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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…