A
Catholic Times journalist responsible for reporting news from abroad
recalls the media coverage of the three most recent popes, especially
coverage of their trips outside of Rome. They are treated like
entertainers who, when they first alight in a foreign land, are making
fashion statements, he says, with their clothes and accessories.
Pope John, after leaving the airplane, would bend over to kiss the ground. Twice in his trips to Korea this was his first greeting to Koreans, followed by saying "This is a land of the martyrs." With Pope Benedict, the Prada red shoes were the big interest. What seemed to be of interest when Francis went to Brazil was his carrying his little black bag onto the plane. Even when he was talking unreservedly to the Italian Premier Enrico Letta, he had this same bag with him.
Shouldn't
there have been someone to carry it for him, the journalist asks, to
quiet those who might think it rude that the pope has to carry his own
bag? But the same thing occurred on his return to Rome. As we all know,
this behavior is nothing new. He paid his own bill at the place where he
stayed during the conclave and carried his own bags. He refused a
private car and traveled by bus with the other Cardinals. The
informality shown by the pope is very attractive to the ordinary
Catholic, some of whom have said they now find going to church a joyful
experience.
The Journalist recalls a recent trip to the United States, where he visited a Korean parish in Virginia. The occasion was the blessing of the Church after remodeling was finished, and the bishop was there for the blessing. The Korean parishioners were outside waiting for the bishop to arrive in a small faded silver-colored car. His massive frame appeared, with some difficulty, from behind the drivers seat, and proceeded to the trunk of the car, taking out a big bag on wheels, which he dragged to the place of greeting. The Sunday school students greeted him with bouquets of flowers. He greeted them with a hearty laugh. He dragged the bag up the steps and disappeared inside the church. There was nobody, the journalist said, who drove the car for him nor anybody who carried his bags. Can this, by any stretch of the imagination, the journalist asks, be called rude behavior?
The
journalist wonders what would it be like if the pope's personal manner
of behaving, which is very attractive to many, became the normal way of
doing things by the bishops of the Church--riding in buses and carrying
their own bags, for example.
Pope John, after leaving the airplane, would bend over to kiss the ground. Twice in his trips to Korea this was his first greeting to Koreans, followed by saying "This is a land of the martyrs." With Pope Benedict, the Prada red shoes were the big interest. What seemed to be of interest when Francis went to Brazil was his carrying his little black bag onto the plane. Even when he was talking unreservedly to the Italian Premier Enrico Letta, he had this same bag with him.
The Journalist recalls a recent trip to the United States, where he visited a Korean parish in Virginia. The occasion was the blessing of the Church after remodeling was finished, and the bishop was there for the blessing. The Korean parishioners were outside waiting for the bishop to arrive in a small faded silver-colored car. His massive frame appeared, with some difficulty, from behind the drivers seat, and proceeded to the trunk of the car, taking out a big bag on wheels, which he dragged to the place of greeting. The Sunday school students greeted him with bouquets of flowers. He greeted them with a hearty laugh. He dragged the bag up the steps and disappeared inside the church. There was nobody, the journalist said, who drove the car for him nor anybody who carried his bags. Can this, by any stretch of the imagination, the journalist asks, be called rude behavior?
