“THE WORLD HAS CHANGED AND SO MUST THE CHURCH” - Pope Francis

THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD - YEAR A 1st / 2nd FEBRUARY 2020

“THE WORLD HAS CHANGED AND SO MUST THE CHURCH” - Pope Francis

IN HIS ANNUAL Christmas greeting to the cardinals, bishops and priests who work in the Holy See, Pope Francis warned the clerics against "rigidity" in thought and action, and pointed out that tradition "is not static but dynamic".

Conceding that Christianity, no longer holds the commanding presence and influence in society that it once did, Francis called on those in positions of authority in the Church to embrace change. He cited the late Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, who in his final interview before dying in 2012 lamented that the Church found itself "200 years behind, because of its fear of change.

Today we are no longer the only ones that produce culture, no longer the first nor the most listened to,” Francis told the prelates. “

The faith in Europe and in much of the West is no longer an obvious presumption taken for granted but often denied, derided, marginalised and ridiculed: The answer, he said, was for the Church to embrace the pastoral reforms and outlook that he has advocated during his pontificate. ”Here we have to beware of the temptation of assuming a rigid outlook," Francis said, "rigidity that is born from fear of change and ends up placing obstacles in the ground of the common good, turning it into a minefield of misunderstanding and hatred: He suggested that people who like rigid positions often use that to mask their own problems. And these days, the temptation to rigidity has become so apparent," he claimed, arguing that in interpreting and following the Gospel, the true tradition of the Church is characterised by a continuous, discerned path of change.

The speech raised the question first of all of how reform takes place in a 2,000-year-old institution where cosmetic changes are never going to work. The Pope reminded the Church that being sensitive to the past does not mean being a slave to it. Catholic tradition is not a museum piece, rather, it is always evolving. "Appealing to memory is not the same as being anchored in self-preservation, but instead to evoke the life and vitality of an ongoing process. Memory is not static, but dynamic," the Pope said. ‘By its very nature, it implies movement. Nor is tradition static; it too is dynamic, as that great composer Gustav Mahler used to say: tradition is the guarantee of the future not a container of ashes.’

Pope Francis quoted from St John Henry Newman who was canonised in October. Francis cited Newman's observation that "to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often", saying it was a reminder that development and growth are a normal part of human life, even as believers we know that God remains the unchanging centre of all things. “People who have not yet received the Gospel message do not live only in non-Western continents; they live particularly in vast urban concentrations that call for specific pastoral outreach.” Taken from The Tablet (4th January 2020 edition).

Fr Peter Dillon