Vatican City, Mar 13, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- She begged and scrounged for food in the forest; she drank water from a stream with dead bodies in it; she wrapped grass on her feet in order to walk long distances in the hot sun in order to survive, facing starvation and malnourishment, all before the age of six.
Now, Mirreille Twayigira is a licensed medical doctor hoping not just to save lives, but to inspire young women worldwide – particularly those in her same situation – by showing them there’s hope, and that life is more than the tragedies they face.
While some might label her life “a tragic story” due to the suffering and loss she faced as a young child, Twayigira said others might choose to call it “a story of courage and perseverance.”
However, “I choose to call it a story of hope, a story of God…from ashes to beauty, (like) a beautiful stained glass window.”
Twayigira was among several speakers at the March 8 Voices of Faith women’s gathering in the Vatican, marking International Women’s Day.
First held in 2014, the VoF conference was established in response to Pope Francis’ call to “broaden the space within the Church for a more incisive feminine presence.”
Gathering women from around the world, this year’s VoF took place at the Vatican’s Casina Pio IV, headquarters of the Pontifical Academy for Sciences, and featured testimonies of women from around the world, including Syria and Burundi, who shared their stories of perseverance, highlighting the importance of building peace in a world filled with conflict.
In her testimony, Twayigira noted that when war broke out between Tutsis and members of the Hutu majority the government, leading to mass killings of the Tutsi tribe, she was just three years-old.
Although she doesn’t remember much about the war itself when it started, she remembers the day she got the news that her father had been killed.
“I remember being told that my father had been killed, his body being brought home wrapped in this blue tent,” she said, noting that she was too young to fully understand what was happening on the day of his burial.
Before the war, “we were a big, happy family. Our house was next to our grandparent’s house, so my sister and I used to spend our days with uncles and aunts…so it was a beautiful and happy childhood,” she said.
After her father’s death, however, this changed dramatically.
“My family knew that it was no longer safe for us, so they had to pack and leave,” she said, explaining that at first, they fled to another district of Rwanda, thinking they would be safe.
However, after just a short time her younger sister, who was just one-year-old at the time, got sick and, because her family didn’t have access to medicine or proper nourishment due to the war, she passed away.
After her sister’s death – which marked the second time she had lost a sibling, since an older sister had died before Twayigira was born – the family fled through Burundi to a refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“In the camp I was a very happy kid,” she said, “but this all ended when I encountered more loss.”
While in the camp, her mother fell ill and “one night she was gone.” However, Twayigira said that despite the tragic death of her mother, “life had to go move on,” so she and her grandparents continued to move forward.
But just two years later, in 1996, they had to leave because of war in the DRC, which is when “I began to experience a life that is unimaginable,” she said, recalling how she had her grandparents fled the camp with bullets flying over their heads, and took refuge in the forest.
“We only survived by begging for food,” she said. Her grandparents begged from locals in nearby villages, and at times were given moldy bread to eat. When begging wasn’t enough, “we even had to eat roots from the forest.”
“I remember sometimes we had to drink water from rivers with dead bodies floating in it,” she said, noting that their situation had become one of the “survival of the fittest.”
They had long distances to walk going from village to village and in search of another camp, many times walking on rough terrain. When the weather was too hot for their bare feet, they bunched up grass and tied it to their feet in order to be able to walk.
“We escaped death from so many things: from hunger, bullets, drowning, wild animals, you name it. No child should go through what I went through. In fact, nobody should go through what I went through,” she said.
Eventually the family made their way to another refugee camp, “but life would not be better there,” she said. While there were some soldiers protecting them, they would take young boys and train them to fight, and would take girls either as companions for the night or, at times, as wives.
Most of the boys leave refugee camps “with some sort of trauma,” she said, noting that when it came to the girls, some got pregnant, and others were made to be servants.
“The only reason I survived this is because I was very little,” Twayigira said. Due to the ongoing war, she and her grandparents traveled to nearby Angola before eventually ending up back in the DRC for a period of time.
However, with no improvement to the situation and no end to the war in sight, they again made their way to Angola for the second time. But when they arrived, “my grandma was very tired, and as for me, I was very malnourished.”
