“Creativity of the Gospel,” not “A Defensive Catholicism"

The Pope, our Holy Father Francis, is visiting Slovakia. I want to share with you some highlights of what I thought is a significant speech for our times.

Speaking to Bishops, priests, and seminarians on Monday, Pope Francis said the Church should respond to the changing world with the “creativity of the Gospel,” not “a defensive Catholicism.”

“We are heirs to a rich Christian tradition, yet for many people today, that tradition is a relic from the past; it no longer speaks to them or affects the way they live their lives."

"Faced with the loss of the sense of God and of the joy of faith, it is useless to complain, to hide behind a defensive Catholicism, to judge and blame the evil world. No, we need the creativity of the Gospel."

He said: “Sometimes in the Church, too, this idea can take hold. Better to have everything readily defined, laws to be obeyed, security, and uniformity, rather than to be responsible Christians and adults who think, consult their conscience and allow themselves to be challenged."

“In the spiritual and ecclesial life, we can be tempted to seek an ersatz peace that consoles us, rather than the fire of the Gospel that disturbs and transforms us.”

He went on to say: “Yet a Church that has no room for the adventure of freedom, even in the spiritual life, risks becoming rigid and self-enclosed. Some people may be used to this. But many others especially the younger generations  are not attracted by a faith that leaves them no interior freedom, by a Church in which all are supposed to think alike and blindly obey.”

"Everyone should discover the freedom of the Gospel by gradually entering into a relationship with God, confident that they can bring their history and personal hurts into his presence without fear or pretense, without feeling the need to protect their own image.”

“To be able to say: ‘I am a sinner,’ but to say it sincerely, not beat our chests and then continue to believe we are righteous.”

True freedom comes in recognizing that we stand in need of Jesus, all of us, and that we share this in common.

The Pope also emphasized the creative power of the Holy Spirit saying: “What a fine thing it is when we find new ways, means and languages to proclaim the Gospel! We can use our human creativity; every one of us has this ability. But the great source of creativity is the Holy Spirit! He is the one who inspires us to be creative. If by our preaching and pastoral care we can no longer enter by the usual way, let us try to open up different spaces, and experiment with other means.”

The full text can be found on the Vatican website.