Thanks for your email.
Someone said "the first duty of a Christian is to listen."
Whether or not listening is our "first" duty, it is a sacred obligation. (Maryknoll lay missioners spend 3-6 months preparing for their assignments. When sent to their final destination they are given this directive: "Spend six months listening to the people." http://www.mklm.org/)
I do not think Francis could have developed his highly "de-conditioned" world-view if he were not a skilled listener.
The flip side of Francis' remarkable de-conditioning is that those who do not listen -- those who refuse to listen, those who are motivated by uncharitable and often cruel adherence to dry doctrine -- end up spouting The Party Line.
The doctrinaire listen to no one but reflections of themselves.
Indeed, they arrange their lives to avoid "the other."
Personally, I cannot conceive that anyone so ready to mingle, touch and embrace as the pope is would not be a good listener.
Not mingling, not touching, not embracing are insular characteristics of those who refuse to listen, those who take pains to avoid situations where they might have opportunity to listen.
I encourage you to keep in mind that this is a whirlwind tour and that the pope's invitation to visit America "contained" an implicit understanding that public appearances would focus on sharing the wisdom he has already embodied, not papal variations of "town hall meetings" or The Jerry Springer Show.
Some hold that Francis' trip to Philadelphia to focus The World Meeting Of Families informed his decision to visit the United States. By all reports he has been listening carefully to what participants are saying.
For my part, I assume Francis has "answers" and that unlike most other world celebrities, he is wise enough to express them by word and deed. Not just by "pontification."
I also assume that Francis will learn a great deal in America and that his meetings with homeless people -- and Fidel Castro! -- are visible emblems of his determination to be open, to meet "the other."
Consider this moment: https://bobsullivan.net/personal/the-little-girl-who-stole-the-show-during-the-popes-visit/
Can you imagine another "world leader" opening to this kind of encounter?
Other world leaders would heed their plutocratic job description and stay within "the bubble."
Francis delights in bursting it.
"Plutocracy Triumphant"
Cartoon Compendium
Pax tecum
Alan
Pope Francis: Quotations On Finance, Economics, Capitalism And Inequality
Pope Francis: Quotations On Finance, Economics, Capitalism And Inequality
Pope Francis: One Of The Most Powerful Critiques Of Capitalism You Will Ever Read
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/03/pope-francis-one-of-most-powerful.html
Pope Francis: "This Economy Kills"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/01/pope-francis-this-economy-kills.html
Catholic Social Teaching
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/01/catholic-social-teaching.html
Pope Francis: Moving The Moral Compass
From "The Individual" Toward "The Collective"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/01/pope-francis-moving-moral-judgment-from.html
Pope Francis Takes On The Catholic Bureaucracy
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/12/pope-francis-takes-on-catholic.html
Pro-Science Pontiff: Pope Francis On Climate Change, Evolution And The Big Bang
Pope Francis: What Christianity Looks Like When Believers Realize "God Is Love"
On Fri, Sep 25, 2015 at 10:33 AM, Fred Owens <froghospital911@gmail.com> wrote:
The Pope comes to America and talks. He should listen too. He should ask, "how can I help you?"
Instead he seems to know the answers and to have the solutions.--
My writing blog is Frog Hospital
A photo of Pope Francis on his daily subway commute when bishop of Buenos Aires.
Alan: This correspondence is posted as "Is Pope Francis Overly-Eager To Preach At The Expense Of Listening? Fred Owens"at http://paxonbothhouses.
Fred's Reply: An excellent response to my query, you have said it well.
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