VATICAN CORNER
There is a new book entitled “Dear Pope Francis” published March 1, 2016 in which Pope Francis answers 30 questions presented to him from children from around the world. The U. S. based Jesuit publishing house Loyola Press approached Francis with the idea last May, and they received his positive response. Questions were collected from children aged 6-13, from both Catholic and non-Catholic children, from wealthy cities and from poor rural areas, and even from refugee centers. The children were also asked to send drawings which were included in the book. For the children that had no crayons or paper, the publisher sent them some. From the 259 questions received, coming from 26 countries in 14 languages, a committee chose about 50 to present to Pope Francis of which 30 made it into the book. The questions were read aloud to Francis in Italian, but he also reviewed the drawings, commenting on the scenes and colors and often had a good laugh over the way the kids drew the Pope. Some of the questions were theological, others practical and a few were personal and made the Pope laugh. Like the question about when he was young what did he want to be when he grew up? He said he wanted to be a butcher, since when he went to the market with his grandmother, the butcher’s work was fascinating and “the way he cut the meat, that was art,” and the butcher’s apron with its big pocket seemed to be full of money. The Holy Father answered that his favorite thing about being Pope was “being around people, and that he learned something every time” he met someone new. Pope Francis was asked who was his favorite saint? That caused him some indecision saying “I have several saints friends, but I do not know which I admire the most, but I’m a friend of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus; I am a friend of St. Ignatius; I’m a friend of St. Francis…I would say these three, perhaps, are the ones I most keep in my heart.” He said being Pope gives him a sense of “calm,” and that it is “a grace from God,” adding that it “feels as I am coming to the end of my life with so much peace.” Pope Francis said being Pope is “both easy and difficult, as is the life of any person,” explaining “it’s easy because you have a lot of people to help you…and there are difficult moments because there are difficulties in all the work there is.” At the book unveiling Pope Francis met with several of the children who wrote him letters. He said that the questions asked for the book were some of the “most difficult” he had ever been asked. He then proceeded to answer more questions the children had. At the end of the encounter, Pope Francis addressed the issue of “Why do children suffer?” saying it is a question which causes him great pain, and he admitted he did not know the answer to the question. “The only thing that gives me light is looking at the cross, and seeing what Jesus suffered; it is the only answer I can find,” he said. In the book “William from the United States asked the question if you could cause one miracle…what would it be? The Holy Father answered “to stop the suffering of children.”
Sources: news.va, catholicnews.com, cruxnow.com