Purist ideologues of the
Church "adore dogma and not God", Pope Francis told his weekly
general audience in St Peter's Square on Wednesday.
"We must ask ourselves if we life faith with hostility for
others", he said.
Francis also greeted a group of young newlyweds saying "you
need courage to get marries today".
In his catechesis at the weekly General Audience, Francis
reflected on how God converted the heart of Saul, the persecutor
of Christians, and transformed him into the fearless preacher we
know as Saint Paul, Vatican News reported.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Saul was a religious ideologue
who persecuted Jesus' early followers, the pope said.
That same sinful man became Paul after his dramatic
conversion to Christianity, offering us an example of the power
of God's love for each of us.
Pope Francis reflected on that model of life-changing love,
and he compared St Paul's unconverted actions to those of modern
dictatorships.
He said Saul hunted and captured early Christians, under the
authority of the High Priest.
"You who come from those peoples who were persecuted by
dictatorships," said the Pope, "you understand well what it
means to hunt and capture people. This is what Saul did."
Pope Francis added that religion, for Saul, had become a
religious, social, and political ideology.
Saul's anger and conflictual attitude, he said, are an
invitation to ask ourselves whether we meet other people or set
ourselves up against others.
"Do I belong to the universal Church - with the good and the
bad, all of us - or do I hold a selective ideology? Do I adore
God or a dogmatic formulation?" he asked.
God, said Pope Francis, converted Saul by touching his heart. He
was blinded by a light along the road to Damascus, and Saul
heard a voice asking him why he was persecuting Jesus.
"An attack against a member of the Church is an attack
against Christ himself! And those who are ideologues because
they desire the so-called "purity" of the Church are attacking
Christ."
After his conversion, Paul's life is transformed, and what he
previously considered his "glory" became "dross" to be discarded
in Christ's name.
Pope Francis said Paul then accepts Baptism, transforming the
course of his life.
"Baptism marks - as it does for all of us - the beginning of
a new life, which is accompanied by a new view of God,
ourselves, and others, who are turned from enemies into brothers
and sisters in Christ."
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