A priest surveys the damage caused by ISIS at a Catholic Church in Karamles, Iraq. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Stephen Rasche
CNA Staff, Oct 23, 2023 / 08:45 am (CNA).
Pope Francis cited the examples of Western intervention in Libya and Iraq in arguing that the West should not “export” its own “type of democracy” to other countries, according to a recently published interview.
The pope’s comments were published in the Italian newspaper La Stampa and excerpted from a book released this week by journalists Francesca Ambrogetti and Sergio Rubin, “You Are Not Alone: Challenges, Answers, Hopes.”
In an excerpt from the book, the pope was asked by the authors about “the responsibilities of the most developed countries” for the “chaos” being experienced by other nations.
Francis responded that that chaos was due in part to “the failure of the West in its attempt to import its own type of democracy” in some countries around the world.
“We are thinking of Libya, which seems to be led only by very strong personalities such as Gaddafi,” the pope said. “A Libyan told me that they once had only one Gaddafi, while now they have 53.”
The Holy Father similarly pointed to the Iraq War, which he called “a real disgrace” and “one of the worst cruelties.” U.S.-led forces defeated the Iraqi military and deposed president Saddam Hussein, leaving in his place a country strained by worsened sectarian violence.
“Saddam Hussein was certainly not a little angel, on the contrary,” Francis said, “but Iraq was a fairly stable country.”
The pontiff cautioned that he was “not defending Gadaffi or Hussein.” But, he argued, “organized anarchy and other war” followed those conflicts.
“I therefore believe that we must not export our democracy to other countries, but help them to develop a process of democratic maturation according to their characteristics,” Francis said. “Do not wage a war to import a democracy that their peoples are unable to assimilate.”
The pope pointed out that some countries, such as monarchies, “will probably never accept a democracy,” but nations “can help to ensure that there is more participation” in those instances.
The pope confessed himself “ignorant in terms of international politics,” though he said the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) indicates “an unfortunate Western choice.”
Ambrogetti is an Italian-born journalist, while Rubin is from Argentina; the two previously collaborated on the 2014 book “Pope Francis: His Life in His Own Words.” Rubin has also authored a biography of Francis.
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Pope Francis prayed before a relic of St. Therese of Lisieux at the beginning of his general audience in St. Peter’s Square, and shortly before going to the hospital for an abdominal surgery, on June 7, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Vatican City, Jun 7, 2023 / 04:37 am (CNA).
One of Pope Francis’ last gestures before undergoing abdominal surgery on Wednesday was to pray before a relic of St. Therese of Lisieux.
A relic of the French Carmelite nun, also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus, was present on the platform in front of St. Peter’s Basilica during the pope’s weekly general audience June 7.
Before beginning the audience, Francis venerated the relics of St. Therese in a moment of silent prayer. He also placed a single, white rose on the table in front of the reliquary.
Pope Francis was taken to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for abdominal surgery under general anesthesia at the end of the morning audience, shortly after 11:00 a.m. Rome time, the Vatican said.
Relics of St. Therese’s parents, Sts. Louis and Zélie Guérin Martin, were also present at the meeting with the public June 7. The relics of all three saints will visit different churches in Rome through June 16.
Relics of St. Therese of Lisieux and her parents, Sts. Louis and Zelie Guerin Martin, were on the platform in front of St. Peter’s Basilica during Pope Francis’ general audience June 7, 2023. The relics made a pilgrimage to Rome June 6-16, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Pope Francis said Wednesday he intends to publish an apostolic letter on St. Therese of Lisieux, “patroness of the missions,” to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth.
“She was a Carmelite nun who lived her life according to the way of littleness and weakness: she defined herself as ‘a small grain of sand,’” he said in St. Peter’s Square.
“Having poor health, she died at the age of only 24,” he added. “But though her body was sickly, her heart was vibrant, missionary.”
“Here before us are the relics of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, universal patroness of missions,” he said. “It is good that this happens while we are reflecting on the passion for evangelization, on apostolic zeal. Today, then, let us allow the witness of St. Therese to help us. She was born 150 years ago, and I plan to dedicate an apostolic letter to her on this anniversary.”
