Pope Francis meets with charity workers at the Centro Paroquial de Serafina in Lisbon on Aug. 4, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA. See CNA article for full slideshow.
Rome Newsroom, Aug 4, 2023 / 04:35 am (CNA).
At a gathering with Portuguese charity workers Friday morning, Pope Francis went off-script to insist that Christian love must be tangibly lived out in the world, and not remain a figment of people’s fantasies.
“There is no abstract love, it does not exist,” the pope said. “Concrete love is the one that gets its hands dirty.”
Stating that it was difficult for him to continue reading his prepared text, the Holy Father delivered the impromptu remarks after hearing testimonials from ministry representatives, including a service that helps expectant mothers and their babies, a community formed to aid those suffering from cancer, and an “all-round” charity center.
The pope contrasted the witness of these ministries, which he said were part of a reality “that leaves a mark” and “is an inspiration to others,” to people who avoid contact with the poor and the marginalized and instead look for a “distilled life” that is only fantasy.
“How many distilled, useless lives that go through life without leaving a trace because their life has no weight?” the pope said.
The pope’s meeting with charity reps at Centro Paroquial de Serafina in Lisbon was part of his ongoing visit to Portugal and participation in World Youth Day.
Pope Francis meets with charity workers at the Centro Paroquial de Serafina in Lisbon on Aug. 4, 2023. Vatican Media
Before going off-script, the pope underscored that concrete love “is the origin and goal of the Christian journey,” and spoke of two aspects of Christian charity.
First, he underscored the need to “do good together,” repeating “together” with the same emphasis he has used to speak of the Church being for “everyone” throughout his three days thus far in Portugal.
Citing one of the testimonials, Pope Francis said that we should never define people by their sickness or difficulty, but should instead recognize that everyone is “a precious and sacred gift for God, and for the Christian and human community.”
“In this way, let us enrich everyone together, and may everyone together enrich us, just as we are!” said the pope, words the resonated deeply in light of Portugal’s recent allowance of euthanasia, which Pope Francis criticized in his remarks to civil servants on Wednesday.
Then, the pope spoke of the need to act concretely. Borrowing from a 1960 homily by St. Pope John XXIII, Pope Francis said that the Church is “not an archaeological museum,” but “the ancient village well that provides water for the people of today, as it did in past generations.”
Pope Francis meets with charity workers at the Centro Paroquial de Serafina in Lisbon on Aug. 4, 2023. Vatican Media
“This well is for quenching the thirst of newly-arrived travelers—just as they are—who bear the weight and fatigue of their journey!”, said the pope, going on to extoll Portuguese ministries and charities that responded to the concrete needs of people in their communities.
A third aspect, “being close to the most vulnerable,” was included in the part of the pope’s prepared remarks that he did not read, as was an extended reflection on the witness of St. John of God. The 16th century Portuguese saint founded the Brothers Hospitaller, and was known for telling those whom he begged from to “do good, brothers, to yourselves!”, a powerful witness to how charitable giving also enriches the giver.
The pope returned to the image of a well that quenches people’s thirst as he ended his impromptu remarks.
“Keep going and don’t get discouraged. And if you get discouraged, have a glass of water and keep going.”
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The trailer of the upcoming Russell Crowe movie “The Pope’s Exorcist” indicates that the film might not do justice to the Italian exorcist Father Gabriel Amorth or the rite of exorcism as practiced in the Catholic Church, according to an exorcist organization Amorth himself helped to found.
The International Association of Exorcists on March 7 voiced concern that the film seems to fall under the category of “splatter cinema,” which it calls a “sub-genre of horror.”
The Vatican, the statement said, is filmed with a high-contrast “chiaroscuro” effect seen in film noir.
This gives the film a “‘Da Vinci Code’ effect to instill in the public the usual doubt: Who is the real enemy? The devil or ecclesiastical ‘power’?” the exorcists’ association said.
