I can attest that confessions, some dramatic, have increased at St. Joseph Church, Macon. On Divine Mercy Sunday, our Parochial Vicar and I heard confessions non stop from 1:30 until 4 pm!Parish priests confirm that since Francis occupied the Chair of Peter, more faithful have been going to confession
ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY
It’s the Bergoglio effect. While some scholars and websites – who were declared papists up until a month ago – continue to criticise the new Pope, whose sobriety in comparison to Benedict XVI has not gone down well with them, the wave of fondness for Francis has also not stopped.
This fondness is not down to a media infatuation: droves of people approached the sacrament of confession again at Easter, struck by Bergoglio’s words about forgiveness and mercy. Numerous Italian parish priests and ordinary priests can attest to this.
“There has been a considerable increase in the number of people who have started asking for confession again,” said Fr. Paolo Padrini (45), parish priest of Stanzanno, a village in the Northern Italian province of Alessandria. He mentioned one elderly cateshist in particular, who following his sermon, quoted Bergoglio: “you smell like your flock… My altar boys heard the Pope’s sermon at the Casal del Marmo prison for young offenders, in video streaming and were struck by his reference to the “caress of God.”
“A lot of people I confessed I hadn’t seen for a long time – Fr. Domenico Sirtori, parish priest of the Church of San Maurizio on Solbiate, a village in the Northern Italian province of Varese. “They told me they came because they felt they could relate to the new Pope. People had felt the Church as something distant from them. It is as if Francis had burnt away that distance, that invisible wall which the media had helped create.”
People really liked the new Pope’s “bow before the crowd just after his election, when he asked them to pray for him,” Fr. Sirtori went on to say. “People were struck by the simplicity of his language, by his “good evenings” and “Enjoy your lunches”. Many young people searched for information on Bergoglio on the web and came to the conclusion that the way he acts is not premeditated but due to the fact he is used to working with the poor.”
Fr. Maurizio Botta, an Oratorian at San Filippo Neri and confessor at Rome’s Chiesa Nuova, said Francis’ words about mercy touch “the heart deeply” but also recalled that many are “mortified by the distinction between the former and current Pope.” And the media have placed a great deal of emphasis on this contrast.
“Pope Francis’ message had an immediate impact,” said Fr. Salvatore Vitiello, a priest from the Northern Italian city of Turin who teaches at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. The new Pope has not just “transmitted enthusiasm but openness of heart as well: many came to confess, inspired by the words of God who never gets tired of forgiving, words which they heard during the new Pope’s Angelus…Francis communicates through images and this has really struck people.”
5 comments:
The difference is not this pope versus the former pope. The difference is the media portrayal of this pope versus the former pope.
But, that is not the important thing here. The important thing is people are going to Confession. And the Holy Ghost is leading them there through the mass media coverage of the Pope. Amazing!
The overemphasised distinctions between Benedict and Francis by the media are hard to take. It is like a relative who constantly belittles one parent while praising the other to you, yet you love them both. I just hope at some point those who listen to the media and think they love Francis, will stick with it long enough so that they come to know the beautiful Truth that both of these men have preached.
Vianney1100
I agree with the first two comments with the exception that Pope Francis has played the confession ball well from where Pope Benedict left it.
The media, to quote someone else, is a ass. But I am getting a little PO'd at the Catholics whining about either Pope.
" People had felt the Church as something distant from them. It is as if Francis had burnt away that distance, that invisible wall which the media had helped create."
That wall was created and continuously reinforced by the media. I like both Popes. Benedict teaches us WHY we believe what we believe, Francis shows us HOW to live our belief in the public square.
Pope Francis quotes Pope Emeritus Benedict quite often. No one should hold it against him that the same media that hated Benedict currently loves Francis. The more Francis quotes Benedict, the more people will understand that their belief system is one and the same. Will the media turn against Francis when they realize this, or will they be too entrenched in the love-fest to be able to back away without losing face? Only time will tell.
Last November, I went to England and was overwhelmed by the number of people waiting in line to go to confession. I visited Westminster Cathedral several times, Sundays and weekdays and it was the same - SIX hours of confession everyday. As a Canadian I had never seen anything like it and I found it refreshingly Catholic. I may be wrong but I have this feeling that the real spirit of Vatican II is beginning to be be understood.
The above comments seem to attest to this.
Congratulations Father - if you are there they will come. (the author slips my mind)
God bless!
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