Archbishop Chaput: ‘Pope Francis and the interview’

September 26, 2013

Criticizing media coverage of Pope Francis’s recent interview with the editor of La Civiltà Cattolica, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia called upon Catholics to “read the Holy Father’s interview for ourselves, and pray over it, and then read it again.”

“Pope Francis does not at all turn away from Catholic teaching on matters such as sexuality and the sanctity of human life,” he said. “How could he? We should remember that Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day – two women with an intimate, passionate devotion to the poor – also saw abortion as a brutal crime against the poorest and most defenseless of the poor: the unborn child.”

Archbishop Chaput concluded:

The Holy Father asks none of us to abandon the task of bringing the world to Jesus Christ. Our witness matters. Every unborn child saved, every marriage strengthened, every immigrant helped, every poor person served, matters. God calls on us to help him sanctify every aspect of our shared lives – at home, at work and in the public square.

But if, as the Pope describes her, the Church is a “field hospital” for the wounded in a cruel world, then the goal of our witness is to create a space of beauty and mercy; to accompany those who suffer; to understand the nature of their lives; to care for and heal even those who reject us. We need to speak the truth, and work for the truth, with love. And we need to realize that nothing we do – either as individuals or parish communities — will bear fruit unless we give ourselves to the whole Gospel with our whole heart.

 

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Further information:

• Pope Francis and ‘The Interview’ (CatholicPhilly.com)