Thursday, January 30, 2014

Pope Francis on answers and politics

'I don't have all the answers; I don't have all the questions. I always think of new questions, and there are always new questions coming forward. But the answers have to be thought out according to the different situations, and you also have to wait for them. I confess that, because of my disposition, the first answer that comes to me is usually wrong. When I'm facing a situation, the first solution I think of is what not to do. Because of this I have learned not to trust my first reaction. When I'm calmer, after passing through the crucible of solitude, I come closer to understanding what has to be done...You can do a great deal of harm with the decisions you make. One can be very unfair.' 

'Getting involved in politics is a Christian duty', Pope Francis told an audience of young students in June 2013 in Rome. 'We Christians cannot be like Pilate and wash our hands clean of things. We need to get involved in politics because it's one of the highest expressions of charity. It takes the common into consideration. Lay Christians must work in politics. That's no easy task you might say. But it isn't an easy task become a priest either! Politics is dirty but the reason it has become dirty is that Christians didn't get deeply enough involved in the evangelical spirit. It's easy to find excuses for this...but what do I do? Working for the common good is a Christian duty.'
From Pope Francis:untying the knots, by Paul Vallely, pages 131 and 139 respectively. 

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