The head of the Vatican office promoting new evangelization said that while he does not like the terms \u201cFrancis effect\u201d or \u201cFrancis bump,\u201d it is true that \u201cPope Francis has touched the hearts and minds of many people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, said he does not care for the term \u201cFrancis effect,\u201d since Pope Francis has not changed church teaching.<\/p>\n
But speaking to reporters May 15 about activities for the Year of Faith, he said that during an early May visit to southern Italy and in conversations with priests from northern Italy where he grew up, he repeatedly heard reports that \u201ca lot of people have been going to confession and many have said that while they hadn\u2019t gone in a long time, they felt touched by the words of Pope Francis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Archbishop Fisichella noted that requests for tickets to the weekly general audiences held by the pope in St. Peter\u2019s Square have consistently numbered between 50,000 and 70,000, which is significantly higher than in the past. For the April 28 Mass his office organized with the pope and young people receiving confirmation, some 70,000 people signed up in advance, but more than 100,000 showed up. The crowds were similarly large May 6 when, despite the rain, as many as 100,000 people came for the pope\u2019s Mass with members of Catholic confraternities.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want to be present, listen to his voice and see him, touch him, because he makes a connection (with people) that is very moving,\u201d the archbishop said, adding that the pope\u2019s popularity reflects the \u201cimportance of the faith, the importance of being Christian, and the importance of the pope at this moment in the history of the church.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bishop Jose Ruiz Arenas, secretary of the council, said that when he met with bishops and priests from Mexico and Colombia who were at the Vatican for a canonization Mass May 12, he heard \u201ctestimony that this phenomenon\u201d of increased confessions is taking place everywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Latin America, during Holy Week many people who hadn\u2019t confessed for many years\u201d returned to the sacrament because of things they had heard Pope Francis say.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Read it all.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He\u2019s evidently having an impact, according to CNS:\u00a0 The head of the Vatican office promoting new evangelization said that while he does not like the terms \u201cFrancis effect\u201d or \u201cFrancis bump,\u201d it is true that \u201cPope Francis has touched the hearts and minds of many people.\u201d Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pope","category-sacraments"],"yoast_head":"\n
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