Papal Interview Link; a new approach

http://www.americamagazine.org/pope-interview

Only in narrative form do you discern, not in a philosophical or theological explanation, which allows you rather to discuss

Well. he is not a Thomist, but I knew that.....and my favorite opera is Turandot which he quoted....

TURANDOT
Stranger, listen!
“In the gloomy night
an iridescent phantom flies.
It spreads its wings and rises
over infinite, black humanity!
Everyone invokes it,
everyone implores it!
But the phantom disappears at dawn
to be reborn in the heart!
And every night it’s born
and every day it dies!

What I found the most interesting was the Holy Father's commentary on memory in prayer, having done an in depth study of that last year in the monastery and putting those thoughts on my blog. The ideal of memory in Ignatius is strong, but limited to certain types of memory, not just any.  One of the very interesting things of the entire conversation is how Jesuit the Pope really is. I am actually glad to see that.  But, his approach is very personalistic, almost subjective.

And, of course John of the Cross moves beyond memory. As to other comments, I can say that I disagree with the Pope saying we spend too much time on abortion and homosexuality. Without us in the trenches fighting these things, the Church will be a very small remnant indeed.

We have had two popes in a row with very strong philosophical and teaching backgrounds. We cannot look for that in this Pope, who tends to use experience as the formation of thought.  

 We have just had over a quarter of a century of two philosopher-popes, who were also used to writing and teaching from a European perspective. Now, we have a pope who seems to prefer starting with his experiences in the world, rather than a philosophical framework, as he admitted, the time he was in the seminary was not particularly a good time for Scholasticism.

He seems to be more eclectic in his thinking approach than were either Bl. John Paul II or Pope Emeritus Benedict. This eclecticism works for him in discussing things but also can be used against him, as definitions are not as clear in this framework. The Jesuit mindset would be more attuned to the society and the world, of course, which is what I meant about him being more Jesuit than I thought. There would be no “philosophical system” of Jesuitry, but a using of many streams of thought. To put it all down to a mystic approach would be dangerous and naive, however.

This is not, dear readers, an infallible statement about anything, but a magazine article. 

Remember that.

Maybe he should just move into the Vatican Papal Apartments and be quiet for awhile. God bless him

The other thing is the South American, Spanish way of thinking which is foreign to so many of us. Cohelo and Marquez, for example… all of which I do not like, but find very post-modern and interesting from that point of view. In one of Marquez’s novels, he explores the idea of the “the solitude of power”. Maybe our Pope is trying to avoid that….

He does not seem to see we are on the edge of huge persecution.