Thus said Pope Francis to Konrad Krajewski, the Vatican Almoner.
"The Holy Father told me at the beginning: 'You can sell your desk. You don't need it. You need to get out of the Vatican. Don't wait for people to come ringing. You need to go out and look for the poor,'" Krajewski said.
Krajewski gets his marching orders each morning: A Vatican gendarme goes from the Vatican hotel where Francis lives to Krajewski's office across the Vatican gardens, bringing a bundle of letters that the pope has received from the faithful asking for help. On the top of each letter, Francis might write "You know what to do" or "Go find them" or "Go talk to them."
Okay, I'm impressed. This isn't really a diary.
I have only one link. I encourage all to follow that link and read the article. Tell me if you're as impressed as I am.
I really do hope this spirit spreads widely.
Join me over the jump, now with more links.
Teacherken has another Pope Francis related diary linking to Eugene Robinson's oped. From there I managed to find a link to the Pope's Evangelii Gaudium published 5 days ago (I really don't like the WaPo reader app, so I found a direct link). Let me give you a taste from the index:
I. SOME CHALLENGES OF TODAY’S WORLD [52-75]
No to an economy of exclusion [53-54]
No to the new idolatry of money [55-56]
No to a financial system which rules rather than serves [57-58]
No to the inequality which spawns violence [59-60]