✣ Highlights from the week online
The missing tech giant On his blog, Sandro Magister detailed which members of the global super-rich have – and haven’t – gained meetings with Pope Francis. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google chief Eric Schmidt and Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom have all had audiences. Leonardo DiCaprio visited the Vatican last month, handing over a cheque “for works of charity close to [the Pope’s] heart”. But not everybody has got through to Francis. According to Sandro Magister, Bill Gates’s proposed visit was shelved after an intervention by “a pair of African cardinals, who reminded the Pope that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is highly active in promoting abortion in poor countries”. We’re not extremists! Fr Dwight Longenecker regretted the news that Cruxnow.com has had its support pulled by The Boston Globe. The Catholic news site is now seeking new backers. Fr Longenecker, who wrote for the site, said it had sometimes felt too redolent of “Boston Catholicism”. He described this culture as: “‘Yes. Women will be ordained one day. We just have to wait and work harder at it. Yes. Same-sex marriage is a good thing and eventually our dear old Catholic Church will get itself up to date. Yes, abortion is OK. It’s a matter of a woman’s conscience. We’re cradle Catholics. We have fond childhood memories of Friday night fish fries, Sister Mary O’Hanrahan and her ruler and bingo in the church hall. Of course we don’t go to church every Sunday. We’re not extremists!’ You get the idea." Patience for penitents In an interview at Aleteia, Mgr Charles Pope said hearing confessions had “taught me to have patience with the human condition. We all have our foibles; our struggles. There is a call to take sin seriously, but most confessions are people dealing with their struggles and I’ve discovered that people’s struggles and their strengths are closely related. Maybe a person is great at getting along with people, but they don’t stand up for things, for example.” Mgr Pope stressed the importance of being a good listener. “There is something so powerful about listening; it allows someone to unburden themselves. What I say as a confessor is a minor part – the fact that someone can speak it out loud is powerful. I’ve learned this as a spiritual director too. In letting the person talk it through, they minister to themselves; there is a healing that goes on. Ultimately, I hope I convey that I’m so glad they are here. I want them to feel comfortable speaking.” He also said he can’t remember what penitents confess. “Within a few years as a priest, generally, you can’t possibly remember what you’ve heard in confession by the end of the day. Poor memory is a grace God gives us.”