“You can imagine a big tummy and thin brown hair, and swollen cheeks and feet,” she said, describing herself as a young girl.
Twayigira recalled that her grandmother died shortly before they reached the refugee camp in Angola, and that had they not arrived when they did, “I was also almost gone.”
With just the two of them left, Twayigira explained that her grandfather eventually decided to travel to a different refugee camp in Zambia, because he heard they had a better school.
Despite such a long journey and so much loss, her grandfather moved again for no other reason “than to give his granddaughter a better education,” Twayigira said. She recalled that her grandfather “really believed in me so much. He never once said, ‘she’s just a girl, let me not waste my time on her.’”
After spending a few years in Zambia, the pair decided to make yet one more move, this time heading to a camp in Malawi that had better living conditions and even better schools. They arrived in September 2000.
Twayigira immediately enrolled in school once she arrived, making several new friends and, for the first time since they had left, was happy to have adequate food and shelter.
Being able to do well in her classes “would give me joy. Because at least I got to make some people proud, and I was very happy,” she said. Twayigira was eventually selected to join a Jesuit-run school, with all fees paid for by the Jesuit Refugee Service.
When she finished school in 2007, Twayigira’s grandfather fell ill, passing away just a few days after.
“I cried uncontrollably, badly, but life had to go on, and although I was in so much pain with the loss of my loved ones, it did not stop me from working hard,” she said, “because I knew that my future, it was not certain, I did not know what my future had, but I knew that my hard work would pay off.”
In 2009 she studied for the national final exam in Malawi, and finished among the top 6 students in the country. At the awards ceremony, the Chinese embassy offered a number of full-ride scholarships to study in China for the top students.
Twayigira was one of the students selected and, despite being a refugee with no citizenship status or passport, was able to get her paperwork in order with the help of the Jesuits at her school, a Catholic radio station and even the Malawian parliament.
She then moved to China and studied the language for a year before officially beginning classes in Chinese. She has since graduated and is currently working as a medical intern in Malawi.
While there were many times she wanted to give up along the way, Twayigira said she persisted, because at a certain point she realized that “God spared my life” not to keep it for herself, but because “there are people that I was meant to serve.”
“Before I went to China, I used to think I was just this girl with a tragic past…but when I got to China I realized that I’ve got a story to tell; a story of God and his love, a story that can change somebody’s life.”
As a doctor, Twayigira said she feels she can give even more. But in addition to her medical duties, she also looks for opportunities to speak in schools to try and “raise hope among the youth, especially refugee youth.”
She said that in the future, she hopes to work more directly with refugees, “because I believe I have a lot to share, having gone through what they’ve gone through.”
“Now this is my story…but unfortunately for many, theirs is just in the tragedy part,” she said, explaining that many refugee children don’t even have access to adequate housing let alone higher education.
Even those who do get a good education don’t necessarily have the same opportunities, Twayigira said, so “their hopes are just crushed.”
In order to change the situation, she said war itself has to end: “why not end all this violence, and I’m not talking about people from other countries coming in to invade our own countries, I mean why wait for an outsider to come to stop hurting, and killing?”
“Is the money or power at the expense of their blood really worth it? I don’t think so,” she said, adding that the only way to really resolve conflict is with “forgiveness, mercy and love.”
“Is there such humanity in us, or have we become robots?” she asked. “What is happening to innocent kids is completely unfair, and it needs to stop and I believe it starts from within us: from love, forgiveness and mercy.”
People in situations similar to hers need to know “that they are loved by God and people around them. They need to know that they matter, that there is hope for them, that they have a purpose in life,” she said, noting that this stems not only from having the basic needs met, but above all from education.
In an interview with CNA after her talk, Twayigira stressed the importance of education, saying it’s “really the key to everything, because if not educated, many girls don’t even know their value.”
However, with a good education women learn that “okay, I’m not worthless and someone can’t just come and step on my foot. I am somebody,” she said, adding that a proper education helps women to step into decision making positions where they can change things.
