Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/176463
14 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2013 Sounds from the new P Benedict XVI's zealous and dogmatic evangelism was undone by Vatican scandal. But a recent interview with Pope Francis seems destined to inspire the Catholics that his predecessors pushed away return – is this a new chapter in the history of Catholicism? By MATTHEW VELLA A new tremor has just rocked the Vatican, with members of the clergy startled out of their doctrinal lull and their ears pricked at what Pope Francis, the first Jesuit to be appointed Roman pontiff, has declared in an interview La Civiltà Cattolica. Six months since his election, Francis has floored observers with his candid declaration that the Church had grown "obsessed" with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, criticising the Church for putting dogma before love, and for prioritising moral doctrines over serving the poor and marginalised. His vision – an inclusive Church, a "home for all" – is in stark contrast to the evangelical purity of his predecessor, Benedict XVI. SUMMEROFFERS WE WILL DOUBLE TH E SCR A P PA G E S C from €500 HEME to €1,000 MASSIVE DISCOUNTS This is not the Church changing its stance on its doctrinal tenets, but it's Francis softening the timbre of an otherwise conservative religion that has been brash and divisive on gays, the use of condoms in a time where AIDS has ravaged developing nations, the condemnation of IVF, and the barring of women priests from the sacrament. They're the kind of words that make atheists sit up and listen. Is Pope Francis a good bloke after all, not rash in judging others, ready to rumble with the Vatican's agents of fire and brimstone? Here he is, urging a "new balance" in the Church, calling for greater involvement of women in key decisions, and a less condemnatory approach towards gay people, divorcees and women who have had an abortion. He calls on Catholics to welcome back people who have been pushed away by the Church from mass, and how he received letters from homosexual persons "who are 'socially wounded', because they tell me that they feel like the Church has always condemned them. But the Church does not want to do this". "A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: 'Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?' We must always consider the person… in life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation." THROUGHOUT OUR RANGE Chevrolet Ford Honda Mazda (€12,500) ( (€12,500) (€16,800) (€13,500) AVEO (€178 / Month) FIESTA (€ (€178 / Month) €178 JAZZ (€238 / Month) 2 (€192 / Month) This offer is valid until the end of September 2013 and applies only when purchasing one of the above models. Terms and conditions apply. GasanZammit Motors Ltd., Gasan Centre, Mriehel Bypass, Mriehel BKR3000 Tel: 27788200 Fax: 27442007 email: automotive@gasanzammit.com www.gasanzammit.com Fr George Dalli: "Vatican II was an attempt to change direction... Malta did not see it even pass through the breakwater" In Malta, the sounds of Pope Francis – the first pontiff to choose the name of poor founder of the Franciscan order – have hit the right note. "The feeling I immediately got reading the Pope's interview was that of a dream come true," Prof. Rene Camilleri, a priest who lectures in theology at the University of Malta, said. "Popes were always there to be obeyed and respected as supreme pastors of the Church. Francis is one with whom you can connect, even on the level of feelings he is not afraid to vent out." Camilleri however delivers his own brand of bluntness on the dissonance between the words of Francis and the Maltese archdiocese: "The joy of reading such freshness and openness is of course clouded by