Pope speaks to Italian psychologist for book entitled "Fear as a gift"
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Loading... - Belle Rolland
- 07 Feb 2023
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Italian psychologist Salvo Noé has interviewed Pope Francis for his book entitled "La paura come dono" ("Fear as a Gift"), to be released in Italian on January 25 by Edizioni San Paolo. The Pope speaks about his thoughts, fears, and feelings during the years of his pontificate, starting with his election in the 2013 conclave.
A new book interview in Italian with Pope Francis, entitled La paura come dono ("Fear as a Gift"), will be released by Edizioni San Paolo on January 25. The author, Italian psychologist and psychotherapist Salvo Noé, conducted a lengthy interview with Pope Francis, looking at a host of topics over the nearly ten years of Pope Francis' pontificate.
Regarding decision-making, the Pope says "sometimes yes, when I have to make a decision, I say to myself, 'If I do this like this...?' And that's a little bit of fear of making a mistake, isn't it? And fear in this case helps me, because it leads me to weigh carefully the decisions to be taken, how to do carry them out and everything else. It is not fear that overtakes me, no, no. It is a feeling that makes me proceed carefully: fear can be like a mother who warns you."
Doctor Noé met with Pope Francis at Santa Marta, where the Pope resides, and told Vatican News that "in one of the many meetings, I told the Holy Father about my wish to write a book on fear, asking him if he would like to offer his own contribution to it. As usual, he said yes; and so, on a January afternoon, with my recorder in hand, I asked some questions that the Pope answered with his usual calm and reassuring voice. He also asked me some questions about fear and so ours became a conversation full of food for thought." The long conversation then covered a wide range of topics, ranging from seminary formation, the challenge presented by hypocrisy, worldliness, careerism, welcoming homosexuals and migrants, and preventing clergy abuse by perhaps introducing psychological reviews in seminaries.
Psychology and seminaries
Regarding the process of discerning a vocation to the priesthood, the Pope responds that "it is necessary to evaluate in an integral way how one is living, the psychological dimension, the interpersonal relationships of the one who wishes to embark on the path to priesthood by entering the seminary." "It is better to lose a vocation than to take a risk with an unsafe candidate," he affirms. For the Pope, the use of psychology in seminaries can be "very useful," as "the sexual abuse of minors by clergy has dramatically highlighted this problem."
Homosexual persons
The interview also dwells on the subject of persons with homosexual tendencies: "God is Father and does not deny any of His children," the Pope says. "And God's style is closeness, mercy, and tenderness. Not judgment and marginalization. God draws near with love to each of His children, to each and every one of them. His heart is open to each and every one. He is Father. Love does not divide, but unites." Read More…
