Thursday, September 24, 2015

Pope Francis Secretly Met With Little Sisters of the Poor


Aleteia blog by Kirsten Anderson September 23, 2015

A Vatican spokesman revealed late Wednesday evening that Pope Francis earlier met privately with members of the Little Sisters of the Poor, the group of religious sisters at the center of a high-profile legal battle over the Obamacare birth control mandate which is expected to reach the Supreme Court.

 Fr. Frederico Lombardi, spokesman for the Holy See, told reporters at a Washington, D.C. press conference that Francis met with the nuns as “a sign of his support” for them in their lawsuit against the Obama administration. The sisters are seeking exemption from Obamacare’s birth control mandate, which requires employers to facilitate the provision of full, copay-free coverage for contraceptives, sterilization and the so-called “morning-after pill” for their female employees – all of which the Catholic Church considers immoral. The meeting, which was not on the pope’s publicly-released schedule of events, was held just hours after the pontiff met with President Obama at the White House. Father Lombardi did not say where, but he noted that the Little Sisters have a convent near the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where Pope Francis celebrated a late afternoon Mass. It is likely that he visited the order just after celebrating the liturgy.

 In their public remarks at the White House, Obama spoke at length about religious freedom overseas. But Pope Francis highlighted his concerns about religious freedom right here in the U.S., where the government and the Christian faithful, including the Little Sisters, have clashed over issues like same-sex “marriage” and employer-funded birth control.

27 comments:

Trooper York said...

Secretly.

edutcher said...

Secretly?

You'd think he was in Cuba or someplace.

Is he afraid the Choom Gang has something on him, too?

Trooper York said...

Why did it have to be a secret?

Why do even supporters of the Pope acknowledge that he couldn't or wouldn't bring up his support of the "Little Sisters of the Poor" with the President.

Is it humility?

Fr Martin Fox said...

It's obviously not "secret" -- there are pictures, for heaven's sake. Why harp on that assertion?

Trooper York said...

Because this was cited as a defense of the fact that the Pope is speaking out on behalf of the Sisters. It was not my description.

I just find it curious. Don't you Father?

Or am I totally off base. That the Pope is willing to speak the Truth to Power? That he will bear witness to the Powerful and mighty and risk the good opinion of the media elite. That the fight for religious freedom in the United States is a concern equal in the Pontif's regard to "air pollution?"

Isn't it curious.

Trooper York said...

Maybe I read to much into the Popes speeches and his words before Congress. I have been told continually that I have been misled by the media and what was reported was not what Pope Francis said. That I didn't understand.

Now it is my ears and eyes that are lying to me.

I guess I need it to be explained to me because I am too dense to understand the nuances.

Michael Haz said...

Trooper, may I suggest that you find a transcript of Pope Francis' speech to Congress and read it carefully? While he didn't say "knock off the abortions, will ya?", the richness of respect for life flows through his words.

Trooper York said...

I read it several times Haz. This is the relevant portion:

"Let us remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Mt 7:12).

This Rule points us in a clear direction. Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated. Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we would like to be helped ourselves. In a word, if we want security, let us give security; if we want life, let us give life; if we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us. The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development."

Trooper York said...

Fine words. Noble words. Nothing to argue about. How could you. Everyone agrees.

That is the sum total of his reference to the right to life. Period.

Trooper York said...

Here he speaks about business:
"It goes without saying that part of this great effort is the creation and distribution of wealth. The right use of natural resources, the proper application of technology and the harnessing of the spirit of enterprise are essential elements of an economy which seeks to be modern, inclusive and sustainable. “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world. It can be a fruitful source of prosperity for the area in which it operates, especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service to the common good” (Laudato Si’, 129). This common good also includes the earth, a central theme of the encyclical which I recently wrote in order to “enter into dialogue with all people about our common home” (ibid., 3). “We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all” (ibid., 14).

In Laudato Si’, I call for a courageous and responsible effort to “redirect our steps” (ibid., 61), and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity. I am convinced that we can make a difference and I have no doubt that the United States – and this Congress – have an important role to play. Now is the time for courageous actions and strategies, aimed at implementing a “culture of care” (ibid., 231) and “an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature” (ibid., 139). “We have the freedom needed to limit and direct technology” (ibid., 112); “to devise intelligent ways of… developing and limiting our power” (ibid., 78); and to put technology “at the service of another type of progress, one which is healthier, more human, more social, more integral” (ibid., 112). In this regard, I am confident that America’s outstanding academic and research institutions can make a vital contribution in the years ahead."

Trooper York said...

This is the portion that is most interesting to me:

"But there is another temptation which we must especially guard against: the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or, if you will, the righteous and sinners. The contemporary world, with its open wounds which affect so many of our brothers and sisters, demands that we confront every form of polarization which would divide it into these two camps. We know that in the attempt to be freed of the enemy without, we can be tempted to feed the enemy within. To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place. That is something which you, as a people, reject."

