{"id":35234,"date":"2016-12-27T11:52:45","date_gmt":"2016-12-27T17:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=35234"},"modified":"2016-12-30T06:11:28","modified_gmt":"2016-12-30T12:11:28","slug":"leonardo-boff-interview-pope-francis-is-one-of-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/27\/leonardo-boff-interview-pope-francis-is-one-of-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Leonardo Boff Interview: \u201cPope Francis is One of Us\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

An interview of Leonardo Boff<\/a> appeared on Christmas Day in the K\u00f6lner Stadt-Anzeiger<\/em> (roughly, \u201cCologne City Notifier\u201d), and it has some explosive things in it.<\/p>\n

Boff, the 78-year-old son of Italian immigrants to Brazil, entered the Franciscan order and studied five years in Germany. He became a strong voice for liberation theology and a vocal critic of the official church, for which he was twice forbidden to publish by the Vatican. In 1992 he left the Franciscan order and the priesthood.<\/p>\n

Referring to the pope\u2019s relationship to liberation theology, Boff states that \u201cFrancis is one of us.\u201d He believes that Francis has not only made liberation theology the common inheritance of the church, he has also developed and expanded it to include the ecological dimension. As Boff characterizes it, \u201cWhoever speaks of the poor must today also speak of the earth\u2026 to hear the cry of the poor means to hear the cry of the animals, the forestlands, all of tortured creation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boff reveals that Pope Francis asked him for material for his encyclical \u201cLaudato si\u2019.\u201d Boff sent Francis his advice and some of his writings. The pope told Boff not to send the materials directly to him, however, because Vatican underlings would grab it and it wouldn\u2019t get to him. He advised Boff to send the materials to the Argentinian ambassador, with whom Francis has a good relationship going back to his time in Argentina. \u201cThen it will certainly land in my hands,\u201d the pope told him. A day after the publication of the encyclical, the pope called Boff to thank him for his help.<\/p>\n

Boff notes that the pope has worked for reconciliation with the most important representatives of liberation theology \u2013 Gustavo Gutierrez, Jon Sobrino, and him. Boff told the pope of the difficulty of acting while Pope Benedict is alive \u2013 \u201cbut the other one is still living!\u201d The pope would have none of it: \u201cIl papa sono io\u201d (\u201cI\u2019m the pope\u201d). Boff speaks of Francis\u2019s \u201ccourage and decisiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Francis invited Boff to Rome for a visit, and Boff had even landed in Rome for the visit. But then \u2013 this was immediately before the beginning of the 2015 family synod \u2013 13 cardinals sent a letter to Francis as a sort of revolt against his leadership of the synod. The pope said to him, \u201cBoff, I don\u2019t have time. I must calm the waters before the synod. We will come together another time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boff jokes that Cardinal Burke is \u201cthe Donald Trump of the Catholic Church.\u201d Except that Burke is neutralized within the Roman curia \u2013 \u201cThanks be to God,\u201d Boff exclaims. Boff says that Burke and like-minded cardinals think they must correct the pope, as if they stood over him. To which Boff says,<\/p>\n

\u201cOne can criticize the pope, discuss with him. I have done that often enough. But that cardinals publicly accuse the pope of dissemination theological errors, or even heresy, this is \u2013 in my opinion \u2013 too much. This is an affront which the pope cannot tolerate.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Asked about the lack of concrete church reforms under Pope Francis, Boff maintains that Pope Francis is more interested in the survival of humanity and the future of the earth than he is in the church and its inner workings. He wants above all that Christianity make a contribution to these overarching problems. But yet, Boff believes deep church reforms could be coming \u2013 \u201cJust you wait!\u201d He notes that Cardinal Walter Kasper, who is a close confidant of the pope, recently said that big surprises are coming soon. Boff wonders if it might be female deacons, or perhaps the readmission to ministry of married priests \u2013 \u201cWho knows?\u201d Boff has heard that the pope wishes to respond positively to a request of the Brazilian bishops in this regard, at first as an experiment in Brazil.<\/p>\n

Boff says that a decision to readmit former priests would not affect him personally, for he already ministers as a priest. He baptizes, he buries, and when he comes to a community lacking a priest, he celebrates Mass with them. So far, no bishop has objected or forbidden this of him. Bishops in fact rejoice and say to him, \u201cThe people have a right to the Eucharist. Continue on without any worries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boff reveals that his theology teacher Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns, who died recently, was very open about this. When the cardinal saw married priests in the pews during Mass, he called them up to the altar and celebrated the Eucharist with them. He often did this, and said, \u201cThey are indeed priests forever, and they remain priests!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pope Francis told Boff not to send the requested materials for Laudato Si’<\/i> directly to him, because Vatican underlings would grab it and it wouldn\u2019t get to him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1081,2972,25,187],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church-reform","category-environment-and-ecology","category-ordained-ministry","category-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nLeonardo Boff Interview: \u201cPope Francis is One of Us\u201d - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/27\/leonardo-boff-interview-pope-francis-is-one-of-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leonardo Boff Interview: \u201cPope Francis is One of Us\u201d - 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