Pope Francis' killer pace wearing out his aides

[bemildred]

Source: AP

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - The 76-year-old Argentine Jesuit, who lost most of one lung following an infection in his youth, has been acting like a man half his age during his first international trip as pope, adding in events at the last minute to his already full schedule and gamely going with the flow after heavy rains forced major changes in the World Youth Day agenda.

His spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, noted Thursday that such vigorous activity has been the norm at the Vatican ever since Francis came to town, saying the Vatican's usually staid bureaucrats were getting "stressed out" by his pace - and that that was a good thing.

But he quipped: "I'm happy we're half-way through because if it were any longer I'd be destroyed."

Francis added two unscheduled events Thursday to an already full day: a morning Mass with some 300 seminarians from the region, and then a meeting at Rio's cathedral with some 30,000 Argentine pilgrims.

Read more: http://www.presstelegram.com/breakingnews/ci_23734300/pope-francis-killer-pace-wearing-out-his-aides

[madrchsod]

1. lots of things to do and....

so little time to do it. he`s got maybe 10-15 years left to accomplish his mission

[Lurks Often]

2. I doubt his aides are much younger

and while I greatly dislike the Catholic Church's views on a number of issues , how they have handled the pedophiles among the priests and their past (Crusades, Inquisition), with those caveats, this new Pope seems to be a decent, likable human being.

[Volaris]

3. Something tells me he'd just be happy as clams in mud

if he outlived the Vatican Bureaucrats by outrunning them all to death lol.

I like this Pope. He kinda gets that he's supposed to be Christ's ambassador to the Poor on this earth, and that means actually going to where the Poor ARE. That means moving around a lot, and the College of Cardinals be damned if they don't like it.

To the spiritual among us (ESPECIALLY those raised in the Catholic Tradition):
When the Spirit moves, it don't fuck around. Shit gets done.

[Beacool]

7. This.........

[Hekate]

10. Yes, yes. And it must feel GOOD to get out of the unholy precincts

Shoveling out that muck is harder by far than this trip, but he seems determined to do it. More power to His Holiness, and long life to him. I like this man.

When the Spirit moves, it don't fuck around. Shit gets done. <-- This!

[Volaris]

12. I'm glad you like the word phrasing I used lol.

When I was young(er) I was fortunate enough to have spent time inside the Charismatic Renewal. What I can say about the expierence is that while it CEMENTED my faith very deeply into the core of my being, it also was responsible for the complete COLLAPSE of almost all need that I previously had for the Institution of the Religion I had been raised with, and I don't think my expierence is unique. The CR in the USA was something that, as soon as The Chruch realized it was something it should try and "direct", something it should have some measure of control over, it nearly up and vanished...like it had planted all the seeds it had needed to within the people that had expierenced it, and when that work was done, it moved on.

This will seem strange to ears that can't hear or eyes that can't see, but when I watched the first protest movements that would come to be called the Arab Spring, I had the wierd and wonderful feeling that I now knew where it had gone when it left, and I was watching it manifest itself in an all-to-familiar way, in a manner that was completely new and vibrant and...On Fire.

It NEVER rests. It's just ALWAYS shaping, manifesting, altering, encouraging, MOVING.

I like that this Pope isn't afraid to let HIMSELF be moved. It's not just a nice change of pace. It's a much-needed example to the rest of us, even if all it does is compel us to WATCH.

[Hekate]

13. I think that must have been what my late aunt and uncle got involved with

I really never knew much about it, not because I was too young to remember but because I lived a couple of thousand miles away from them and everything was filtered through my mother's letters.

She disapproved on several counts, I think: 1- Mom was an ex-Catholic, 2- this was non-intellectual, and 3- they went to Spain, where 4- "What they're doing is illegal there. They could be arrested if found out." What they were doing was holding religious meetings in homes.

Since Generalissimo Franco didn't die until 1975 and I was in college until 1971, I think they must have traveled there in the late 1960s.

I always wondered how this form of religious expression came about in the Catholic Church, and what happened to it. You have just filled in a big blank for me.

My own path has gone by another name, but I felt a kinship with my aunt's expression of hers. I think you and I could have a wonderful conversation -- you write so poetically and fervently and joyfully.

Hekate

[Javaman]

4. He was seen leaping over tall buildings in a single bound just yesterday. nt

[Demoiselle]

5. That headline made me jump...

..even the second time I read it!
I must learn to take in a whole phrase at a time!

[bemildred]

6. Don't get me started on headlines, we could be here all day.

At least once a day when I'm catching up with the news, I have to stop and stare for a while to figure out what they meant, or what they are trying to obfuscate, or what happened, or all of that.

[Beacool]

8. I know, I had to read it twice.

I thought something had happened to the Pope.

[LiberalFighter]

9. They had to make it seem more than what it is.

In a way if it is examined more closely. It could be suggested that his aides don't have much energy due to a lazy lifestyle.

[Beacool]

15. Yeah, the Curia got used to living like courtiers in Benedict's imperial court.

They became complacent and lazy. This Pope is of the people, he eschews excess and luxury. He's like a breath of fresh air.

[freshwest]

11. Not at all brought up Catholic, but I like this guy quite a bit. Seems to be real.

[2ndAmForComputers]

16. Well-planned marketing offensives are meant to make people think like that.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/121888824

[joshcryer]

18. Excellent analogy.

[Posteritatis]

19. And, occasionally, it is what it is. (nt)

[Fearless]

14. Lots of practice outrunning pedophile priest lawsuits.

[joshcryer]

17. He's done an excellent job reinvigorating the masses.

Got to keep Latin American attendance up, particularly in Brazil where Catholics have been on the decline.

[bklyncowgirl]

20. As an estranged-Catholic, I hope this trip gives him credibility to enact his reforms in Rome.

I've been worried about his safety, frankly. Living in the hostel and dining in the cafeteria are a good idea.

Maybe he intends to wear out the old die-hards in the Curia. I predict massive requests for retirement, which would be a good thing.