“I believe that once a girl is educated, that means you’re actually educating the whole family. Because a woman, you raise your children, they’re with you all the time, you know that whatever they get is what you teach them,” she said.
“So if a woman is educated that means the whole family will get quality advice from their mothers. So educating a girl is actually educating the whole country.”
Twayigira said she was happy to be able to speak at the Vatican, since the event was streamed live. She voiced her hope that people can hear her story “and not just feel sorry for me, but also see ways they can help other people like me to get a better education or a safe place, or open their homes to refugees like me.”
She said she also hopes other young women and girls from around the world will be able to see and hear her story, and to know that “it’s all possible…I believe that I’m a pillar of hope for them.”
She said one of her hopes coming out of the conference is not only to encourage young women in her situation to have hope, but also that the people who have the power and resources to change things will see that they “can actually do something under-privileged people like I was.”
“Their actions can change somebody’s life for the better, never to be the same,” she said.
[…]
Denies calling Cardinal Burke his enemy.
But not treating him as one.
What a tiny, tiny man.
He’s not treating him as his enemy. That’s slander. You, on the other hand, are treating the pope as your enemy.
Tell us, o brave “anon,” how exactly is he treating Cardinal Burke?
As Scripture instructs us, if you enter a town and the inhabitants reject the Word of God, kick off the dust from your feet and go out from that place.
I believe that Christ is calling Cardinal Burke to kick off the dust from the Bergoglian Debacle and remove himself from that place of iniquity and faithlessness. Move on, Cardinal Burke; God has plans for you elsewhere.
Now that Ivereigh has invoked the specter of Abp. Lefebvre, I would not be surprised to learn that the revocation of Cardinal Burke’s apartment and salary proves to be a precursor to his excommunication. Jesus sought for a return of His love, not the cultivation of servile fear among the faithful. Persecution outside the Church is multiplying red martyrs, and within the white sort. God help us!
Why on earth would Francis excommunicate Burke? There is no evidence to suggest he would.
There is a Mt. Everest of evidence he is a man without ethics.
Who?
The man who initiated the first action. Francis obviously.
Because Francis panders in uncharity.
Why not excommunicate Burke? Our current pontiff does many things that have no theological justification, but do have a political purpose. Bergoglio is not a spiritual man, he is a political actor, through and through.
WPI and the spokesman of Pontiff Francis Austen Ivereigh, are the public relations arm of their emergent “paradigm-shift-apostasy-church,” men who shove Christ aside, and assert that a mere steward, a pontiff, is their law-giver.
They promote the pathology identified by Fr. Robert Imbelli, an apostate establishment called “the Decapitated Body of Christ.”
The Pope denies that he called Cardinal Burke his “enemy.” What of it? How childish. Anyone can see that Francis abuses Burke every way he knows how, and even smirks when the “poor man” is intubated. Pope Francis should give up the Christian pretense. Even the NYT reports that Francis is enemies with Burke…
At least we have forever the authentic Catholic witness and Word of God from the first Pope: “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren, love one another earnestly from the heart.” (1 Peter 1:22)
So much for “Who am I to judge?” as “his enemies” appearto be the closest “friends of God”
good point
Exactly. Evidently the call to listen and accompany applies only to those who willfully defy and reject church teaching. Otherwise, it seems to be open season on the faithful.
My thoughts exactly.
Imagine a kingdom where a friend of God is denied entry to his castle.
Imagine Jesus at Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Matthew 7:13-14 has Jesus pointing to the narrow way. As Francis constricts Burke’s path, so Burke’s eternal kingdom is now more apparent, clear, and bright. God is blessing Cardinal Burke. Francis is a mere instrument. As was Judas, as was Herod, as was Pilate, etc.
The dastardly act is confirmed. How can anyone be so cruel, to evict old men in mid winter [Dec 21 is a technicality, it’s cold outside].
Well, Ivereigh as is his wont has the answer. One cannot claim, as does Card Burke, to be fruit upon the true branch while the tree itself is in disagreement with Burke’s criticisms of Synodality.
If Burke’s eviction is true it can be interpreted as a clear message to the other cardinals.
