Pope’s ‘people building processes’
“Nine years on Pope Francis is trying to institutionalise the ideas that he had been talking about until now.” So says Gerry Whelan SJ, in this interview with Pat Coyle of Irish Jesuit Communications.
Gerry Whelan is Chair of the Fundamental Theology Department at the Jesuit Gregorian University in Rome. He spoke to Pat Coyle whilst back home in Ireland recently (see photo) and gave an extended update on the Pope’s nine years in office.
In this, part one of his interview, he explains how Pope Francis has been coherent in his vision from the very beginning. That vision, put simply, according to Gerry Whelan, is ‘people building processes’ both within the Catholic Church (ad intra) and in the wider world (ad extra).
He references the three key documents of the Pope that articulate his thinking, (Evangeli Gaudium, Amoris Laetitia, and Laudato Sí) before highlighting what is new in the Pope’s pontificate, namely his reform of the Vatican Curia and the establishment of the Office of the Synod.
These latter two are of real importance according to Gerry Whelan as they offer real assurance (in the form of institutional governance) that curial reform and the synodal processes now in train will outlast Pope Francis and his pontificate.
