lost in translation: the pope francis story

So I don't usually do this, but I've seen so much confusion and misinformation in the news media that I felt it was necessary. It's sad to see, after such an incredible, profound, and transformational week took place in Brazil, all the mishegas now surrounding his words to reporters on the plane ride home. I haven't seen too many full transcriptions of his words so I quickly put together a direct translation of the Spanish which the press have claimed proves that Pope Francis is "signalling opennes" to gay priests. I'm Argentinian and am fluent so I figured I could help. I tried to stay as close to his words as possible since sometimes people take liberties with translation; it's not terribly prosaic but it does the trick. It was helpful to me to read what he said in its entirety and not in soundbites. Hope you find this helpful, too.

(For more extensive analysis and commentary on the subject I direct you here, here, here, and here.)

Q: You haven't spoken yet on abortion or on gay marriage. In Brazil, they have approved a law which expands the right to abortion and legalizes gay marriage. Why haven't you spoken about this?

R: The Church has already expressed itself perfectly on this, it wasn't necessary to revisit this, nor to talk about scams, lying, or other things of which the Church already has a clear doctrine. It wasn't necessary to talk about that but, rather, positive things which help young people on their journey. Also, young people know perfectly well what the position of the Church is.

Q: But what is your position on these issues?

R: That of the Church, I am a son of the Church.

...

Q: What should be the involvement of women in the church? What do you think of the ordination of women?

R: Like I told the bishops, on the involvement of women in the Church we cannot limit women altar servers, the president of Caritas, the catechists... There must be something more, there needs to be thorough Theology of the Woman. Regarding the ordination of women, the Church has spoken and she says no. John Paul II said this, but with a definitive formulation [or "with decisive language"]. That door is closed. But I want to say something about this: the Virgin Mary was more important than the apostles and the bishops and the deacons and the priests. The woman in the Church is more important than bishops and priests. How? This is what we must try to explain better. I believe we are missing a theological explanation of this.

Q: The story of Msgr. Battista Ricca has thrown the world for a loop. We would like to know how you will address this issue and everything related to the alleged gay lobby in the Vatican?

R: With respect to Msgr. Ricca, I did what canon law demanded which is a preliminary investigation. And this investigation doesn't correspond with what has been published. We haven't found anything. But I would like to add one thing about this. I think that many times in the Church--in relation to this case or others--they are going to look for the sins of youth. And then they're published. Not crimes, crimes are another thing. Abuse of children is a crime. I'm referring to sins. But if a person--lay, priest, or nun--commits a sin and later repents, the Lord forgives. And when the Lord forgives, He forgets. And this is important for our life. When we confess, God forgives and forgets. And we have no right to not forget. You mentioned the gay lobby. Much is written about the gay lobby. I have not yet found a single person who gives me an ID card in the Vatican where it says that. They say there are those people. When one comes across a person like that, one must distinguish between the fact of being a gay person and the fact of lobbying, because no lobby is good. If a person is gay and seeks God and is of good will, who am I to judge them? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains it very beautifully. It says that you should not marginalize those people because of that [being gay].  They should be integrated into society. The problem is not having this tendency. We must be brothers. The problem is making a lobby. Of this tendency or the lobby of the greedy, or of politicians, or of the Masons... So many lobbies... This is the bigger problem.

7 Quick Takes: Beach days, WYD & Tolkien

1.

I finally made it to the beach this week! And it was later in the day so it was nice and cool out, instead of boiling and humid. It was so good and refreshing to just lay there and read a book, the sounds of the waves just washing over me. I plan on doing a lot more of this before summer ends.

2. 

Picked up my Divine Office today, and nothing felt better than the familiar thin sheets of paper, the red letters, the rhythm of psalm-antiphon-psalm-antiphon-psalm-reading. It was like drinking from a cool glass of water after subsisting on nothing for so long. I'm ashamed to say I stopped talking to God for a while, back when I was still working in South Dakota. And it hurt. I felt like God had gone silent on me, so I did too. I've been going to Mass again, and adoration. And now, today, I opened up my book of prayer. One that had sustained me for many long, hard months.

What do you do when you feel spiritually dry? Distant?

3. 

