Zenit.org skrev i går at Vatikan-kjenneren Andrea Tornielli er kommet med en bok om pave Frans. Et utdrag av boka kan leses her, og Zenit intervjuet Tornielli om paven, og om boka. Her er et utdrag – han ser ikke noe brudd mellom pave Benedikt og pave Frans:
…. ZENIT: As a journalist, you know well the perils of being an actor on the world stage. Based on Cardinal Bergoglio’s relationship with media in Argentina, what are you expecting from this pontificate in terms of communication and media?
Tornielli: I know the peril very well, but I want to tell you that it does not exist with Pope Francis because he is who he is and he will not change his lifestyle. I think that from the point of view of communication with and to the media, the first days of the pontificate are wonderful: the Pope is perfectly able to communicate in a very simple and direct manner. I don’t know how long the «honeymoon» with the media will last, but I think we have a Pope that is able to communicate heart to heart with people around the world.
ZENIT: Related to question two, now that Francis is under global scrutiny, seemingly small choices — say, the color of shoes, or style of chair — might be given far-reaching interpretations, something along the lines of «He is using a simpler white chair, so he’s making a break with his predecessor (or predecessors.)» What’s your perspective on Francis’ choices in these first days as Pope?
Tornielli: I don’t agree with the analysis about the breaks with his predecessor. Gossip over continuity and breaks with previous popes based on mozzettas, ermine furs and red shoes is threatening to overshadow the reality of true continuity between Benedict XVI and Francis. Theirs is a continuity that finds proof in several passages, in small deeds and acts that were seen and heard during the first few days of this pontificate: the humility shown by both, their shared knowledge that the Church is ultimately led by God, and their sense of peace. ….
ZENIT: I recently asked another of Francis’ biographers to summarize the new Pope’s personality, albeit aware that a person cannot be summarized in a few sentences. How would you summarize him?
Tornielli: A humble priest, a real pastor, who knows that the gift of faith and the experience of an encounter with Jesus the Lord is not a property or a sacred power, but exists to be communicated to the people, especially those who live in the peripheries, not only geographic but also existential. …