Letter to Pope Francis "you did what you could"

Dear Pope Francis, we miss Jesus. We all appreciated the beautiful example you gave as a pope as a small residence where you live, being among ordinary people, helping the needy. Dear Pope Francis, what you are doing now is nothing extraordinary, this is the teaching of Jesus given two thousand years ago, this is what every Christian must do.

Only dear pope, the Church itself, starting from its active members up to all the faithful, have forgotten the Gospel. Priests, Bishops and your own colleagues in the Vatican live in large and luxurious houses and wear high quality clothes. They have maids, luxury cars, bank accounts. The monks of San Francesco themselves do not miss anything even the latest model of the apple iphone.

The Gospel has now become only theory, of the words that we are all obliged to listen to on Sunday otherwise they also tell us that we have committed mortal sin. The real sin, dear Pope Francis, is to use Jesus to attract people and wealth to himself.

I think that if the Church put the abbreviation SPA in front of its name and would call itself “Chiesa SpA” it would make an excellent figure at least it contributes to the burdens of the state for citizens so sure it does a good work. Masses with tariffs, marriages and other Sacraments with a budget established by the parish priest. Only the receipt for the service provided is missing. Soccer fields, long sermons, dinners, associations and much more. A real business project for those who are well and if they do it together with those who are better off.

And the compassion that Jesus taught us? The widows, the poor whom Jesus helped? Only a few Catholics now remember this. Dear Pope, we are homesick for that priest who makes us wake up at 5 in the morning to prepare canteens, go to hospitals, to family homes, to the needy, to give a smile or a piece of bread. You can tell me "but in the Church this already exists" and it is true dear Pope Francis but it worries me not the ten percent who do this but the ninety percent who while saying they are Catholics or wear cassocks have little dealing with the teaching of Jesus.

Dear Pope, religion has now become a profession and we faithful must be good at distinguishing what comes from God or what is done by man for his own needs. You did what you could with good examples but you can never change a system created by man and not by God. The spirit follows Jesus and his Gospel while religion follows the Church and the priests. Now all of us must start from this distinction "spirituality and religion". Only in this way can we understand who, despite being religious, thinks of himself or who is not religious, sets a good example.

You dear Pope Francis did what you could. A hug

6 September 2020
Written by Paolo Tescione