturing, no gimmicks, no reference to economic gain or social loss. This was our duty, as Christians AND humans.
Inspired by their new Pope, Italian Catholics are returning to Church. Soon, Catholics around the world will follow suit. It's too early to speak of another Saint Francis, but this Pope is a miracle worker.
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