No magnanimity. No dialogue. Cdl.Burke is a martyr.
I thought that the whole “enemy” bit was unbelievable coming from the Pope; it sounded cartoonish. Glad to hear it didn’t happen.
What is cartoonish is while the pope believes Cdl Burke is acting against the Church all these years he has refused to meet with him even once. Cartoonish and childlike.
How do you know it didn’t happen? A denial from the same source who blatantly lied about McCarrick and blatantly lied about Rupnik?
Having read Julie Meloni’a book The Saint Galen Mafia the way this papacy has developed is no suprise. Vatican II was loaded with Modernists,clergy,laity,biblcal scholars and theologians who were very influential in influencing the Church with their modernist understanding of reality. One example is Father Raymond Brown, whose 20 or more books on the Gospels that denied the divinity of Jesus, denied that Gospels were written by the authors, and underminded confidence in Dei Verbum. I think this what Pope Saint Paul VI meant when he said ‘the smoke of Satan has entered the temple.’
For months I have read many comments on many different posts. I had been educated by them and they have given me food for thought. I feel the criticisms are healthy and necessary. This helps dissipate the clericalism that exists in the Church But, what I have repeatedly read is the comment that one must follow Jesus and not the Pope’s actions, thoughts, pronouncements, etc. This is interesting and enlightening. What I have been taught is that the pope is the successor to Peter and that one of the strengths of our Church is that we obey and respect the pope as the Head of the Church. Myself and others on rare occasions did not agree with the great Saint John Paul II or Benedict XVI, but, we obeyed. Now, I am enlightened to find through commentators in the many posts, that I have read, that if I do not agree with the next pope who may indeed be more conservative, then I simply ignore him and follow my conscience? It is hard to obey but is one of the strengths of our Church. By the way, I am appalled at the Latin Mass bans, the blessing of certain lifestyle, etc.
If some authentic magisterial document teaches this, please tell me the source: “I have been taught… that…we obey and respect the pope as the Head of the Church.” It has been my understanding that we respect the truth and true teachings of the CHURCH. The pope is not equal to the Church.
Thanks.
As I have commented to others This was what I and others were taught in the Catholic school system years ago. I thank you for your comments. I have formed a more enlightened view of the role of the pope on these many months by reading the commentators.
It has several times occurred to me, perhaps not wholly frivolously,that the election of Cardinal Bergoglio might have been permitted so that the faithful (and not just professional theologians) might develop a more considered view of the papacy. In the past I have been an enthusiastic and wholly uncritical supporter of the reigning Pope. But I had then only just become a teenager. And the Pope was Pius XII.
meiron,
Here’s a (portion of a) Vatican I document you might be interested in:
“First dogmatic constitution on the church of Christ
Session 4 – 18 July 1870” otherwise known as “Pastor Aeternus”
From Chapter 3:
“We renew the definition of the Ecumenical Council of Florence, in virtue of which all the faithful of Christ must believe that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff possesses primacy over the whole world, and that the Roman Pontiff is the successor of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and is the true Vicar of Christ, and THE HEAD OF THE WHOLE CHURCH, and Father and Teacher of all Christians; and that full power was given to him, in Blessed Peter, by Jesus Christ our Lord, to pasture, to rule, and to govern the Universal Church; as is also contained in the acts of the General Councils and in the Sacred Canons.
“Hence we teach and declare that, by the appointment of our Lord, the Roman Church possesses a superiority of ordinary power over all other Churches, and that this power of jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff, which is truly episcopal, is immediate; to which all, of whatever rite and dignity, both pastors and faithful, both individually and collectively, are bound, by their duty of hierarchical SUBORDINATION AND TRUE OBEDIENCE, to submit, not only in matters which belong to faith and morals, but also in those that appertain to the discipline and government of the Church throughout the world.
