Echo of an interview by Andrea Tornielli with Pope Francis
by Andrea Tornielli
Nine months after his election, Pope Francis told Andrea Tornielli, a journalist from La Stampa of Turin, his feelings on the celebration of Christmas. In his long conversation with the Pope, Tornielli covered the problems of world hunger, the suffering of children and international tensions. The conversation was long and asked a series of questions with very enlightening answers on humanity's problems, which are still very relevant today. From that interview we have learned two passages that can help us live the Christmas of the Redeemer with renewed feelings in this year 2017.
On that occasion Andrea Tornielli had reported that during the long conversation «twice, that serenity that the whole world has come to know disappeared from Francis' face, when he mentioned the innocent suffering of children and spoke of the tragedy of hunger in world". Two realities of dramatic relevance even today. Let us read this echo which becomes a current cry.
Your Holiness, what does Christmas say to the man of today?
«It speaks to us about tenderness and hope. In meeting us, God tells us two things. The first is: have hope. God always opens doors, never closes them. It is the father who opens the doors for us. Second: don't be afraid of tenderness. When Christians forget about hope and tenderness, they become a cold Church, which does not know where to go and is entangled in ideologies and worldly attitudes. While the simplicity of God tells you: go ahead, I am a Father who caresses you. I am afraid when Christians lose hope and the ability to hug and caress. Perhaps for this reason, looking to the future, I often speak of children and the elderly, that is, the most defenseless. In my life as a priest, going to the parish, I have always tried to convey this tenderness especially to children and the elderly. It does me good, and makes me think of the tenderness that God has for us."
Pope Francis, how can you believe that God, considered by religions to be infinite and omnipotent, makes himself so small?
«The Greek Fathers called it "synkatabasis", divine condescension. God who comes down and is with us. It is one of the mysteries of God. In Bethlehem, in 2000, John Paul II said that God has become a child totally dependent on the care of a father and a mother. This is why Christmas gives us so much joy. We no longer feel alone, God has come down to be with us. Jesus became one of us and for us he suffered the ugliest end on the cross, that of a criminal."
Christmas is often presented as a sugary fairy tale. But God is born in a world where there is also a lot of suffering and misery.
«What we read in the Gospels is an announcement of joy. The evangelists described a joy. No considerations are made about the unjust world, about how God can be born in such a world. All this is the fruit of our contemplation: the poor, the child who must be born in precarious conditions. Christmas was not the denunciation of social injustice, of poverty, but it was an announcement of joy. Everything else are consequences that we draw. Some right, some less right, some still ideological. Christmas is joy, religious joy, joy of God, interior, of light, of peace. When you don't have the ability or are in a human situation that doesn't allow you to understand this joy, you experience the celebration with worldly joy. But there is a difference between profound joy and worldly happiness."
This year is his first Christmas, in a world where there is no shortage of conflicts and wars...
«God never gives a gift to someone who is not capable of receiving it. If he offers us the gift of Christmas it is because we all have the ability to understand and receive it. Everyone, from the holiest to the most sinner, from the cleanest to the most corrupt. Even the corrupt person has this ability: poor thing, he may have it a little rusty, but he has it. Christmas in this time of conflict is a call from God, who gives us this gift. Do we want to receive it or do we prefer other gifts? This Christmas in a world troubled by wars makes me think of God's patience. The main virtue of God explained in the Bible is that he is love. He waits for us, never tires of waiting for us. He gives the gift and then waits for us. This also happens in the life of each of us. There are those who ignore it. But God is patient and the peace, the serenity of Christmas night is a reflection of God's patience with us."