Dilexit can reconcile us dissatisfied with Pope Francis, says expert

Father Etienne Kern, rector of the Sanctuary of Paray-le-Monial, where the Sacred Heart of Jesus was revealed to Saint Margaret Mary of Alacoque, affirms that the encyclical He loved us (He Loved Us) can reconcile “those who are somewhat destabilized by the teaching of Pope Francis.”

This has been assured in statements to Vatican News in which he assured that “this encyclical is the key to the pontificate” of Pope Francis.

“Perhaps some see the teaching of Pope Francis as very political or very socially committed. The Pope says that this only makes sense and can only be understood if you have the key. And the key is that Jesus is meek and humble of heart, moved with compassion before the crowds, like sheep without a shepherd,” noted Father Kern.

In the opinion of the rector of the Paray-le-Monial sanctuary, “this is what can encourage us, and perhaps reconcile, especially those who are somewhat destabilized by the teaching of Pope Francis. This can deeply reconcile all the sensitivities present in the Church, which will find in this text a kind of unanimity, one heart and one soul.”

In the interview, Father Kern also valued “the treasure that the Pope has made available to believers through this encyclical” as “an immense act of grace.”

Just as the apparitions to Saint Margaret Mary of Alacoque were framed in “a context overwhelmingly marked by the fear of God and hell” advocated by the Jansenist doctrine, for which “the remedy is the Sacred Heart,” Father Kern considered that “this remedy is more valid than ever.”

Thus, it is present “reminding us, on the one hand, that God is near, that he has loved us with a human heart” and, on the other, “that He is love, that he loves us, that his is an unconditional love.”

At the same time, he stressed that “the message of Paray-le-Monial is even more relevant today than then. When the Lord complains about ingratitude and indifference, perhaps he is talking about our times,” not only toward God, but also toward others.

“For this reason, when the Lord shows his heart, which is meek and humble, he invites a kind of ‘social miracle’, an expression that Pope Francis uses in his encyclical so that this experience we have of God transforms our way of acting.” added Father Kern.

In his opinion, one of the many contributions of the papal document is that it shows how devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus “is not intimate but, on the contrary, deeply motivating in the transformation of society and in the proclamation of the gospel.”

On the other hand, the rector of the Paray-le-Monial sanctuary pointed out that Pope Francis’ encyclical fulfills the role of “unifying center, of synthesis that energizes, rejoices and sends.”

A “provocation” for the Catholic Church in France

The numerous references to French spiritual authors in the encyclical He loved us It is “almost a provocation for us French,” said Father Kern, “because this devotion has been entrusted to us in a special way. It is a grace, not for boasting, but as a responsibility.”

In this sense, he considered that those who are part of the Catholic Church in France should reappropriate “what we have in a certain way forgotten. “Today it is as if the Pope reopened the well that had been a bit clogged in recent decades.”

“There is a treasure that we need as a Church, because the world needs to burn and this document is fire, because it speaks of the fire of the Heart of Jesus,” he concluded.