Pope's quotes: "The mission of the pastors is to help the flock entrusted to them, that it be always out-going, on the move to proclaim the joy of the Gospel; not closed in tight circles, in ecclesial 'microclimates' which would take us back to the days of clouds and thick darkness."
We say: Despite the displays of disdain for Francis, there should not be anything confusing about this papacy's embrace of those whose lives might fall outside some perceived ideal.
Simply Spirit: Speaking to FutureChurch, veteran Vatican journalist Robert Mickens asks progressive Catholics "to push and support the pope" — and have patience with the slow pace of reform.
"Our communion with the Holy Father can be expressed in the concrete actions that we take to make his magisterium better known among our people," Archbishop Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to the U.S., said in his Nov. 11 address to the meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