🎥HIGHLIGHTS | Before commencing the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis shared a beautiful moment of prayer before the sacred relics of St. Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church and Patroness of the Missions. As a symbol of his devotion, the Holy Father… pic.twitter.com/lRJeWuSx8n
St. Therese of Lisieux was born on Jan. 2, 1873, in Alençon, France. Her mother died when she was four, leaving her father and older sisters to raise her. She received papal permission to enter the Carmelite Monastery at the young age of 15, where she lived until her death from Tuberculosis at the age of 24.
She was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by St. Pope John Paul II in 1997 and is the patron saint of missions.
Pope Francis reflected on the saint’s life as part of a series of lessons on evangelical zeal.
“She is patroness of the missions, but she was never sent on mission,” Francis explained in his catechesis. “She recounts in her ‘diary’ that her desire was that of being a missionary, and that she wanted to be one not just for a few years, but for the rest of her life, even until the end of the world.”
St. Therese did this, he said, by becoming a spiritual sister to several missionaries, whom she accompanied through her prayers, letters, and sacrifices from within the monastery walls.
“Without being visible, she interceded for the missions, like an engine that, although hidden, gives a vehicle the power to move forward,” the pope said.
“Missionaries, in fact — of whom Therese is patroness — are not only those who travel long distances, learn new languages, do good works, and are good at proclamation,” he added. “No, a missionary is anyone who lives as an instrument of God’s love where they are.”
Pope Francis spoke about St. Therese of Lisieux, the patroness of missions, during his general audience June 7, 2023. Relics of St. Therese and her parents, Sts. Louis and Zelie Guerin Martin, were present on the platform beside the pope for the audience. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Pope Francis recounted two episodes from St. Therese’s life that help to explain the source of her zeal and missionary strength.
The first happened during Christmas 1886, when Therese was almost 14 years old.
St. Therese was pampered as the youngest child of the family, he explained. But her father was tired after midnight Mass for Christmas and did not feel like being present when his daughter opened her gifts, so he said he was glad it was the last year she would receive gifts.
“Therese, who was very sensitive and easily moved to tears, was hurt, and went up to her room and cried,” the pope said.
“But she quickly suppressed her tears, went downstairs and, full of joy, she was the one who cheered her father,” he said. “What had happened? On that night, when Jesus had made himself weak out of love, her soul became strong: in just a few moments, she had come out of the prison of her selfishness and self-pity; she began to feel that ‘charity entered her heart’ — so she said — ‘with the need to forget herself’ (cf. Manuscript A, 133-134).”
“From then on, she directed her zeal toward others, that they might find God…”
The second event happened after St. Therese became a Carmelite. Pope Francis said the nun became aware of a hardened criminal, Enrico Pranzini, who was sentenced to death by guillotine for having murdered three people.
Therese had a special zeal for saving sinners, and so “she took him into her heart and did all she could: she prayed in every way for his conversion, so that he, whom, with brotherly compassion she called ‘poor wretched Pranzini,’ might demonstrate a small sign of repentance and make room for God’s mercy,” Francis said.
The day after his execution, she read in the newspaper that before laying his head on the chopping block, Pranzini had, “‘all of a sudden, seized by a sudden inspiration, turned around, grabbed a Crucifix that the priest handed to him and kissed three times the sacred wounds’ of Jesus,” he continued.
“Then his soul,” St. Therese wrote, “went to receive the merciful sentence of the One who declared that in Heaven there will be more joy for a single sinner who repents than for the ninety-nine righteous who have no need of repentance!”
Pope Francis said: “With so many means, methods, and structures available, which sometimes distract from what is essential, the Church needs hearts like Therese’s, hearts that draw people to love and bring people closer to God.”
“Let us today ask this saint, whose relics we have here,” he added, “let us ask this saint for the grace to overcome our selfishness and for the passion to intercede that Jesus might be known and loved.”
Pope Francis delivers remarks at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Nov 13, 2024 / 09:50 am (CNA).
Pope Francis told pilgrims present at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday that the Blessed Virgin Mary does not focus on herself but on her son, Jesus.
“Mary is always the mother that brings us to Jesus,” the Holy Father said. “Mary does not only point to herself. She points to Jesus.”
Continuing his catechesis on the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the Church as Jesus’ bride, Pope Francis invited his listeners to reflect on the Mother of God’s presence and special role among Jesus’ apostles.
Pope Francis smiles at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
“The disciples were gathered around Mary, the mother of Jesus,” the pope said, reflecting on the passage of the Acts of Apostles read to hundreds of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
“Her presence is different and unique among them all,” he continued. “Between her and the Holy Spirit there is a unique and eternally indestructible bond that is the very person of Christ himself, who was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.”