I think this is the nub of it for me. Where I differ so radically with so many of my friends and other people of good will. I think there easily definable good and evil. The Devil exists. His works are self evident. There are always two sides. Right and wrong. Maybe I am just too simple. I don't have much patience with nuance. With gray. Black and white is more the way I see it.

Michael Haz said...

"Moses provides us with a good synthesis of your work: you are asked to protect, by means of the law, the image and likeness fashioned by God on every human face."

Said early on, in the first minutes of his speech.

You may not agree with everything this Pope has said. Nor may I. But he was chosen by God moving through the Cardinals who elected him. Sometimes it's good that we are made unsettled.

Trooper York said...

I agree. I am also unsettled by where he puts his emphasis.

He was chosen by God. I agree with that. God has a plan. I hope I can see it. But I don't think I am smart enough to figure it out.

Michael Haz said...

When you have time (aren't all of us always too busy?) you'd enjoy reading Fr. Jonathon Morris' book The Way of Serenity.

Trooper York said...

Thanks Haz. I will get it.

I just started re-reading "Seven Storey Mountain."

Fr Martin Fox said...

Trooper:

Who was it that you were quoting with the "secret " business?

Michael Haz said...

Trooper, I read Seven Storey Mountain a couple of years ago. I enjoyed it, and think you will as well.

TTBurnett said...

Father: The "secret" reference is from the title of this piece from Aleteia, which I put up in a comment on an earlier thread.

The word, "Secret" in the title is mistaken and misleading. I think the person who wrote it was just careless. Clearly it should have been, "Private."

I thought the Pope's visit was a very appropriate response to Obama's rogues' gallery of invitees to his reception. The Holy Father is not here as an American politician, so he is not going to use arm-waving bluster and bombast like Netanyahu so ineffectually did. It's a pastoral visit aimed at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. Finger-wagging at Obama along the way would be counterproductive and out of character. But he did meet with the Little Sisters in a very appropriate, quiet, push-back to Obama's grotesque attempt to force the practical abandonment of Catholic doctrine. Who managed to miss this point?

Also, "Aleteia," the source here, is Elizabeth Scalia's latest online venture. She's left Patheos to pursue it. If anyone knows Elizabeth Scalia, they will understand she is not a squishy lefty in any way shape or form. She may have screwed up this headline, but I think she very much gets what the Holy Father is up to.

TTBurnett said...

And then there's this straightforward little piece from the Vatican, mentioning the Little Sisters' lawsuit specifically. The Pope didn't get in Obama's face about it, but, seriously, how much more clearly could he have sent the message?

Fr Martin Fox said...

TTB:

Thanks for the background.

I readily admit, I would prefer a more aggressive stance toward Mr. Obama (i.e., beginning several years ago with the bishops; not just with the pope). But I am not surprised the pope didn't take it, and I am not going to bash him for it.

Fr Martin Fox said...

TTB:

And, of course, you're right -- the pope's actions vis-a-vis the Little Sisters were crystal-clear. I imagine the heretics at the National so-called Catholic Reporter are choking.

Trooper York said...

Sometimes people subconsciously tell the truth without realizing it.

KCFleming said...

Pope JP2 had no trouble being crystal clear to the communists ruling Poland in the 1980s.

I see less clarity and more obfuscation.
He has the world media right in front of him, and could have sent an undeniable and direct message about the ongoing attack on religious freedom in the US, as evidenced by the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Meeting with them privately helps shore the Sisters up, to be sure, but is not any sort of push-back to Obama or anyone else.
Most Americans don't even know who they are.
Did Pope Francis tell the world of their plight? Maybe I missed it.

As for his reference to "“We need a conversation...", is he unaware that in the US and the EU this is Newspeak for "You're wrong and I'm right and I mean Left"?
Obama and Hillary and all of the US left use that same deceptive terminology.
Heck, I heard it at a city meeting last night and had to laugh out loud.
It actually means: The debate is over.



KCFleming said...

Well, I hope I am wrong about the Pope, Haz.

His embrace of bad economics and bad science is terribly disheartening.

KCFleming said...

I am chastened a bit by this however;
"One day after welcoming Pope Francis to Congress in a historic speech, the most powerful Catholic in the House of Representative has announced that he is giving up his seat by the end of October."

Hmmm...

Trooper York said...

What makes you think the Pope had anything to do with his resignation?

It's not like the Pope is going to press him to defund Planned Parenthood. The Pope isn't into arm twisting or bluster to protect the innocent. That's not his style.

Trooper York said...

Now if you told me that the Pope threatened to excommunicate him if he didn't turn down the air conditioner.....well that I can believe.