Saturday, February 17, 2018
Pope says he prays for those who call him a heretic
Vatican City, Feb 15, 2018 / 12:50
pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis told Jesuits in
Chile last month that he’s willing to have discussions with people who disagree
with him, but that when people just shout ‘heretic’, he prays for them instead.
“When I perceive resistance, I try
to dialogue, when dialogue is possible; but some resistance comes from people
who believe they have the true doctrine and they accuse you of being a
heretic.”
“When in these people, for what they
say or write, I do not find spiritual goodness, I simply pray for them. I feel
sorry, but I do not dwell on this feeling…” the Pope said in a conversation
with Jesuits in Chile, published in the Jesuit journal La Civilta’ Cattolica
Feb. 15.
Francis’ comment was part of a Jan.
16 conversation with around 90 Jesuits in Chile. The private encounter took
place on the first full day of his apostolic visit to Chile and Peru Jan.
15-21.
In the meeting Francis answered a
question about what resistance he’s encountered during his pontificate and how
he’s responded to it.
“Faced with difficulty I never say
that it is a ‘resistance,’ because it would mean giving up [the process of]
discernment,” he said, pointing out that to do so is to dismiss the “shred of
truth” that is often at the heart of conflict.
To help with this in discussions, he
said he often asks a person, “What do you think?” This helps him to put into
context things that at first seem “like resistance, but in reality, are a reaction
that arises from a misunderstanding, from the fact that some things must be
repeated, explained better...” he said.
The Pope also noted that
misunderstandings or conflict are sometimes his own fault, as when he considers
something to be obvious, or makes a logical leap without explaining the process
well, thinking the other person has understood his reasoning.
“I realize that, if I go back and
explain it better, then at that point the other says, ‘Ah, yes, all right…’ In
short, it is very helpful to examine well the sense of the conflict,” he
stated.
Francis acknowledged that when there
is real resistance, he feels sorry, noting that the temptation to resist change
is something we’ve all experienced at one point or another.
Nothing new, resistance to the
Second Vatican Council is real, he said, trying to “relativize” or “water down
the Council.”
He said he’s aware of the
“campaigns” against Vatican II, but he does not read the websites “of this
so-called ‘resistance.’”
“I know who I am, I know the groups,
but I do not read them, simply for my mental health. If there's something very
serious, they inform me so that I know it,” he said.
“It’s a disappointment but
we have to move on.”
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