During his Nov. 13 general audience, Pope Francis said that Mary’s support for Christian communities is not one that is confined to the past but has persisted “in every age of our history.”
The pope waves to pilgrims at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
“The Mother of God is an instrument of the Holy Spirit in his work of sanctification,” he said. “Mary is the one who said ‘yes’ to God and, with her example and by her intercession, pushes us to say ‘yes’ to him too.”
As “the first disciple and figure of the Church,” the Holy Father hopes that Christians today will allow Mary to “see Jesus,” “open our hearts” to him, and “arise in haste” to help others in need.
Describing Mary, the pope echoed the words of the patron of his pontificate, St. Francis of Assisi: “Daughter and handmaid of the heavenly Father, the almighty King, Mother of our most high Lord Jesus Christ, and spouse of the Holy Spirit.”
“The unique relationship between Mary and the Trinity could not be illustrated in simpler words,” he said.
‘We pray for peace’
Before concluding his Wednesday audience and imparting his paternal blessing for pilgrims, the Holy Father concluded his general audience with renewed petitions for peace and prayer.
The pope blesses a pilgrim and her unborn baby at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
“Let us not forget Ukraine, let us not forget Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and so many countries at war,” he urged. “Let us not forget the group of Palestinians who were shot dead. Innocent people.”
“We pray for peace. There is so much need for peace. My blessing to [you] all,” he said.
Vatican City, Jul 24, 2018 / 10:22 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Tuesday sent his condolences to victims of wildfires in Greece and flooding caused by the collapse of a hydroelectric dam in southeast Laos, expressing his “heartfelt solidarity” wi… […]
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The spirit of democracy cannot be superimposed from the outside. It must come from within. Western democracy, as it functions today, is diluted fascism. True democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting at the center. It has to be worked from below, by the people of every village – Mahatma Gandhi
The pope confessed himself “ignorant in terms of international politics,” though he said the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) indicates “an unfortunate Western choice.”
The rise of Islam is now Western Civ’s fault?!? The pope is woke! We ought not be shocked to next see Francis’ wheelchair amidst the anti-Israel pro-Hamas protestors, proclaiming the holy spirit of Islam.
We read: “The pope confessed himself ‘ignorant in terms of international politics,’ though he said the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) indicates ‘an unfortunate Western choice’.” Four points:
FIRST, it gets worse! But to begin, this from Gaudium et Spes: “The Church guards the heritage of God’s Word and draws from it religious and moral principles, without always having at hand the solution to particular problems” (n.33). This is why the Church retains/invites/teaches (?) attention to the COMMON GOOD, rather than favoring more temporal forms of government. In communally divided societies (most post-colonial regions now fitted into arbitrary “state” boundaries), tensions easily erupt across races, languages, religions, clans, tribes, castes, new elites, and whatever.
The case is even made that if anti-Catholic sentiments had not prevailed amongst the deal makers (David Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson), a retained multinational-state (!) or Austro-Hungarian Federation (not an Empire) could have averted the power vacuum in central Europe that invited aggression from both the fascist north and communist Russia from the east. World War II. In general, eastern Europe resembles the complex human condition shared with post-colonial states, more so than do the more anomalist and homogeneous “societies” assumed by Western sociologists and political “scientists”—and readily soaked up by secularist minds.
SECOND, now, as to things “being worse” than Pope Francis opines….there are other forms of governance in other contexts, that are also bargained away by ideological pygmies in high places. The form of the “apostolic” Catholic Church, for example, is a “hierarchical communion” (Vatican I, with Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium) in service to the baptized—who certainly can be consulted especially with respect to the secular realm, but who are not sacramentally ordained bishops in the ecclesial realm. (In comparison, the form and self-identity of Islam—with the fused mosque & state—is as a sectarian [“polyhedral”?] collage, or a “congregational theocracy” quite capable of encompassing even ISIS which the pope mentions—and now Hamas which is totally diabolical.)
THIRD, so now, likely to dislocate the Church from within, we see a cut-and-paste Synod on Synodality which (con)fuses the apostolic succession with the vast majority of baptized who are not “sent” as are the Successors of the Apostles (“apostello”)—that is, not “aggregated, compiled and synthesized”) and who are not with the same personal responsibility and accountability for the gifted (not constructed) Deposit of Faith, under the gaze of the incarnate Christ Jesus with the Father on Judgement Day, and even now. This isn’t 1789, or is it?
