The Jesuit Province of China has published an interview with Pope Francis on its YouTube channel in which, asked for a recommendation for a candidate to join the Society of Jesus, he responds with humor: “Let him become a Dominican!” .
Later, in a more formal tone, he assured that “I would tell him to let himself be accompanied by a person who will accompany him and who will come to discern.” On the other hand, he explained that “there is one thing in the Society of Jesus that we never have to lose: missionaryism” because, he argued, “it is a missionary order.”
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In this sense, he explained that “the difficulties and resistance that San Ignacio had at the beginning were conflicts of people who looked inward and lost their missionary nature.”
The pontiff also reflected on how the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius help him in his task as successor of Saint Peter, especially the recommendation to “listen before resolving, to have myself accompanied so as not to make mistakes.”
Pope Francis: Criticism always helps
Pope Francis also shared how he deals with criticism of his apostolic work, pointing out that “even if they are not constructive, they always help, because they make one reflect on their way of acting.”
Faced with resistance to his way of doing things in the Catholic Church, he confesses that “many times you have to wait, endure” and also “correct yourself, because behind resistance there can be good criticism.”
Sometimes, he confessed, he also experiences these situations “with pain” because “the resistance, as is happening right now, is not only against me, it is against the Church.”
In this sense, he referred to the promoters of sedevacantist ideas as “small groups that will become integrated over time.”
The Chinese people are faithful and “masters at waiting,” says the Pope
Pope Francis reiterated his intention to make an apostolic trip to China, in which, specifically, he would like to meet with the bishops “and with the people of God, who are so faithful”, to transmit a message of hope, although he pointed out:
“It seems tautological to me to give a message of hope to a people who are masters of waiting. The Chinese are masters of patience, of waiting. “You have the virus of hope.”
Of all the places he could visit, Pope Francis suggested the sanctuary of Our Lady of She Shan, the most important in the Asian country, located west of Shanghai and confessed that in his office he has an image of this Marian devotion.
A message to his successor and a vision of the Catholic Church in the future
The Pope has shared that he would tell his successor in the Chair of Saint Peter “to pray”, because “the Lord already speaks in prayer” and expressed a wish for the Catholic Church in 50 years: “I think that the Church “You must be careful not to fall into the plague of clericalism and the plague of spiritual worldliness.”
According to the conversation held in Spanish between the Jesuit priest Pedro Chia and Pope Francis, it took place on May 24, but was not published until this Friday.
Nicholas de Cardenas
Born in 1980, I am a Spanish husband and father and journalist with more than 20 years of experience in print and digital media, specializing in sociopolitical and religious information. I have worked for more than 10 years in defense of human rights and have accreditations in Journalism and Comprehensive Communication. Since July 2022, I have been a correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in Spain, covering international events of the Catholic Church.