Tag: Catholic Church
Let he who is without sin….
There was no way the new Pope was going to be anything like the reincarnation of Pope John XXIII, the hero of every liberal Catholic, like me. Any Pope coming out of this College of Cardinals would hold views consistent with the conservative Popes who appointed them, John Paul and Benedict. There would be no daylight on the sexual issues like abortion, birth control and gay marriage. My hope was that the new Pope would balance those views with a great commitment to the poor and disadvantaged. I wanted a Pope who exercised the “preferential option for the poor,” to coin a phrase. I have some hope that I got that. Pope Francis does seem to live by my favorite line in the Bible, “Whatever you did for the least of my brethren, you did for me.” Continue Reading
Giving the Reading at St. Peter’s in Rome
It occurred to me that I’ve never posted the video of a high point in my life, the day I gave the reading at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. It happened on a family vacation on June 26, 2005. I was plucked out of the congregation seemingly at random. The video was taken by my daughter, Bridget, who was 11 at the time. My wife, Rita, panicked when she couldn’t get the camera to work, so Bridget saved the day. For those keeping score, it was Romans 6:3-11.
I thought I’d test out the video capabilities for my new hosting service for the Preferential Option blog by posting the event. Here it is. It starts out with a Vatican official testing my reading abilities. There were about ten bishops on the alter. Very intimidating.
