ROME
National Catholic Reporter
Fr. Eddie Siebert, S.J. The IN Network | Aug. 8, 2014 NCR Today
It was a frigid, gray February morning, and we huddled alongside thousands of pilgrims packed outside St. Peter’s Square waiting for the pope. Heeding smart advice, my colleague Kathleen Kelly and I arrived just before 8 a.m. to an already massive crowd for the 11 a.m. General Audience. We were in Rome for the SIGNIS World Congress for Catholic Communicators, and it seemed that the main topic of conversation that morning among our fellow conference attendees was just how crowded the Vatican felt since Francis’ election. We were told that audiences are usually held inside St. Peter’s in winter, but the event had been moved outside to accommodate the record-breaking throngs hoping to see the pope.
At 10 a.m., the roar of the flock erupted to the level you might expect at a One Direction concert. He had arrived early — a move characteristic of a pope who has a habit of choosing to spend more time with the people than allotted on the papal schedule. Instead of making a beeline for the front VIP section, where the politically and ecclesially connected waited, the pope entered from the back of the crowd, greeting those with the worst views and least connections. He hopped off the popemobile and lingered there, looking very much at home embracing a mother and her baby, blessing a young disabled woman, and laughing with an older man who may have been homeless. There was this palpable joy in the air as we all watched Francis model something so simple and yet so profound.
His popularity is something even the best PR machines here in Los Angeles can’t execute. It seems like every day, there’s a new story about the popular pontiff — but unlike much of what we see in the news, the Francis stories don’t reek of strategic PR stunts. My own observation of him that day in February and most of the accounts I hear have a few things in common. This is a man who doesn’t start his encounters with theology or dogma. In each situation, he starts with the person right in front of him. He’s not afraid to go after the estranged, to walk with people in their darkness, anger or pain. He seems most comfortable on the margins, with the complicated people and complicated situations many of us would prefer to ignore. …
We also spoke with Peter Saunders, head of the London-based group the National Association for People Abused in Childhood. Sexually abused by two Catholic priests as a child, Peter has been an outspoken voice for change and reform in the Catholic church in the U.K. He was one of six abuse victims to have a groundbreaking face-to-face meeting with the pope last month. Peter admits he’s still not sure why he was invited, as he’s hardly a “safe bet from a PR perspective.” We spoke with him about his “life-changing meeting” with the pope, in which he said, “there wasn’t any pressure to hold back. The pope listened intently and said all the right things.”
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