Please. Stop. Not. Helping.
Vatican spokesman Fr. Lombardi gives us a guide on to understand that the Pope is saying. Don’t.
Perhaps the most insightful take on all this came from Lombardi himself, who said we’re seeing the emergence of a whole new genre of papal speech — informal, spontaneous and sometimes entrusted to others in terms of its final articulation. A new genre, Lombardi suggested, needs a “new hermeneutic,” one in which we don’t attach value so much to individual words as to the overall sense.
Seriously, so not helping.
October 5, 2013 at 5:32 am
So, in other words, the contemporary equivalent of the "spirit" of Vatican II… yay.
October 5, 2013 at 5:47 am
Wow. The things I'm hearing from just keep getting wackier…
October 5, 2013 at 5:47 am
sorry, should say "from Rome just…"
October 5, 2013 at 9:44 am
the G 8 wow what a spirit of this world.
October 5, 2013 at 1:07 pm
"don’t attach value so much to individual words as to the overall sense."
Isn't that the New American Bible?
October 5, 2013 at 1:12 pm
When movies make more sense than the Catholic Church you know you are in the full flowering of the revolution.
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain
Pay only carefully circumscribed attention to that man who lives in Domus Sanctae Marthae
October 5, 2013 at 1:14 pm
I've got a better one for you…Vatican spokesman says we should see Pope Francis as just "shooting the breeze" when he speaks or better yet (I kid you not)… we are to NOT put "too much value" in the words when the Pope says when he speaks. Instead we are to look for the SENSE in which the Pope speaks. *sigh*
{and I quote}
Vatican Spokesman says: Francis has decided to approach the world on casual terms, and the world has responded with overwhelming love for him, if not always perfect understanding of the faith.
How, then, should Christians read his interviews? Talmudic explanations of how what he said was not what he really meant or, on the other hand, what the faith really teaches miss the point. Francis is not so much aiming for precision as shooting the breeze.
… That this has been Francis’ desire has long been clear, but now it’s been confirmed by Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi. John Allen reports:
Perhaps the most insightful take on all this came from Lombardi himself, who said we’re seeing the emergence of a whole new genre of papal speech — informal, spontaneous and sometimes entrusted to others in terms of its final articulation. A new genre, Lombardi suggested, needs a “new hermeneutic,” one in which we don’t attach value so much to individual words as to the overall sense. [end quote]
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/10/04/vatican-spokesman-dont-parse-pope-francis/
October 5, 2013 at 1:32 pm
" A new genre, Lombardi suggested, needs a 'new hermeneutic'"
The name of this 'new hermeneutic' can be take right from one of the Pope's 'new genre' speeches: "The Hermeneutic of Solemn Nonsense"
October 5, 2013 at 2:00 pm
In the words of Linda Blair, please mommy make it stop.
October 5, 2013 at 2:13 pm
Somehow, I think that the army of Catholic bloggers spending every day carefully parsing every word spoken by Francis, comparing it to words of former Popes, haggling over translations, all in a desperate attempt to assure their readers that all is well and nothing bad will happen – will totally ignore this.
October 5, 2013 at 4:39 pm
JB- You win my best comment of the year award!!! Quoting Linda Blair, Stunningly awsome.
October 5, 2013 at 6:50 pm
'The world has responded with overwhelming love for him, if not always perfect understanding of the faith'.
Well, that's just great. For him. Maybe Christ will get a look in some time? Pray for Mgr Lombardi, who has to think up ever more unlikely explanations and give them with a straight face.
October 5, 2013 at 7:38 pm
These excuses for the Pope's latest public statements are worst than "The dog ate my homework".
October 5, 2013 at 10:19 pm
There are many bloggers et al who suggest that the Pope is merely being provocative and trying to get discussion going about these topics. Of course when anybody raises an objection to Pope Francis's articulation of certain issues we are told to "shut up and obey the Pope" you judgmental, self-righteous, holier than thou, morally obsessed Catholics.
October 6, 2013 at 2:30 am
So basically, Lombardi is more fatigued than all of us put together in trying to parse the words.
October 6, 2013 at 3:08 am
thanks Suzanne. it's actually how i feel, jerking up and down with the atheist interview comments – – plus the counting rosaries crack.
great film and a reminder that "liberation theology" of the latin american sort is a profound lie.
October 6, 2013 at 6:53 pm
I think what may be important to take from Pope Francis' actions are that they are compassionate to the social needs of our modern age. We need to send the message and focus on the message of the Gospel in its entirety. However, much of the Gospel has been ignored in favor of politics, such as abortion, gay-marriage, and the like. What we have done in politicizing our faith we have lost in faith: God's promise of salvation for those who become His disciples. We need to live as Christ did, live as the apostles did, live as Mary did, and keep politics to politics and religion to religion. I'm a full supporter of eliminating abortion, I do not support gay-marriage. I also am appalled to see so many People call themselves Catholics and contracept, abort, divorce, support gay-marriage in the Church, and push for religious tolerance. They have lost themselves into the pleasures of the world and not to the pleasures of Heaven. However, will laws truly change people? NO!! We need disciples!! We need the Gospel in action! Laws are only useful when they are taken to heart, otherwise they mean nothing.
October 7, 2013 at 1:16 am
I agree with much that is said about Pope Francis. But the words of a Pope have weight and merit and to say, don't take them literally means that when the a pope speaks there is a risk his words become a part of the background noise that our culture has far too much of ass it is.
October 7, 2013 at 2:57 am
Oh my God!! It is only I can say.
Now, I am reading that Dolan is confirming error (by Pope or Scalfari) in the interview.
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/dolan-confirms-error-scalfari-interview
Again, oh my God!!