While special effects are “inevitable” in every film about demonic possession, “everything is exaggerated, with striking physical and verbal manifestations, typical of horror films,” the group said.
“This way of narrating Don Amorth’s experience as an exorcist, in addition to being contrary to historical reality, distorts and falsifies what is truly lived and experienced during the exorcism of truly possessed people,” said the association, which claims more than 800 exorcist members and more than 120 auxiliary members worldwide.
“In addition, it is offensive with regard to the state of suffering in which those who are victims of an extraordinary action of the devil find themselves,” the group’s statement added. The statement responded to the release of the movie trailer and promised a more in-depth response to the film’s April 14 theatrical release.
Father Gabriele Amorth, chief exorcist of Rome, speaks to CNA on May 22, 2013. Steven Driscoll/CNA
Amorth, who died at age 91 in 2016, said he performed an estimated 100,000 exorcisms during his life. He was perhaps the world’s best-known exorcist and the author of many books, including “An Exorcist Tells His Story,” reportedly an inspiration for the upcoming movie.
Several of Amorth’s books are carried by the U.S. publisher Sophia Institute Press. The publisher’s newly released book “The Pope’s Exorcist: 101 Questions About Fr. Gabriele Amorth” is an interview in which the priest addresses many topics ranging from prayer to pop music.
Michael Lichens, editor and spokesperson at Sophia Institute Press, voiced some agreement with the exorcist group.
“The International Association of Exorcists is right to be concerned and I’m thankful for their words,” Lichens told CNA. “My hope is that audiences will remember that Father Amorth is a real person with a great legacy and perhaps a few moviegoers will look up an interview or pick up his books.”
“This was a man who included St. Padre Pio and Blessed Giacomo Alberione as mentors, as well as Servant of God Candido Amantini, who was his teacher for the ministry of exorcism,” he said. “Father Amorth fought as a partisan as a young man and grew to fight greater evil as an exorcist. His life is an inspiration and I know that his work and words will still reach many.”
Amorth was born in Modena, Italy, on May 1, 1925. In wartime Italy, he was a soldier with the underground anti-fascist partisans. He was ordained a priest in 1951. He did not become an exorcist until 1986, when Cardinal Ugo Poletti, the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, named him the diocesan exorcist.
The priest was frequently in the news for his comments on the subject of demonic forces. In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph in 2000, he said: “I speak with the devil every day. I talk to him in Latin. He answers in Italian. I have been wrestling with him, day in, day out, for 14 years.”
The movie “The Pope’s Exorcist” claims to be “inspired by the actual files of the Vatican’s chief exorcist.” The Sony Pictures movie stars the New Zealand-born actor Russell Crowe as Amorth. Crowe’s character wears a gray beard and speaks English with a noticeable accent.
“The majority of cases do not require an exorcism,” the Amorth character says in the movie’s first trailer. A cardinal explains that Crowe’s character recommends 98% of people who seek an exorcism to doctors and psychiatrists instead.
“The other 2%… I call it… evil,” Crowe adds.
The plot appears to concern Amorth’s encounter with a particular demon. Crowe’s character suggests the Church “has fought this demon before” but covered it up.
“We need to find out why,” he says.
The trailer shows short dramatic scenes of exorcism, including a confrontation between Amorth and a girl apparently suffering demonic possession.
The International Association of Exorcists said such a representation makes exorcism become “a spectacle aimed at inspiring strong and unhealthy emotions, thanks to a gloomy scenography, with sound effects such as to inspire only anxiety, restlessness, and fear in the viewer.”
“The end result is to instill the conviction that exorcism is an abnormal, monstrous, and frightening phenomenon, whose only protagonist is the devil, whose violent reactions can be faced with great difficulty,” said the exorcist group. “This is the exact opposite of what occurs in the context of exorcism celebrated in the Catholic Church in obedience to the directives imparted by it.”
CNA sought comment from Sony Pictures and “The Pope’s Exorcist” executive producer Father Edward Siebert, SJ, but did not receive a response by publication.
