Michael KellyThe Papal Nuncio described the Pontiff as a “breath of fresh air”
Pope Francis is a “beautiful revolutionary” who will have a major impact on the reform and renewal of the Church in Ireland, Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown has told a Dublin conference.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic conference at the weekend, Dr Brown said that the Pope wanted to move away from dogmatism which is not based on Christ.
The archbishop recounted how when he worked in the Vatican, he was largely unaware of the future Pope. “During that period, to the credit of Cardinal Bergoglio, I didn’t know him, because he wasn’t the kind of person who was constantly in Rome. He was in Buenos Aires taking care of his people… I really only got to know him when he became Pope.”
The Papal Nuncio described the Pontiff as a “breath of fresh air, such a beautiful revolutionary presence in the Church”.
Archbishop Brown said the Pope’s “dynamic missionary impulse is very important for Ireland.
“His pontificate is going to be a time of renewal for the Church in Ireland, I’m certain of that."
Renewal
“I’m also certain that all the great work done by The Irish Catholic newspaper, by all the people who are labouring every week to bring us this paper will have a large part in the renewal of the Church in Ireland and, in fact, has already had a significant role in that renewal.
“Ireland was evangelised by the monks, by men of the spirit, by men and women who went to pray in the monasteries of Ireland, especially in the west, people who were ascetics, miracle workers and men and women of prayer. That is what inculcated and rooted the faith on this island and that’s probably what made the faith so impervious to persecution and to destruction throughout the centuries.
“That’s what we see in the Pope and that’s what makes the Pope such a great figure for the Church in Ireland today.
“The Pope wants to move away from an arid disincarnate dogmatism which is not really connected and focused on the person of Christ. All the teachings of the catechism come from Christ and we have to re-establish this connection,” Archbishop Brown said.
The archbishop recounted how he recently saw the Pope praying alone in a chapel in the Vatican and was moved by his profound gaze in prayer. “I made a connection in my mind, the way in which he [the Pope] looks at people, especially poor and sick people, is the same gaze that he was using that afternoon in the chapel towards Christ”.
Pope spoke of his ‘pain and anguish’ – Trocaire CEO
The director of Trócaire spoke of witnessing first-hand the pain and anguish of Pope Francis at the suffering of the people of Syria.
Eamon Meehan told The Irish Catholic conference that he met the Pope in June during a meeting of Catholic aid agencies working in war-torn Syria. “What struck me first was the informal way in which the Pope engaged with us, standing in a semi-circle, close to him, while he talked about his pain and anguish at what was happening to the people of what he called ‘beloved Syria’.”
Mr Meehan added that his experience is a small echo of the impact of the Pope on the world. “What is at the core of the message of Pope Francis, it seems to me, is a clear and unambiguous focus on the central Gospel message of love and compassion. He has brought an extraordinary energy and passion to the Church and made that central Gospel message relevant to ordinary people.
“His message is engaging people far beyond the confines of the pews.”
Mr Meehan said he was particularly struck by the Pope’s call for “a Church that goes out”, a Church that takes risks, is not afraid to fail and which challenges what he calls the ‘globalisation of indifference’.