TGCL #0492: Pope Francis' humility; choosing his name; new pastors for pastoral collaboratives

Published: March 21, 2013, 7:57 p.m.

Summary of today\u2019s show: Our usual Thursday panel of Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, Fr. Roger Landry, and Gregory Tracy consider the news headlines of the week, including the latest examples of humility and simplicity from Pope Francis; how he chose his papal name; his decision to celebrate Holy Thursday in a juvenile prison; the appointment of five more pastors for pastoral collaboratives as part of the Disciples in Mission pastoral plan; the obituaries of two senior priests; and remarkable pro-life essays from grade school contest winners.\nListen to the show:\n\nWatch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: \nToday\u2019s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott\nToday\u2019s guest(s): Gregory Tracy, managing editor of the Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Fr. Roger Landry, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River\nLinks from today\u2019s show:\n\n\n\nSome of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot\u2019s and The Anchor\u2019s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links.\n\nToday\u2019s topics: Pope Francis\u2019 humility; choosing his name; new pastors for pastoral collaboratives\n1st segment: Scot Landry caught up with Susan Abbott after not being together on the show for three weeks. Scot asked Susan how she watched the events here at the Pastoral Center. Susan said the days all blur together because every day there\u2019s a new story about Pope Francis that captures our attention. She said it was a busy time for everyone in the building on Disciples in Mission and Lent, but when the white smoke came out, there were yells in the halls and everyone stood around a computer watching a webcam of St. Peter\u2019s Square. Everyone gathered in the lobby of the Pastoral Center to watch it on TV.\nScot said there\u2019s been a lot to cover since the election a week ago last Wednesday. The Pilot this week has a lot in a special issue this week. Gregory Tracy said they had a 16-page special edition in the center of the Pilot, which makes it almost two papers this week. The focus of the special edition is giving a perspective on Pope Francis and re-capping his first days. Greg said he learned a lot about Pope Francis because Cardinal Bergoglio wasn\u2019t among the most talked-about names. His impression is of his humility and that he is a bit of a free spirit.\nScot welcomed Fr. Roger Landry and said his column in the Anchor this week gives his first impressions. Fr. Roger said he\u2019s a pastor more than a professor. He\u2019s obviously intelligent, but brings his experience of being archbishop of Buenos Aires for so many years. One thing that touched Fr. Roger was seeing a boy in the Vatican choir school singing the responsory psalm during the inauguration Mass, which shows how young the Church is. He also notes how serious Pope Francis is in begging for our prayers. At the end of every talk, he asks for our prayers.\nHe shows us what type of reform he\u2019s planning for the Church. When you hear all the talk of reform in the Vatican, people meant administrative and finance and governance issues, but Pope Francis is launching a reform at the root of who he is as a disciple and apostle. He\u2019s set an example of the reform of the priesthood to go out and meet the people where they\u2019re at. He\u2019s going to challenge us by his actions even more than John Paul and Benedict.\nScot said he recalled yesterday\u2019s show about the book \u201cRebuilt\u201d about a parish that went looking for the lost sheep. It\u2019s been clear to Scot that Pope Francis thinks about going out seeking the lost. Scot said it\u2019s clear to him that many people are taking a new look at the Church because of Pope Francis and he\u2019s reaching a much broader audience.\nGreg said it\u2019s obvious Pope Francis is one who feels the need to reach out and be with the people. He recalled a story in Argentina where he told his parish priests to go out and find those who weren\u2019t coming to church, maybe even opening storefront chapels. His priority is finding souls, not necessarily following all the ways that things have been done. He\u2019s much more concerned with practicality. We had this flow from John Paul, with a great media presence, to Benedict, a great theologian, to Francis who isn\u2019t as great with media or as great a theologian, but is good with both and with bringing those things to the people.\nScot said Pope Francis is about making a Church that prays for one another. Susan said that first moment when the Pope came on the balcony and just stood there. But once he got started, he captivated the entire square of 100,000 people and they fell silent. He reminds us to whom we pray and for whom we pray.\nScot asked Fr. Roger what he\u2019s learned reading about Pope Francis in Spanish materials. Fr. Roger said he sees how intelligent he is, able to talk about many different issues with deeply Catholic vision. He also struggled with his celibacy in the seminary, falling in love with a girl and deciding to that he loved God more. It\u2019s a beautiful and sincere admission and it allows him to relate to a lot of young people. In another interview, he gives a very strong statement on dealing with priests who abuse children, saying that such priests should be removed because they can\u2019t be reformed and you can\u2019t take chances. As for failures with men or women or alcohol, he is very firm that you can\u2019t serve two masters. His embrace of poverty shows how committed he is personally to this vision even when it was inconvenient. He not only wanted to relate to the poor in material poverty, but also show it\u2019s not an obstacle to following the Lord. While many are focusing on Pope Francis\u2019 tenderness to the overlooked of society, it is a fruit of a lifetime of love for the least, but at the same time he is able to teach with great clarity and firmness.\nScot noted in Dwight Duncan\u2019s column in the Pilot in which he related that when Cardinal Bergoglio was named a cardinal, he didn\u2019t want to pay the usual $6,000 for the complete set of vestments, so he bought cheap cloth and asked a religious sister to sew them. Greg said at the conclave he had been telling other cardinals about how much of a deal he got on his airfare and then told Argentinians not to come to his inauguration, but instead to the give the money to the poor. It\u2019s his legitimate way of being, not putting on airs of false humility. People like this, that he\u2019s not so attached to the material things of the world. It\u2019s not a media strategy, but it has a great effect on people. So much of the western world measures us by what we can buy and what we can consume. We trade our dignity for our consumer goods. But this is a sign that you can be the Supreme Pontiff and yet you can be simple.