French President Emmanuel Macron, right, listens to Pope Leo XIV delivering his speech at the meeting At the Roots of Europe for Peace and Unity, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026, in Metz, France. (AP/Gregorio Borgia)
Below are excerpts from an article in the National catholic Reporter by Michael Sean Winters. You can read the full article here!
I am glad the grace of God is breaking through to Michael Sean and he’s exhibiting growth in his Catholic Faith as he moves away from the NcR’s more schismatic-fomenting ways.
Here are the excerpts:
Catholics are still processing Pope Leo XIV's amazing trip to France. The images of the crowds lining the Champs-Élysées, of the excited young people at the Stade de France and the thousands singing the "Salve Regina" outside Notre Dame cathedral, of the Holy Father at the grotto in Lourdes, all these form a profound impression of the continued significance of Catholicism to French culture and of this pope's ability to harness that
Leo's religious sermons emphasized spiritual themes. At the huge Mass at the Place de la Concorde, the Holy Father's theme was a very Augustinian one: God as the answer to human restlessness and desire.
"What is my deepest thirst? What am I really seeking in life? We all long for happiness, love and fulfillment. But from what source do we seek to quench our thirst?" the pope asked. "Are we content with material goods, immediate satisfactions, the countless little idols that promise us everything but leave our hearts empty? We have been baptized and received the living water of which the Gospel speaks, but have we truly encountered Christ personally? In essence, the human person is a being of desire, and only God can fill the emptiness within us."
In his sermon at Lourdes, Leo highlighted another side of his Augustinian roots. In speaking of the promise of eternal life of which the Blessed Mother spoke to St. Bernadette, Leo said, "For the obstacle to grace and eternal life — the only obstacle to this love — is sin, whereby we turn in upon ourselves, refusing God and shutting ourselves up in our own darkness. … We must therefore use our freedom to say yes to Christ, relying on his grace, like Mary. This is a yes that we renew until our final breath — 'now and at the hour of our death' — as we say in the Hail Mary." He devoted several paragraphs to the theme of repentance, but always linked it to the ongoing call to conversion and the hope of eternal life.
When Leo spoke about assisted suicide, which was recently legalized in France, his words were strong and condemnatory, rightly labeling the practice an example of "false compassion." One wishes he had been in Paris before the vote to legalize assisted suicide. He might have tipped the balance against it.
The crowds were massive and the excitement palpable. Leo was never an actor, like his predecessor St. John Paul II, and he lacks the Polish pontiff's dramatic sense of timing and connecting with a crowd. Yet connect he did. Why? As one Parisian said to my colleague Justin McLellan at the Mass in Paris: "He is a pope who is young, 71, and he moves the young people forward; he is calm, a good listener and he has very precise ideas and is able to express them clearly and in an engaging way — all the young people and the crowds here show that."
4 comments:
Father McDonald, where in the column in question had Michael Sean Winters failed to find in Pope Francis "clarity and precision"?
Michael Sean Winters praised Pope Francis' communicative skills.
Mister Winters even offered that Pope Leo XIV has acquired some of Pope Francis' "giftedness" as a communicator.
Michael Sean Winters:
"Francis was a master at the powerful, even extravagant metaphor...Leo captured some of the late pope's rhetorical giftedness."
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I had known that Michael Sean Winters had insisted that Pope Francis was a gifted, "crystal clear" teacher of the Faith/communicator.
AI Overview confirmed:
"Michael Sean Winters strongly defended Pope Francis against critics who claimed he lacked clarity, arguing instead that the Pope's messaging was "crystal clear".
Pax.
Mark Thomas
You must have missed all those theologians and almost all the African bishops who complained about his off-the-cuff remarks that often were incoherent, confusing and imprecise. You must not have read reactions to that footnote in Amoris laetitia that caused such an uproar and still needs formal clarification. And certainly you missed the confusion caused by Feducia Supplicans that led the entire episcopate of Africa to rebel, so much so, Pope Francis had to make clear that it was just a blessing and yet, because of that silly, imprecise and confusing document, you had Fr. James Martin publish a photo of the first gay couple he bless in a formal way, and others holding these blessings in churches that resembled weddings and the German bishops issuing a formal way to bless couple—no Pope Francis was very clear, precise, coherent and unambiguous—NOT!
Father McDonald said..."I am glad the grace of God is breaking through to Michael Sean and he’s exhibiting growth in his Catholic Faith as he moves away from the NcR’s more schismatic-fomenting ways."
I am aware that at least two bishops had accused NCR of having undermined certain Church teachings.
Nevertheless, as AI Overview noted in regard to NCR:
"No official decree or canonical finding has ever declared that the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) has fomented schism."
If that is incorrect, then I would stand corrected.
In regard to the declaration that Michael Sean has exhibited "growth in his Catholic Faith as he moves away from the NcR’s more schismatic-fomenting ways."
I do not recall that Michael Sean Winters had needed to grow in his faith to distance himself from schismatic-fomenting ways.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Father McDonald, you had claimed that Michael Sean Winters had not found clarity and precision in Pope Francis. I noted correctly that the opposite is true.
Now, you removed the spotlight from your claim in question. Now, for example, it's..."And certainly you missed the confusion caused by Feducia Supplicans that led the entire episcopate of Africa to rebel, so much so, Pope Francis had to make clear that it was just a blessing..."
As I had noted a few years ago on your important blog:
"Anyway, Cardinal Ambongo, via his release of the SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) document, made it clear that Fiducia Supplicans is orthodox.
"The SECAM statement also affirmed that the bishops of Africa remain in "unwavering" communion with Pope Francis."
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In regard to the implemenataion of Fiducia Supplicans:
At least twice publicly, Cardinal Ambongo declared that he had informed Pope Francis that the cultural situation throughout Africa would make it difficult to implement said document.
Cardinal Ambongo noted that Pope Francis, as a holy pastor, "was touched by this situation."
Pope Francis then paired Cardinal Ambongo with Cardinal Fernández to determine how to best handle Fiducia Supplicans in regard to the situation in Africa.
Cardinal Ambongo insisted that he, Pope Francis, and Cardinal Fernández, then agreed in holy, peaceful fashion as to how to deal with the situation in Africa.
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Cardinal Ambongo: January 11, 2024 A.D:
"In their various messages, the Episcopal Conferences of the Church Family of God in Africa begin by reaffirming their unwavering attachment to the Successor of Peter, their communion with him and their fidelity to the Gospel.
"They recognize collectively that the Church’s doctrine on marriage and the family remains unchanged.
"They all noted the passages where Fiducia supplicans reaffirmed this traditional position of the Church and explicitly excluded the recognition of homosexual marriage."
"His Holiness Pope Francis, fiercely opposed to any form of cultural colonization in Africa, wholeheartedly blesses the African people and encourages them to remain faithful, as always, to the defense of Christian values."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
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