“If the Pope’s messages sounded bleak, it is because he cares at a deeply personal level about people who suffer”, writes Andrew O’Connell
A perceptive article about Pope Francis appeared in the Economist magazine last week. It noted the downbeat tone of some of the Holy Father’s addresses during the lead-in to the festive season, going so far as to liken him to the Grinch, Dr Seuss’s fictional character responsible for stealing Christmas.
It described the Pope’s tone as depressed, his mood downhearted and his message apocalyptic.
At a morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican, Pope Francis described preparations for Christmas as a deception: “There will be lights, there will be parties, bright trees, even Nativity scenes – all decked out – while the world continues to wage war. It’s all a fake. The world has not understood the way of peace. The whole world is at war.”
He went on to describe the present international situation in dramatic terms: “Perhaps one can speak of a Third War, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction.” And on New Year’s Day he spoke of a “torrent of misery, swollen by sin”.
The Economist suggested that the Holy Father is especially moved by the suffering of the rapidly diminishing Christian community of the Middle East. But on Christmas Eve he mentioned what possibly hurts, frustrates and annoys him the most: indifference – the antithesis of a culture of solidarity and compassion.
Pope Francis is a man who has seen and smelt poverty. He understands poverty and pain. If the Pope’s messages sounded bleak, it is because he cares at a deeply personal level about people who suffer. So, even during a festive period his mind appears to be on those who are unable to celebrate.
Last year I wrote about the Pope’s sombre demeanour during Mass. This is due in part to his desire to deflect attention away from the person and personality of the Pope, but we can be sure that the sufferings of innocent people are on his mind as well.
But it is only a selective reading of the Pope’s words that would allow one to conclude that he is excessively glum. This after all is the Pope of joy and his recent messages also highlighted the hope of the Christian message. His message for the World Day of Peace on New Year’s Day even lists reasons for hope such as COP21, the Addis Ababa Summit for funding sustainable development worldwide and the adoption of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This is a Pope of joy and holiness. But it is also clear that the sufferings of innocent people around the world trouble him deeply.
YOUNG SCIENTIST: The 52nd Young Scientist Exhibition took place at the RDS last week, drawing over 50,000 visitors to the 550 projects prepared by over 1,000 students. The annual exhibition enjoys a strong media profile, but less well-known is that a Carmelite priest was one of the co-founders of the hugely successful event. Fr Patrick (Thomas) Burke, O. Carm., a lecturer and researcher in atmospheric physics at UCD, was impressed by science fairs he had seen in America and, with a UCD colleague, organised the first Irish Young Scientist exhibition at the Mansion House. Fr Burke died in 2008 and is remembered now with a bursary named in his honour.
TITANIC PRIEST: The sinking of the Titanic has an extraordinary hold on the public imagination: over 2.5 million people have visited the visitor centre in Belfast since it opened in 2012. James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet included a scene in which a priest offers comfort to passengers on the deck of the sinking ship by praying Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd”.
Efforts are now being made to open the cause for the beatification of Fr Thomas Byles, one of the priests who went down with the Titanic, as a martyr of charity. Fr Byles, a priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster, was travelling to New York for his brother’s wedding. Survivors recall how he prayed with distressed passengers and heard Confessions as the ship was sinking. They also reported that he helped women and children into lifeboats while refusing the offer of a place himself.