Francis Who ?

Sun.Star
March 21, 2014

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/opinion/2014/03/21/carvajal-francis-who-334294

Pope Francis marked his first anniversary as Pope by going on a recollection riding to and from it on a bus. It is another act of humility by a Pope who earlier defined the Church’s role in the world to be that of a “field hospital where the wounds of humanity can be healed.”

He is also a Pope who listens and has recently sent out a questionnaire to ask how Catholics feel about the Church’s position on current issues like artificial contraception, the role of women, etc.

So, how can so many Church men miss the point and not take Pope Francis seriously at his word and action?

How can Philippine bishops be raising P350 million to build a Eucharistic Center when Yolanda left so many dead, injured, homeless and jobless?

The wounds inflicted by poverty on people cannot be possibly treated in a P350-million facility that I suspect will serve more to give solace to the devout, and less to heal the physically and spiritually wounded, faithful.

How can healing priest, Fr. Fernando Suarez, be raising P50 million to erect a “colossal statue” (taller than the statue of Liberty) of Mary, Mother of the Poor? I give him the benefit of the doubt that the money his foundation raised for this statue is intact. But I seriously question his priorities, especially now that Pope Francis wants his priests to go near, and smell like, their sheep instead of retreating and smelling good inside majestic places of worship.

Francis in a bus is a humble Pope slipping out of his cordon sanitaire to know what people feel and think about their Church. So, where did the Pope’s questionnaire go?

Who did Philippine bishops ask to answer the questionnaire outside of their regular cordon sanitaire?

In at least one US diocese where the questionnaire was fielded to a wide swath of the Catholic population the results showed that most Catholics disagreed with the Church on such issues as artificial contraception, women’s role in the Church, etc. In the Philippines, we do not even know if the questionnaire was fielded at all or to whom it was sent.

It’s been a year of Pope Francis emphatically asking bishops to set up dioceses and parishes as field hospitals or activity centers where the physically and spiritually wounded of this world can be healed and made whole. It’s a year that the Pope capped with the act of simplicity of riding a bus.

In raising P350 million for a Eucharistic Center and in not considering the views and feelings of Catholics who live in the fringes of Church life, many Philippine bishops, priests and lay leaders are missing Francis’ point. When asked what they’re doing about Francis’ new priorities, I can almost imagine them look back at you and ask, Francis who?