FOURTH, to this observer, the synodal “mess” (now even “welcoming” the German “non-synod” (!) and smiley-button Fr. James Martin & Co.) looks a lot like the political mess, in international politics, that Pope Francis correctly decries, and attributes to everyone except himself and his lieutenants. Not only forgivably ignorant of international politics (that’s not his calling nor the mission of the Church), but quite willing to dismiss his constructive interlocutors as “backwardist.” Just as in the tripwire post-colonial world: forward, ever forward!
Credit must be given where it is due. Pope Francis is exactly right on the disastrous impact of the immoral and stupid US wars against Iraq and Libya. Whether the West was really trying to “export democracy” or something else was at work is another question.
The spirit of democracy cannot be superimposed from the outside. It must come from within. Western democracy, as it functions today, is diluted fascism. True democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting at the center. It has to be worked from below, by the people of every village – Mahatma Gandhi
The pope confessed himself “ignorant in terms of international politics,” though he said the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) indicates “an unfortunate Western choice.”
The rise of Islam is now Western Civ’s fault?!? The pope is woke! We ought not be shocked to next see Francis’ wheelchair amidst the anti-Israel pro-Hamas protestors, proclaiming the holy spirit of Islam.
We read: “The pope confessed himself ‘ignorant in terms of international politics,’ though he said the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) indicates ‘an unfortunate Western choice’.” Four points:
FIRST, it gets worse! But to begin, this from Gaudium et Spes: “The Church guards the heritage of God’s Word and draws from it religious and moral principles, without always having at hand the solution to particular problems” (n.33). This is why the Church retains/invites/teaches (?) attention to the COMMON GOOD, rather than favoring more temporal forms of government. In communally divided societies (most post-colonial regions now fitted into arbitrary “state” boundaries), tensions easily erupt across races, languages, religions, clans, tribes, castes, new elites, and whatever.
The case is even made that if anti-Catholic sentiments had not prevailed amongst the deal makers (David Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson), a retained multinational-state (!) or Austro-Hungarian Federation (not an Empire) could have averted the power vacuum in central Europe that invited aggression from both the fascist north and communist Russia from the east. World War II. In general, eastern Europe resembles the complex human condition shared with post-colonial states, more so than do the more anomalist and homogeneous “societies” assumed by Western sociologists and political “scientists”—and readily soaked up by secularist minds.
SECOND, now, as to things “being worse” than Pope Francis opines….there are other forms of governance in other contexts, that are also bargained away by ideological pygmies in high places. The form of the “apostolic” Catholic Church, for example, is a “hierarchical communion” (Vatican I, with Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium) in service to the baptized—who certainly can be consulted especially with respect to the secular realm, but who are not sacramentally ordained bishops in the ecclesial realm. (In comparison, the form and self-identity of Islam—with the fused mosque & state—is as a sectarian [“polyhedral”?] collage, or a “congregational theocracy” quite capable of encompassing even ISIS which the pope mentions—and now Hamas which is totally diabolical.)
THIRD, so now, likely to dislocate the Church from within, we see a cut-and-paste Synod on Synodality which (con)fuses the apostolic succession with the vast majority of baptized who are not “sent” as are the Successors of the Apostles (“apostello”)—that is, not “aggregated, compiled and synthesized”) and who are not with the same personal responsibility and accountability for the gifted (not constructed) Deposit of Faith, under the gaze of the incarnate Christ Jesus with the Father on Judgement Day, and even now. This isn’t 1789, or is it?
FOURTH, to this observer, the synodal “mess” (now even “welcoming” the German “non-synod” (!) and smiley-button Fr. James Martin & Co.) looks a lot like the political mess, in international politics, that Pope Francis correctly decries, and attributes to everyone except himself and his lieutenants. Not only forgivably ignorant of international politics (that’s not his calling nor the mission of the Church), but quite willing to dismiss his constructive interlocutors as “backwardist.” Just as in the tripwire post-colonial world: forward, ever forward!
Credit must be given where it is due. Pope Francis is exactly right on the disastrous impact of the immoral and stupid US wars against Iraq and Libya. Whether the West was really trying to “export democracy” or something else was at work is another question.