Fr. Worcester reflected on the pope as champion for the marginalized, preaching for the preservation human dignity and messages that are “close to the teaching of Jesus himself.” From his declaration that Bishop Oscar Romero, assassinated during mass in 1980, would finally be martyred, to his encyclical on the environment, to opening discussion and debate on pastoral care of the family, the pope has been an active Jesuit leader says Fr. Worcester, drawing crowds “to centers of power such as the White House…as well as to relatively marginal places.”
“Standing up for the oppressed and marginalized, the refugee and the migrant, is not one thing among many others for Pope Francis,” Fr. Worcester says in his piece. “They are at the very heart of Christian vocation.” While many “rigorists” may criticize the pope’s Jesuit optimism on human nature, Fr. Worcester says that the pope continues to affirm that “the true defenders of doctrine uphold not its letter but its spirit: they place people above ideas, and God’s mercy above condemnations.”
“For Pope Francis,” Fr. Worcester says, “who calls himself a sinner, mercy is not merely the theme of a special year; it is the perennial heart of what is divine and most fully human.”
Read the full article at the Huffington Post.
This “Holy Cross in the News item” is by Emma Collins ’16.
Holy Cross Professor Reflects on Pope Francis’ Fourth Year
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