Father Gerard King from Joan of Arc Church in Highbury:
“The church is not a company, we’re not trying to market ourselves in order to keep ourselves relevant or viable. There has to be some kind of engaging with society but not to the point where you change to become popular. The gospel isn’t about that, it’s about being compassionate and reaching out to people in their individual circumstances and the Pope is meant to preach the gospel. There might be a different emphasis on working with the poor and marginalised but I wouldn’t expect any change on some issues because you can’t change what the scriptures have revealed.”
Image courtesy of Father Gerard King.
The election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 13 March signalled a new era for many. The Argentinian is not only the first Jesuit pope but also the first to come from outside of Europe since 741 AD. On Tuesday his inauguration was watched by millions around the world.
But closer to home Islington has seen a sharp decline in the number of people who identify themselves as Christian falling from 95,000 in 2001 to 82,000 in 2011. According to the members of the clergy in the borough although the pope’s humility is welcomed, he is restricted by how much he can change the Catholic Church and, although he should seek to engage with people, the church is not a business looking for more customers.
David Allen, Vicar from St Clements Anglican Church in Clerkenwell:
“I hope the new pope will be an inspirational figure. In the first few days of his pontificate he has made me very hopeful that he will be able to model a compassionate humble Christian faith.
He needs to deal with a lot of what we would call ‘reputational problems’ and the church’s inability to deal with its own internal scandals.
He has departed from protocol in the humble way he spoke and he also put very clearly basic Christian ideas on forgiveness and repentance. He has a lightness of touch speaking, which in this media age is very important.
Image: Lydia Symonds
Father Carmello Di Giovanni from St Peter’s Italian Church on Clerkenwell Road:
“The church proclaims the truth and the Pope gives guidelines, and it is up to people to choose whether or not they follow. The church is compassion and mercy but they have to tell the truth. So for example, for the Church, abortion is always wrong – you will never find a pope who condones abortion. People think that because he’s the Pope he can do what he likes, but he has to proclaim the truth of the scripture. It is his job to lead the church, a community of people, loving each other, walking together and forgiving each other. ”
Image courtesy of St Peter’s Italian Church.
Father Gerard King from Joan of Arc Church in Highbury:
“The church is not a company, we’re not trying to market ourselves in order to keep ourselves relevant or viable. There has to be some kind of engaging with society but not to the point where you change to become popular. The gospel isn’t about that, it’s about being compassionate and reaching out to people in their individual circumstances and the Pope is meant to preach the gospel. There might be a different emphasis on working with the poor and marginalised but I wouldn’t expect any change on some issues because you can’t change what the scriptures have revealed.”
Image courtesy of Father Gerard King.
