![\"Francisco_(20-03-2013)\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/85\/2014\/11\/Francisco_20-03-2013.jpg\")
<\/a>Whoa, Frank. Are you putting words in Pope Francis\u2019s mouth?<\/p>\n
No, dear reader. I\u2019m just telling it like it is.\u00a0You know how some folks can wax eloquent about truth, goodness, and beauty, and how the Church should make better art, etc? I have no skills in the fine arts, so I generally don\u2019t write about such things.<\/p>\n
But I do know a thing or two about the art of leadership, and the art of effective human resource management. As for Pope Francis\u2019s words on business, they are as plain as day (emphasis is mine).<\/p>\n
Pope Francis condemned priests and laity who turn their parishes into a \u201cbusiness\u201d by charging for things such as baptisms, blessings and Mass intentions \u2013 calling it a scandal that\u2019s hard to forgive. \u201cIt is interesting: the people of God can forgive their priests, when they are weak; when they slip on a sin, the people know how to forgive them,\u201d the Pope told mass attendees in the Vatican\u2019s Saint Martha guesthouse on Nov. 21. \u201cBut there are two things that the people of God cannot forgive: a priest attached to money and a priest who mistreats people<\/em>. This they cannot forgive! It is scandalous\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Just as one doesn\u2019t expect to be presented with a price list in the instances Pope Francis speaks about above, one shouldn\u2019t expect to be given the runaround when dealing with a parish business office, or an apostolate\u2019s back office operations, etc., either. Because doing so<\/i>\u00a0is certainly mistreating people, which is, as il Papa<\/em> notes, \u00a0scandalous.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also bad business, which in the Church\u2019s case means it\u2019s bad for evangelization. Qoheleth describes bad business practices as follows,<\/p>\n
As dead flies spoil a jar of perfumed oil, a little folly weighs heavier than wisdom and honor (Ecclesiastes 10:1<\/a>).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Do you know what the most important resource of a business is? People. Whether we are talking about customers, or employees, people matter. \u00a0It takes no leap of the imagination to realize that the same applies to the Church.<\/p>\n
I know you don\u2019t want to hear Joe Six-Pack, USMC go on and on about being committed to excellence, and refusing to accept mediocrity, and how working with people to accomplish (impossible?) goals is important. \u00a0So I\u2019ve lined up Lou Holtz to talk to you instead.<\/p>\n
Roll clip,<\/p>\n