UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
Pat Perriello | Feb. 16, 2015 NCR Today
In a beautiful homily by Pope Francis to the assembled cardinals and bishops, the need for reform was made clear once again.
Francis stresses one more time that the church is about the marginalized, those on the periphery.
There is some indication that this homily may be an especially significant one. First he had just named twenty new cardinals, and this homily was specifically directed at them as well as members of the current hierarchy. Second, it comes at a time when columnist David Gibson notes the evidence suggests that traditionalists may feel they are winning the battle to slow down the momentum of reform. For this reason others felt the pope needed to do something to show that reform is going to go forward.
Francis pointedly states that we can either “fear to lose the saved,” or “want to save the lost.” He speaks of the excessive fear of scandalizing the faithful, which has always been a problem within the church. A pastor might tell a bridegroom to receive communion on his wedding day even if he was guilty of mortal sin, rather than scandalize the faithful at the wedding by not receiving communion. Of course this penchant for avoiding scandal was also instrumental in making possible the lengthy priestly abuse crisis. Better to let a priest continue molesting children than admitting to the faithful that such a thing could ever happen in the holy Catholic Church.
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