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Pope Francis calls for new mindset

International

A change in mindset, as well as management, is required if the Catholic Church is to regain credibility following the clerical sex abuse crisis, Pope Francis told US bishops this month.

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“Clearly a living fabric has come undone and we, like weavers, are called to repair it,” he wrote in a letter to the bishops as they began a retreat to discern what the Pope referred to as a “crisis of credibility”.

“This requires not only a new approach to management, but also a change in our mindset, our way of praying, our handling power and money, our exercise of authority and our way of relating to one another and to the world around us.

“…amid the upset and confusion experienced by our communities, our primary duty is to foster a shared spirit of discernment.”

Pope Francis urged the bishops to abandon a “modus operandi of disparaging, discrediting, playing the victim or the scold in our relationships, and instead to make room for the gentle breeze that the Gospel alone can offer”.

“Let us try to break the vicious circle of recrimination, undercutting and discrediting, by avoiding gossip and slander in the pursuit of a path of prayerful and contrite acceptance of our limitiations and sins, and the promotion of dialogue, discussion and discernment.”

“We will do this if we can stop projecting onto others our own confusion and discontent, which are obstacles to unity…

“What is being asked of us today is a new presence in the world, conformed to the cross of Christ, one that takes concrete shape in service to the men and women of our time.”

Pope Francis said credibility was born of trust and trust was born of “sincere, daily, humble and generous service to all, but especially to those dearest to the Lord’s heart.”

Pope Francis Letter to US Bishops 2019 (003).

 

 

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