This morning Pope Francis used the occasion of his Inaugural Mass to state his conviction that to live out the gospel means discovering Christ's heart for the poor and dispossessed. He included humans who marginalized and subjected to oppression, but went a step further and extended that compassion to all living things and creation itself.
"It means respecting each of God's creatures and
respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people,
showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the
elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about…"
In this statement he came alongside Saint Francis, but even more so he connected with the Christ who always saw the downtrodden and those who were invisible to others. It will be interesting to see how this is manifested in Francis' leadership for a Christian body of more than a billion followers. To my mind he has this absolutely right. The issues of the environment affect the poor of the planet the most, and, conversely, until the meek of the earth find their way out of poverty we can't expect them to focus on protection of the Earth. While I appreciate that a number of you confessed recently that you don't really care about the election of Francis as pope, I do hope he can make a difference. Who knows, even though he wore the purple of Lent today, he could be the greenest pope yet.
What do you think about today's comments? Are any of you encouraged?
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