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Post by hibernicus on Dec 13, 2013 2:04:22 GMT
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Post by annie on Dec 13, 2013 2:28:27 GMT
Paul for me is the Pope of Humanae Vitae. For that alone, he is a great Pope. He also was the first Pope to visit Fatima There is a very fine sculpture of him in the square. He had much to suffer as Pope not least being almost killed in Manila.
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Post by hibernicus on May 12, 2014 22:34:12 GMT
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Post by hibernicus on Aug 6, 2014 21:02:29 GMT
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Post by hibernicus on Oct 25, 2014 18:35:59 GMT
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Post by Beinidict Ó Niaidh on Nov 13, 2014 13:20:12 GMT
Might be an idea to read Francis' papacy through what we know about Paul VI.
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Post by hibernicus on Nov 15, 2014 18:16:02 GMT
I've seen that comparison made but I'm not too sure how well it holds up. Paul VI was the "Hamlet Pope" - seen as indecisive except when he was absolutely pushed to the wall and hence letting expectations build up with worse reaction when they were disappointed (HUMANAE VITAE was shaped by all this), and letting much of the Church get out of control with only sporadic intervention from the centre - as if he found that the levers of power which had been there in his earlier career no longer worked when he was Pope. Francis seems to be much more decisive, even authoritarian; the problem is that he seems to make decisions and make statements without thinking through their long-term implications. His primary aim is to be a pastoral Pope rather than an intellectual; Paul was more of an intellectual or at least a patron of intellectuals (he had that reputation even when he was working in the Vatican under Pius XII) though he was strongly committed to pastoral initiatives when he was Archbishop of Milan (which was rapidly expanding because of migration from Southern Italy). Popes aren't guaranteed perfection, only a certain amount of protection. Fr Deighan gave a sermon in St Kevin's last Sunday suggesting that people who criticise Pope Francis should devote more effort to praying for him. I think that's a good idea, perhaps asking the intercession of Bl. Paul VI.
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Post by hibernicus on Nov 17, 2014 19:27:08 GMT
An interesting little detail, BTW - I have just been looking at a pictorial biography of St Josemaria Escriva put out by Opus Dei in the mid-1980s and it mentions that when Opus Dei first showed up in Rome in the late 1940s Mgr Montini was one of the first Vatican officials to support it (they reproduce a signed photo of himself which Montini gave to Escriva in 1947). This was at a time when OD was under attack from elements of the Spanish Church who thought e.g. that it was undermining the distinction between priesthood, religious life, and the lay state. Whatever you think of Opus, this certainly bears out the observation that Montini was interested in trying out new experiments long before he became Paul VI.
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Post by Alaisdir Ua Séaghdha on Nov 18, 2014 9:34:52 GMT
It's also important to remember Pope Francis is a Jesuit and a lot of the procedures and actions he is taking in regard to his decisive leadership are characteristic of a Jesuit superior expecting Jesuit obedience. I am not saying this as either a criticism or a compliment, purely as an observation for people to keep in mind.
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