Unto The Margins - Pope Francis And His Challenges

It is a kairos moment as far as the papacy is concerned. The election and the presence of Pope Francis is a grace for us and is already felt as a moment of inspiration in the life and mission of the Church. We need to build and relish on this grace. We need to listen and discern locally and universally for this moment of the South speaking though a Pope like Francisco. The Holy Spirit really surprises us. This book captures some of those inspirations through the homilies and speeches of the Pope delivered at different times after his election as the Bishop of Rome, the Vicar of Christ. This is given in Part II. They are challenges four our critical considerations. Part one consists of sixteen articles collected from all over the world expressing one or other aspect of the Church’s presence and activity revealing expectations that ought to be seriously considered. As the universal pastor of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has a challenging task ahead of him. These essays identify various challenges that the Pope has to face. Here we have a simple man, informal, humble, authentic to the core, consistent and coherent in what he says, comprehensive in his approach, living the gospel, with childlike simplicity, a deep inner freedom, and with blind trust in God’s love, acts decisively, loves deeply and cares constantly, keeping Christ as the focus of his attention. He deserves to be called “Our Holy Father.” It is my hope that the pages of this book, especially Part II which contains some of the talks and sermons of our beloved Pope, deepen our knowledge of the person and action of the Bishop of Rome and the Universal Pastor of the Catholic Church, and highlight some of the challenges that the Church faces as well as some of the major concerns that he place before us.