The Pope and those Airplane Talks

A good number of Catholics are getting worked up by Pope Francis’ habit of giving informal interviews on airplanes.

It was worrying me too, but I’m beginning to see the advantages of what he’s doing.

This week’s article for Aleteia explains my thinking on the matter:

When the pope meets with journalists on the plane the atmosphere is informal. He takes questions and answers them off the cuff. He feels free to shoot from the hip and speak from the heart. The text of his last airborne interview is available here from the Catholic News Agency. To read the text is to be taken into an intimate and astounding conversation with the Holy Father.

Through these informal interviews with journalists Pope Francis is proving to be a master of communication. He has been criticized for being imprecise and confusing. This is to misunderstand what the Pope is trying to accomplish through these interviews. He wants the world to meet him and get to know him as a real, vital and passionate person. In the interviews he speaks from the heart to the heart. This quality is especially noticeable in his conversation with journalists traveling back from Manila.

Go here to read the whole article