\nScot said he\u2019s proven himself to be a pope of gestures. Today it was announced that on Holy Thursday, rather than in St. Peter\u2019s, the Mass of the Lord\u2019s Supper will be held at a youth prison where he will wash the feet of inmates. It was Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s custom to celebrate Holy Thursday in hospitals and prisons. Susan said she celebrated with Deacon Jim Greer, head of hospital and chaplain ministries, at the symbolism of this act. She said Pope Francis has also called the owner of the newsstand in Buenos Aires where he used to get his daily paper to thank him for his prayers and tell him he won\u2019t be coming.\nBut Susan said what disturbs her is when this is used to compare him to what came before. This is not either-or, but both-and.\nFr. Roger said yesterday it was said announced he had given out 3,000 tickets for the poor of Rome to come to the Holy Thursday Chrism Mass at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica earlier in the day and then going to the prison later. Pope Francis is shining a laser beam on this subset of people of whom Jesus said \u201cI was in prison and you visited me.\u201d There are millions across the globe who will not have Mass on Holy Thursday and this is an extraordinary gesture to them.\nScot said on Saturday in the meeting with journalists, Pope Francis revealed how he picked the name Francis. Scot said he had assumed most cardinals went into the conclave with a name in the back of their minds. He was surprised that Pope Francis only picked the name at the last minute. Greg said he had asked Cardinal Se\xe1n that very question, comparing it to young couples who marry thinking about names for their children. Cardinal Se\xe1n said he\u2019s never given it any thought. Greg finds it reassuring that they didn\u2019t go with a name picked.\nScot said before there was a lot of buzz about Cardinal Se\xe1n, he joked with Cardinal Se\xe1n that there was a pool about whether he would pick Pope Patrick or Pope Francis. He thinks it unfathomable that it wouldn\u2019t come up at all somewhere in the back of your mind. This is a name that will define him for eternity and he picked a momentous one.\nSusan claims that she had predicted the next pope would be Pope Francis, although she had a different cardinal in mind.\nScot said a number of cardinals have talked about their awareness of the Holy Spirit\u2019s presence with them as they voted. Fr. Roger said Cardinal O\u2019Brien was on EWTN with him the day after and admitted he\u2019d never really known Cardinal Bergoglio before the conclave and what was remarkable how everyone in the conclave came to know that this was the pope for the Church at this time. Many cardinals said it\u2019s very much like a retreat and they\u2019re not kibbitzing between votes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2nd segment: This week\u2019s benefactor card raffle winner is Patricia Noone from Stow, MA\nShe wins the booklet \u201cWay of the Cross at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy\u201d and the audio CD \u201cThe Seven Pillars of Catholic Spirituality\u201d by Matthew Kelly.\nIf you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit . For a one-time $30 donation, you\u2019ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM\u2019s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We\u2019ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during \u201cThe Good Catholic Life\u201d program.\n3rd segment: Scot said locally in the archdiocese, five appointments are announced in today\u2019s Pilot of priests being appointed pastors of new pastoral collaboratives as part of Disciples in Mission Phase one.\nFr. Paul E. Ritt has been appointed Pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish and St. Maria Goretti Parish in Lynnfield, effective June 4. He was Pastor of St. John the Evangelist, Chelmsford. Fr. Thomas A. Mahoney has been appointed Pastor of St. Joseph Parish and St. Luke Parish in Belmont, effective June 4. He was Pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Belmont. Fr. Daniel L. Riley has been appointed as Pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish, St. Anne Parish, St. James Parish, and St. John the Baptist Parish, all in Salem, effective June 4. He was Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Weymouth. Fr. John E. Sheridan has been appointed Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Middleboro-Rochester and Pastor of Sts. Martha and Mary Parish in Lakeville, effective June 4. He was Pastor of St. James Parish in Salem. Fr. Brian L. Flynn has been appointed Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish and St. Mary Parish in Lynn, effective June 4. He was previously Pastor of St. Mary in Lynn.\nThree more appointments related to Phase 1 are still to be made.\nGreg said we\u2019re in the initial stages and this is exactly what the archdiocese said would happen: In some cases the pastors would come from within the collaborative and others from outside. Scot said one of the patterns is that a priest who\u2019s been in the parish only a couple years, they will stay, whereas pastors who\u2019ve been there a long time will be moved to new assignments. Susan said everyone in the Pastoral Center are working daily to support the new pastors and their collaboratives.\nGreg said when you\u2019re connecting parishes that are near each other, people in recent years have tended to gravitate to the parish they prefer based on how they like the pastor or the music or religious education. When you have someone who\u2019s been in the parish for many years, people become used to him and his style. Meanwhile someone who is new to the area is able to adjust himself to the needs of the area and how they do things.\nScot said it can be difficult on a human level to say goodbye to parishioners when you don\u2019t know what your next assignment will be. Fr. Roger said every priest is supposed to be a missionary at heart. At the same time, canon law gives pastors rights in that they don\u2019t have to move except in extreme circumstances, so it shows great obedience and openness to the needs of the Church in offering their resignations. Fr. Roger noted that people wanted to keep Jesus for themselves, but he told them that he needed to go out and preach to others as well.\n\n\n\nAlso in the Pilot are the obituaries of two 90-year-old priests, Fr. Joseph Lukas and Fr. William B. O\u2019Connor.\nIn the Anchor this week were the 2013 Pro-Life Essay Content winners, themed \u201cFaith opens our eyes to human life in all its grandeur and beauty\u201d. The contest is open to all students enrolled in diocesan schools and religious education programs. There are winners in the high school and junior high school categories and they are read aloud at the annual diocesan Pro-Life Mass and printed in the Anchor. Susan said the high school is extraordinary.\nScot said a week from today it won\u2019t be Lent and so Scot asked everyone how they did on their Lenten resolutions.