Quote of the Day

I think a lot is going to change [in the church]. Francis is not just reforming the Curia, he is reforming the papacy. His insistence on being the Bishop of Rome and his decision to live in St. Martha’s House instead of the Apostolic Palace means opening up to the world. The Pope has explained that he prefers a Church that has been in accidents but continues to go out onto the road, than an asphyctic Church which stops at the door of the temple. Now the Church has become a beacon of hope not a besieged fort that is constantly at war with modernity or customs that control and regulate faith instead of facilitating it.

[H]e is not desacralizing [the pontificate]. He is presenting it in its true evangelical dimension. He is the Successor of Peter and Peter was a simple fisherman. We need to eliminate the “popolatry” that has prevailed in recent decades. Cardinals are not princes of the Church but servants of the people of God. Bishops need to take part in people’s lives. And the Pope does not feel like a king. He even said to the President of Brazil: “I come here as the Bishop of Rome,” that is, as someone who leads the Church in the name of charity not Canon law.

– Leonardo Boff
Quoted in "Bergoglio Sets About Rebuilding the Church, Just as St. Francis Did"
Vatican Insider
July 24, 2013

Related Off-site Links:
Right Wing 'Generally Not Happy' with Francis, Chaput Says – John L. Allen Jr. (National Catholic Reporter (July 23, 2013).
Apparently Nobody Expected Pope Francis to Actually Be Francis – Colleen Kochivar-Baker (Enlightened Catholicism, July 25, 2013).
Pope, Among Poor, Speaks of Social Justice – James Martin, SJ (America, July 25, 2013).
Rebel Pope Urges Catholics to Shake up Dioceses – Nicole Winfield, Marco Sibaja and Jenny Barchfield (Associated Press via Yahoo! News, July 25, 2013).
The Francis Effect – Michael O. Garvey, (Commonweal, July 25, 2013).