“And since, by the Divine right of Apostolic primacy, the Roman Pontiff is placed over the Universal Church, We further teach and declare that he is the supreme judge of the faithful, and that in all causes, the decision of which belongs to the Church, recourse may be had to his tribunal, and that none may re-open the judgment of the Apostolic See, for none has greater authority, nor can anyone lawfully review its judgment. Therefore, they stray from the right course who assert that it is lawful to appeal from the judgments of the Roman Pontiffs to an Ecumenical Council, as if to an authority higher than that of the Roman Pontiff.
“If anyone, then, shall say that the Roman Pontiff has the office merely of inspection or direction, and not the full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the Universal Church, not only in things which belong to faith and morals, but also in those which relate to the discipline and government of the Church spread throughout the world; or assert that he possesses merely the principal part, and not all the fullness of this supreme power; or that this power which he enjoys is not ordinary and immediate, both over each and all the Churches and over each and all the Pastors and the faithful; let him be anathema.”
http://catholicplanet.org/councils/20-Pastor-Aeternus.ht
JML, The Pope is NOT the head of the Catholic Church. Where did you get this idea? I refer you to One, Jesus Christ, Who IS the Head of the Church.
This was what was taught in the Catholic school system I was in at both the elementary level and high school level. This was many years ago. I am not the only one who still believes this. I thank you for your comments to me. It helps shape my views.
In response to your question. This is what I was taught and many others in the Catholic school system where I was educated many years ago. I agree with your comment and thank you for reminding me of the fact that you stated.
Rather than fault your education, have you considered that you were not a very good student? The pope’s job is to protect the Church not destroy it. When he is busy doing damage, we are obliged to disobey. Not complicated.
JML, God bless you. We have faith in Christ who in the Spirit shows us the Father. We make the Sign of the Cross and always without any mention of any Pope. He is Christ’s vicar and only that.
Deacon Edward, with all due respect,
JML did not say anything about the Sign of the Cross.
What JML was saying was respect and obedience to the Pope as head of the Church, as taught in Catholic schools a long time ago.
Not to take away the true and divine authority from Our Lord Jesus Christ over His Church, the “Pastor Aeternus” document of Vatican One does say the Supreme Pontiff is HEAD of the Church and to him is due our respect and obedience.
“Session 4 – 18 July 1870” otherwise known as “Pastor Aeternus.”
From Chapter 3:
“…we renew the definition of the Ecumenical Council of Florence, in virtue of which all the faithful of Christ must believe that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff possesses primacy over the whole world, and that the Roman Pontiff is the successor of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and is the true Vicar of Christ, and THE HEAD OF THE WHOLE CHURCH, and Father and Teacher of all Christians; and that full power was given to him, in Blessed Peter, by Jesus Christ our Lord, to pasture, to rule, and to govern the Universal Church; as is also contained in the acts of the General Councils and in the Sacred Canons.
“Hence we teach and declare that, by the appointment of our Lord, the Roman Church possesses a superiority of ordinary power over all other Churches, and that this power of jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff, which is truly episcopal, is immediate; to which all, of whatever rite and dignity, both pastors and faithful, both individually and collectively, are bound, by their DUTY of hierarchical SUBORDINATION AND TRUE OBEDIENCE, to SUBMIT, not only in matters which belong to faith and morals’ but also in those that appertain to the discipline and government of the Church throughout the world…”
“And since, by the Divine right of Apostolic primacy, the Roman Pontiff is placed over the Universal Church, We further teach and declare that he is the SUPREME JUDGE of the faithful, and that in all causes, the decision of which belongs to the Church, recourse may be had to his tribunal, and that none may re-open the judgment of the Apostolic See, for none has greater authority, nor can anyone lawfully review its judgment. Therefore, they stray from the right course who assert that it is lawful to appeal from the judgments of the Roman Pontiffs to an Ecumenical Council, as if to an authority higher than that of the Roman Pontiff.
If anyone, then, shall say that the Roman Pontiff has the office merely of inspection or direction, and not the full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the Universal Church, not only in things which belong to faith and morals, but also in those which relate to the discipline and government of the Church spread throughout the world; or assert that he possesses merely the principal part, and not all the fullness of this supreme power; or that this power which he enjoys is not ordinary and immediate, both over each and all the Churches and over each and all the Pastors and the faithful; let him be anathema.”
