Stop criticising the Pope

Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon has appealed for “no negativity on the Holy Father”. Catholics in Trinidad and Tobago should refrain from getting involved criticising Pope Francis as  “foolishness” and “lies” were circulating online.

“He has been a deeply spiritual man leading this Church through the depth of transformation that many people are not happy with, and when you not happy with the message, you try to shoot the messenger and that’s what’s been happening,” Archbishop Gordon said.

He was delivering the homily on Saturday, November 9 at the celebration of the 173rd anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Port of Spain, and the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Rome, which celebrated its 1,700th anniversary.

Archbishop Gordon said the critics are people who think of themselves “super Catholics” but were damaging the fabric of the Church. He asserted that reverence and love for the Holy Father are in the Church’s tradition.

This “has to be an essential part of the Catholic life” as the Pope is the first among all the bishops. He cautioned, “To speak negatively about him, to speak in derogatory terms, no, no, no, no, that is not to be Catholic. That is actually to end up in a sin of judgement, a sin of detraction, a sin of really not being charitable to the man God has chosen to lead the Church at this time”.

There are people who do not understand what the Pope is doing or why he was chosen by God. Archbishop Gordon said, “We have to trust that God choose this man”.

He explained the significance of the observance of the Feast of the Basilica of St John Lateran stating it is the “mother” of all the Catholic churches in the world, and the Cathedral, the “mother” of all the churches in T&T. He said the late Archbishop Anthony Pantin CSSp, Servant of God, moved the dedication of the Cathedral to the Feast of St John Lateran.

He added, “So whenever we celebrate the dedication of the St John Lateran in Rome we are also celebrating the dedication of this cathedral here in Port of Spain and remembering 173 years ago, this cathedral was dedicated to God as a place of worship in this city”.

Archbishop Gordon referred to the image from the First Reading (Ezek 47:1–2, 8–9, 12), the water flowing from the side of the temple, stating this was prophecy fulfilled with Christ dying on the Cross and the blood and water flowing from His side after it was pierced by a lance.

Further, on the Day of Preparation, before the Sabbath, following the sacrifice of lambs in the Jerusalem temple, the blood and water flowed out at the temple’s side drains toward the Kidron Valley.

Archbishop Gordon said, “The water is a sign of Baptism, blood the Eucharist, and through the baptismal waters and the eucharistic celebration, the grace flowing from the side of Christ on the Cross comes to you, and as it comes to you, because at the end of the Mass, when the priest says “Go!,’ you take that grace into the world and you ‘Christify’ the world from the grace.”—LPG