UNITED STATES
GlobalPost
Jason Berry
January 24, 2015
On each pilgrimage, Pope Francis gives the global audience another glimpse into his complex mind.
The first unscripted pope in the age of mass media gives lengthy airborne press conferences, as when he famously replied, “Who am I to judge?” in reply to a question about gay priests on the flight from Brazil to Rome last year.
Pope Benedict avoided reporters and the charismatic John Paul rarely exposed himself to long encounters with the press. Both popes gave selective interviews to reporters or biographers they trusted.
Francis thrives on the intellectual agility of being interviewed, a trait consistent with Jesuit training in the Socratic method: question sparks answer, answer drives new questions and the wheel of learning turns.
But improvisational remarks have unpredictable receptions.
At a Sunday Mass for 40,000 people at University of Manila, 12-year-old Glyzelle Palomar, who lives in a foundation home for abandoned children, read a statement in her native dialect, translated for the pope and press.
Well-groomed, in a lovely dress, she said: “There are many children neglected by their own parents…[and] are also many who became victims and many terrible things happened to them like drugs or prostitution.”
Voice breaking, Glyzelle asked, “Why is God allowing such things to happen, even if it is not the fault of the children?”
As she broke down, Francis moved close; she wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his side.
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