Found this heartwarming little story amid all the World Youth Day Rio preparations. Two small stories in this wide world; simple faith.

 

4.

Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament… There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth...The only cure for sagging or fainting faith is Communion.

Who doesn't love a little J.R.R. Tolkien? I found this quote at just the right time, just when I needed it.

5.

It's been a rough few weeks, a rough news cycle, a rough economy, just rough. We've seen, played across our screens, and our Twitter feeds, some really dark places in the human heart. But I think we, as Christians, need to be the ones to keep hoping, keep praying, keep believing that God is alive and working and healing.

6.

And if I do speak, I still want it to be holy and broken. I want to find this pain and minster out of it because it’s through His own broken body we find our healing.

This. This beautiful post from over at Deeper Story about being and knowing God in the silent places and the broken places.

7.
So my quick takes this week were kind of a downer, I know, but this is what I felt these things needed to be said. Let me know what you think about anything I've mentioned above and if there's anything you want me to pray for.

This week, though, you should really be catching any World Youth Day coverage you can. Here are some places I like to follow along at:

For the telly - EWTN, CatholicTV
For the internet - SaltandLightTV, Magis,
For the Twitter - WYD official, The Jesuit Post guys, USCCB

WYD Cross & Icon on Sugarloaf Mtn, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

#Stand4Life, Stand with Ireland

You know when you're in a period of transition and everything feels in flux? Right. I'm working on some new posts and thinking about what I want for this blog. In the by and by, this issue came to my attention after I learned the pink sneakers of Wendy Davis have unfortunately led to a bus tour. Read it, follow it, and pass it around. Thanks!

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In the weeks following the infamous 13-hour filibuster by State Sen. Wendy Davis (D) over a Texas abortion bill, she quickly became the new (for now) face of pro-choice America. She's everywhere, capturing the attention of the deep-pocketed Planned Parenthood president, Cecile Richards, enough for the two to unite in a statewide bus tour called, "Stand with Texas Women!". The Democrats' new "rising star" she's set strategic minds spinning and seems to have secured for herself a shiny political future.

But the ugliness that has emerged along the pink-shirted, elaborately-marketed Wendy Davis Texas tour has been disheartening at best, grotesque and downright scary at worst. Hail Satan, anyone?

Yes, these are actual Texas lawmakers with actual coat hangers.

In Ireland, a similar drama is unfolding.

Over the last few weeks Fine Gael, Ireland's largest political party and the lead in the coalition government, has proposed the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 which would legislate--for the first time--legal access to abortion in limited circumstances.

Lucinda Creighton, a Minister of State, has led the resistance to this bill. In a remarkable speech to the Dáil (a House of Parliament), she lays out why she's voting against the bill. 

In it, she calls out the "groupthink" behind the Bill, the irony that abortion has actually become a tool of oppression for women because of sex selection. She asks what the difference is between abortion and killing a baby after delivery, since the net effect is the same: an innocent baby, a human life, is wiped out.

She even throws out the idea that the unborn should have the right to legal representation, since babies as young as 1 day old are sometimes assigned court-appointed guardians ad litem. Ultimately, she argues abortion will irrevocably change the "compassionate culture of care for mothers and babies" in Ireland. Ultimately, abortion solves nothing.

Lucinda Creighton and the other ministers who will vote against this bill do so knowing that they will lose their jobs, be expelled from the Fine Gael party, and will, most likely, lose their careers. They've been told by other ministers to check their consciences at the door, but have refused. The central question they've proposed is this: "Is a fetus/baby defined from one moment to the next on the basis of whether it is wanted or not?"

In Dublin, on July 6, there was a massive Rally for Life which brought out over 50,000 people. The last few nights, vigils have been held for life. This could very well be Ireland's Roe v. Wade moment.

 On Wednesday, when the vote was supposed to take place, the Dáil debated past the 5 a.m. deadline. They had been debating for 24 hours. 24 hours. And the debates are scheduled to continue in the evening. Over 100 pro-life protesters vowed to spend a second night kneeling outside Parliament in prayer.

It's a foregone conclusion that the bill will pass, with the majority of ministers pledging their votes. And yet, the fight continues, because it's worth it. This Thursday, I'll be praying for and with the Irish people. Keep following this issue, and keep praying!