Dear Editor, I was shocked and disappointed on reading Dr John Murray’s letter (IC 3/10/13); shocked at the denigratory tone he adopted towards Pope Francis, and disappointed that a person in his position in the Mater Dei Institute of Education is forming opinions of Pope Francis through such a narrow lens of “his now-famous” interview, as he terms it. I see his rhetorical questions as accusatory, as if Pope Francis doesn’t understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that he has failed to grasp its true meaning.
I believe the Holy Spirit has been moving in our Church in a very special way in recent years. This movement of the Spirit is evident in Pope Emeritus Benedict’s dramatic resignation following his awareness of his failing health and, consequently, his limitations in dealing with internal Vatican/Church problems. The subsequent conclave, under the guidance of the Spirit, elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio, a relatively unknown cardinal in the wider Church, to the Papacy. I believe “the Lord works in mysterious ways” and we need to be open to those ways. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, has travelled a long and challenging spiritual journey in his 57 years of ordained ministry.
I humbly suggest to John, as a wise priest used to say to a group of us students: “Be still before the Lord and wait in patience.”
Yours etc.,
Margaret Darcy,
Navan,
Co. Meath.