JML, you are right – just not enough. The Pope is the head of the Church on earth, i.e., Christ’s representative on earth, and as such, must protect and teach what Christ and His Church teach and do.
If the Pope announced it was ok to shoplift if you need the stuff, would it be ok just because he’s the Pope?? No. Because stealing is wrong and you know it. Jesus walked on water but Popes do NOT. In the past we have had many who had mistresses, children out of wedlock, etc. WE had a point in church history, during the Avignon Residency, where we had TWO claimants to being Pope, who each ran their own bureaucracy.So, who was telling the truth and who to listen to?? They have faults and foibles just like the rest of us. Does not Frances claim that he frequents confession?
When a Pope speaks officially on faith and morals, catholics are supposed to obey. I dont think we need to agree when he calls Joe Biden a “good catholic”. Unfortunately, this Pope has gone off the rails many times making vague unofficial comments regarding sexuality in particular, which has sewn confusion among the faithful. Catholics follow what has been Church teaching, and most informed catholics are aware when a priest, bishop or pope is going off the rails.
As I have replied to other commentator, this is what I and others were taught in the Catholic school system that we attended years ago. Your comments, like the others that I have replied to as well as past commentators I have read over these many months, have helped shaped my more enlightened view. Thank you for your comments. I do believe that we have many bishops who have gone off the rails as well as priests.
JML, you were correct all along. No further explanation is needed. God bless you.
LJ, that’s why Popes should speak rarely so that when they do the faithful sitbup and listen carefully. This Pope suffers from terminal logorrhea.
… but denied that he referred to the American prelate as his “enemy,” according to a web post by papal biographer Austen Ivereigh.
You really can’t make up this stuff. It’s a bit like saying, ‘I heard someone say you like to eat worms on toast, but I corrected him saying you love toast.’
He’s taking away what is essentially the PENSION of a old man who has dedicated his life in service to the Church and his apartment… but “I’m not his ‘enemy.'”
Jesuitical rationalization.
With “friends” like this, please don’t accompany me ….
A truly reprehensible but not surprising action from this petty and misguided tyrant. The war against the faithful continues on.
Really?? Has the Pope heard the old saying ” actions speak louder than words”??
Ivereigh: “It was conveniently in line with the traditionalist narrative of a merciless, vindictive pope who recklessly and unreasonably ‘punishes’ those who disagree with him.”
Yes. It is, isn’t it?
Does anyone believe anything Bergoglio says anymore?
Yes: Austen Ivereigh.
Bergoglio has simply adopted the Carl Olson approach to faithful Catholic writers. A bully’s Bolshevist blackguardism.
I’m sure that Mr. Olson would likewise deny that he considers faithful Catholic writers to be his “enemies.” He has certainly failed to utter one syllable, private or public, which even attempts to explain (since he cannot excuse) his unprovoked malice towards us.
Mr. Stove: I truly don’t know what I’ve done to elicit such a comment. But it’s a rather entertaining remark, so here it is. And, next time, don’t forget to ask me if I’ve stopped beating my wife. Sigh.
Mr. Olsen, Mr. Stove’s “ironometer” needs adjustment.
He also forgot to insert something snide about Trump.
BINGO on Ivereigh. For the stove, the heat was possibly turned a tad too high upon its intemperate mind, and the fire alarm failed. Pity that. Did you once reject a piece he judged as brilliant? Maybe in a sad old age he’s facing homelessness. I don’t believe you beat your wife nor are you unfair to anyone here. The stove needs a new thermometer.
Are you sure you are on the right web page? Your description of Mr. Olson and his work – with which I have disagreed from time to time – is bizarre in the extreme. If he was anything like what you maintain, you would not be commenting here.
Malice? There are plenty of comments here that set my blood boiling, and I know I can be headstrong, but I try to utter a quick prayer and say to myself how would the kind, even temperament of Carl Olson handle it.
Who has thoroughly discredited himself in the eyes of the faithful. No one of merit listens to him any more than they do Francis. The Vatican has become an echo chamber with a cross affixed.
Touché!
