Posts Tagged Francis

Dialogue Requires Respect and Hard Work

Pope Francis emphasized the importance of dialogue during his visit to the United States. At each mention he stressed the importance of mutual respect. There can be no real dialogue until each party recognizes the inherit worth of the other. As long as I view you as less important than I am, there can be no real meeting of the minds.

Do you see me or am I just another statistic? Do you hear me or am I just another voice vying for attention lost in the crowd? We are often overwhelmed by the sheer number of homeless people, refugees, and migrant workers, children living in poverty or battered women that we fail to notice that these numbers are composed of individual human beings. We cannot wrap our minds around the overwhelming numbers. We must see each one as a unique creation.

We are staggered by the number of mass shootings in our country and yet individuals are murdered in our cities every day. We are numb to the numbers and to the frequency of these murders. The murder of nine people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston got our attention and held it until another senseless shooting occurred at Roseburg, Oregon. After that shooting, I heard the brother of one of the victims calling for more guns. Doctor Carson, candidate for the Republican nomination for president, called for the arming of kindergarten teachers. There seems to be no end or limits to the madness.

What will it take for us to see each other as real flesh and blood people? We like to think in terms of blocks of people: Muslims, Communists, Nazis’, immigrants, takers. That way we are not confronted by individual faces. We can bomb neighborhoods and talk about collateral damage. Collateral damage is made up of mothers, daughters, sons, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

Pope Francis has it right when he calls for dialogue. There are no easy answers. We must learn to talk with each other not at each other. We must learn how to listen to what we do not want to hear and to what we do not agree with. This is hard work. It is much easier to get angry and to resort to violence. The next victim of collateral damage may be someone you care about.

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Pope Francis: Christian Unity – No Competing for Souls

Rome, Jan 25: Pope Francis has laid out his formula for fostering Christian unity: resist competing for souls and make concrete gestures of acceptance and dialogue. Francis celebrated vespers today evening in a Rome basilica along with Anglican, Orthodox and other church leaders to cap an annual week of prayer for unity of Christians. He told the church leaders that “our shared commitment to proclaiming the Gospel enables us to overcome proselytism and competition in all their forms.”

Francis said getting to know “those who are different from ourselves can make us grow.” He also cautioned about “subtle theoretical discussions in which each side tries to convince the other.” Referring to Christians being persecuted in the Middle East and elsewhere, Francis described their suffering as a kind of “ecumenism of blood.”

 

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Profiles in Goodwill – Mitch Carnell – www.ethicsdaily.com

Profiles in Goodwill: Mitch CarnellEthicsDaily Staff

Profiles in Goodwill: Mitch Carnell | Mitch Carnell, Profiles in Goodwill, EthicsDaily Staff

Mitch Carnell, an EthicsDaily.com columnist, admires Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter and Pope Francis.

Mitch Carnell is a consultant specializing in effective communication and the founder of the Say Something Nice Day and the Say Something Nice Sunday movements.

Mitch’s articles that have appeared on EthicsDaily.com are available here.

1. Where did you grow up?

Woodruff, South Carolina.

2. What is your favorite Bible verse, book or story? Why?

Matthew 22:37-39.

I think it sums up all of Scripture and gives us unmistakable guidance.

3. What is your favorite movie? Why?

“Driving Miss Daisy.”

It demonstrates in a beautiful way how love and respect can overcome racial, cultural and religious biases.

4. Who are three of the people you admire?

Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter and Pope Francis.

5. What is one little known fact about yourself?

I taught practical speech to Cuban refugees in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Because of the popularity of the television program, “Sing Along with Mitch,” it quickly became known as “Speak Along with Mitch.”

 

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