“The Beatitudes of the Bishop” – Vatican’s Explanation!

Pope’s message is not just for Italian, but for the over 5,000 Bishops of the world!  Are they listening, or would they or should they care to listen? My mind says, they will not – I could be wrong – what do your minds tell you? If not, what can you & I do to find the TRUTH and promote it? James editor WCV.

Pope Francis has given a text called “The Beatitudes of the Bishop” to all the Italian bishops meeting in plenary assembly in Rome. The text offers encouragement and pastoral guidance not only to the Italian bishops but to the more than 5,000 Catholic bishops in the world today The Vatican released the text after Pope Francis had given a card with an image of the Good Shepherd and the text of “The Beatitudes of the Bishop” to each of the more than 200 bishops present at the opening session of the plenary assembly of the Italian bishops’ conference on Nov. 22, which is being held at a hotel in Rome. Francis drove from the Vatican to the hotel to address the bishops and was welcomed on his arrival by the president of the conference, Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti. Pope Francis has given a text called “The Beatitudes of the Bishop” to all the Italian bishops meeting in plenary assembly in Rome.

It was originally thought that Francis had written the text himself, but it later transpired that the text had been written by the archbishop of Naples, Domenico Battaglia, who first used it at the ordination of three new bishops for that diocese in a homily on Oct. 31. The pope learned about the text and made it his own by having it printed on a card and giving it to each of the Italian bishops. It is modeled on the eight beatitudes given by Jesus in the Sermon of the Mount, as recounted in Chapter 5 of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. By giving it such visibility,  Francis clearly wishes to provide practical guidance and inspiration to bishops worldwide and to the men who will become bishops in the future.

The beatitudes of the bishop are challenging and very much in Francis’ style. They offer a portrait of how a pastor should be in the 21st century, in a world where there is so much poverty, injustice, conflict, suffering and human fragility. They are a call to serve and to dirty one’s hands, to wipe tears and work for justice, peace and reconciliation, to find goodness even in the worst situations and to work to build fraternity in today’s world. These beatitudes also highlight the temptations faced by bishops, like that of seeking power and a comfortable lifestyle. These beatitudes also highlight the temptations faced by bishops, like that of seeking power and a comfortable lifestyle.