Unlike others on this site, I try to apply Hanlon’s razor when the pope does something questionable. “Never attribute malice to something explained by neglect, ignorance, or incompetence”. I try to tell myself that he is coming from a spirit of humility and that he genuinely believes his actions will benefit the church. Like he genuinely wants to help same sex attracted people conquer their fleshly desires by being more welcoming. Or that he actually believes suppressing the tlm will bring more unity. I don’t necessarily agree with those ideas but I try to believe that he is acting in good faith. Only wish more people could be like me.
“Only wish more people could be like me.”
So, you’ll be confessing the sin of pride soon?
Douay-Rheims Bible Luke 18:11
The Pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself: O God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican.
Critical thinking is evidence based, ultimately, and rests on the facts. I don’t mean to be disrespectful here, but there is simply no empirical evidence whatsoever to support your belief that Francis is acting in good faith. In fact, the cold hard facts point in the opposite direction, and it is more appropriate to assume the worst than to give him the benefit of the doubt at this point. His actions have spoken clearly and consistently, and actions reveal the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Are you suggesting that he’s just plain stupid?
So you desire to see nothing narcissistic in blatant cold-blooded cynical manipulation? We went through many years of Catholic nihilism in the post VII era where moral theologians made the entire enterprise of moral theology a sophist exercise of a war on God given guilt. The infantile hippie culture of the sixties that said feeling guilty was the primary evil dominated what passed for a moral theology that revived proportionalism and consequentialism to rationalize immorality until JPII largely discredited such thought with his masterful book length encyclical, The Splendor of Truth. Now we have a moral sophist like Francis abusing the concept of “discernment” as a catchword for moral subjectivity. In Amoris Laetitia he tells us a man can “discern” that in his concrete circumstances, God just might be asking him to be happy with his new wife. No mention is made about an absence of mercy towards the abandoned family. This is the essence of his narcissistic thought. A desire to be celebrated by sinners in love with their sins at the expense of the tragic consequences to the victims of sin, immorality which any Christian should understand as his “obligation to judge”. Self-aggrandizement in thought and deed is not the Christian life.
To write “Ivereigh is the author of two hagiographic biographies of Pope Francis” is both inaccurate and clearly uniformed. Both biographies are the most thorough accounts of this pope’s life, formation and subsequent theological perspectives that he has brought to his leadership of the church, however one agrees or disagrees with it. Such ad hominem attacks are not only unwarranted but betray a lack of balance in a matter that one expects informed judgement and fair presentation.
Whom do you believe you are fooling? The Ivereigh “biographies” are comically written, breathless, fanboy treatises that conflict with countless personal testimonies, such as those of fellow Argentinian prelates and ordinary Catholics in Buenos Aires who suffered under Bergoglio’s authoritarian hubris, indifference, and dishonesty. They also clearly conflict with everything that has transpired in Rome over the past decade. Just stop. You sound completely ridiculous.
Maybe, F.X., you’re referring to someone other than Francis.
What’s disturbing is the silence of fellow cardinals , bishops and clergy.
What’s disturbing is the silence from fellow cardinals and clergy
Argentinians – both laity and clergy- know precisely who Bergoglio is. This is why he has never returned to Argentina.
Bingo. He is absolutely hated in Argentina.
Really, I know people in Pennsylvania who despise him.
I recently became aware of a young man who is apostatizing because he finds Francis and his politicization of the Petrine Office to be dispositive proof against Church indefectibility.
I hope you can show him the Church is the truthful word of God that never changes ragardless of corrupt witnesses.
The report came from an anonymous source.
The denial was coursed through Ivereigh.
Such fun!
Just an average garden variety Catholic here……
A) if this account is true I don’t think the Pope thought it through.
B) I am not a fan of his because he has a clear pattern of getting involved in activist politics ( global warming, lgbtqrst, etc etc).
I wish he could find a way to recenter himself and the church to saving souls and lives. He should have long ago been smack dab in the fight for peace in Ukraine. He never stepped foot in Ireland during the abortion battle that legalized abortion. Same for Ireland’s gay marriage referendum.