Amorth co-founded the International Association of Exorcists with Father René Laurentin in 1994. In 2014 the Catholic Church recognized the group as a Private Association of the Faithful.
The association trains exorcists and promotes their incorporation into local communities and normal pastoral care. It also aims to promote “correct knowledge” about exorcism ministry and collaboration with medical and psychiatric experts who have competence in spirituality.
Exorcism is considered a sacramental, not a sacrament, of the Church. It is a liturgical rite that only a priest can perform.
Hollywood made the topic a focus most famously in the 1973 movie “The Exorcist,” based on the novel by William Peter Blatty.
“Most movies about Catholicism and spiritual warfare sensationalize,” Lichens of Sophia Institute Press told CNA. “Sensationalism and terror sell tickets. As a fan of horror movies, I can understand and even appreciate that. As a Catholic who has studied Father Amorth, though, I think such sensationalism distorts the important work of exorcism.”
“On the other hand, ‘The Exorcist’ made the wider public more curious about this overlooked ministry. That is a good thing that came out, despite other reservations and concerns,” he continued. “Still, I would love it if a screenwriter and director spoke to exorcists and tried to show the often-quotidian parts of the ministry.”
An unhealthy curiosity can be a problem, Lichens said.
“When I work as a spokesperson for Amorth’s books, I am always concerned about inspiring curiosity about the demonic,” he told CNA. “As Christians, we know we have nothing to fear from the demonic but curiosity might lead some to want to seek out the supernatural or the demonic. Father Amorth has dozens of stories of people who found themselves afflicted after party game seances.”
Lichens encouraged those who are curious to read more of Amorth’s writings, some of which are excerpted on the Catholic Exchange website. Sophia Institute Press has published “Diary of an American Exorcist” by Monsignor Stephen Rosetti and “The Exorcism Files” by the American lay Catholic Adam Blai.
“First and foremost, Father Amorth was involved in a healing ministry,” Lichens said. “Like other exorcists, his work often involved doctors in physical and mental health because the goal is to bring healing and hope to the potentially afflicted.”
“Those of us who read Amorth might have been excited to read firsthand accounts of spiritual warfare, but readers quickly see a man whose heart was always full of love for those who sought his help,” he added.
The International Association of Exorcists, for its part, praised the 2016 documentary “Deliver Us,” saying this shows “what exorcism really is in the Catholic Church and “the authentic traits of a Catholic exorcist.” It shows exorcism as “a most joyful event,” in their view, because through experiencing “the presence and action of Christ the Lord and of the Communion of the Saints,” those who are “tormented by the extraordinary action of the devil gradually find liberation and peace.”
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2 Comments
Very fine commendations for acceptance of the marginalized by Pope Francis. Although, there’s a key word in there seemingly drawn from Amoris Laetitia. Concrete.
Recall His Holiness’ argument that a person’s concrete circumstances require our acceptance, in that he, she may be doing the best they can [referencing irregular unions and inclusive of disordered lifestyle] offering God veneration. And the notoriously known footnote 351 that Francis’ ‘forgot’ when and under what circumstances he inserted it. Although the footnote said the Eucharist be offered the unrepentant penitent doing his, her best in their concrete circumstances.
Very fine commendations for acceptance of the marginalized by Pope Francis. Although, there’s a key word in there seemingly drawn from Amoris Laetitia. Concrete.
Recall His Holiness’ argument that a person’s concrete circumstances require our acceptance, in that he, she may be doing the best they can [referencing irregular unions and inclusive of disordered lifestyle] offering God veneration. And the notoriously known footnote 351 that Francis’ ‘forgot’ when and under what circumstances he inserted it. Although the footnote said the Eucharist be offered the unrepentant penitent doing his, her best in their concrete circumstances.
Giving and receiving is a win-win situation. Works of charity when done with respect and love add meaning to the act of the doer and the receiver.