NEW YORK (NY)
The Media Project
December 12, 2018
By Clemente Lisi
The attention of the Catholic world will be on Panama next month when the Central American nation hosts World Youth Day, an event that remains a major part of Saint Pope John Paul II’s legacy.
Started in 1985 and influenced by the “Light-Life Movement” that began in the then-pope’s native Poland two decades earlier, World Youth Day has allowed the church to spread its message directly to young adults who eagerly gather to celebrate as a community. It is that spirit and tradition that accompanies World Youth Day each time it is held somewhere in the world. The five-day event, which starts on Jan. 22, will be a real chance for Pope Francis to try and set things right following a very difficult 2018 for him and the church as a whole.
There is a spiritual hunger around the world by Christians of all denominations. This pope needs to get back to basics and focus on evangelizing like John Paul II did during his 17-year papacy. This Holy Father needs to be less political and more spiritual. He needs to break free from the labels that have been heaped on him by critics and supporters alike. He needs to get back to the universal message of the church that resonates in both industrialized nations and the developing world.
This pope has been a polarizing figure among the faithful. He’s been on the receiving end of much criticism in recent years from conservative Catholics who increasingly believe his mixed messages on homosexuality, birth control and allowing those who have divorced to receive communion runs counter to the catechism.
At the same time, Pope Francis has often demonstrated himself to be a champion of liberal causes and seen by progressive Catholics as someone charting the church on a radically new course more in line with the needs and wants of a modern secular world.
For example, asking “who am I to judge?” in a 2013 news conference when referring to the LGBTQ community has been largely welcomed by non-Catholics and the secular news media. In January 2014, Francis even made the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in a piece that praised him and largely attacked his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI.
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