Jesus himself showed that the best way to respond to scandal and divisiveness is to stay silent and pray, Pope Francis said Sept. 3 as he resumed his early morning
Masses with invited guests. “With people lacking good- will, with people who seek only scandal, with those who look only for division, who want only destruction,” he said, the best response is “silence. And prayer.”
The Pope’s Mass and homily came after Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former papal nuncio to the United States, called on Pope Francis to resign for allegedly ignoring sanctions Pope Benedict XVI had placed on then- Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for sexual misconduct.
Asked about the archbishop’s 11-page document, which included allegations of a “homosexual current” at the highest levels of the church, Pope Francis told reporters Aug. 26 to read the document for themselves and make their own judgments. The Vatican press office and most officials named in the arch- bishop’s document also refused to comment.
The Gospel for September 3 re-counted Jesus’ return to Nazareth and the fury of the townspeople when he refused to perform miracles for them.
