In March, 2014,  Pope Francis went to confession in St. Peter’s Basilica.

A little more than a year after his election, he was leading a penitential service, which had been organized to encourage Catholics worldwide to fulfill their obligation to confess their sins (in the sacrament now called Reconciliation) before Easter. Priests were stationed in confessional booths that had been arrayed around the basilica.

The plan was for the Pope to man one himself, but he broke away from the person escorting him to his booth and strode to a different one, where he knelt, crossed himself, and spoke quietly to the priest, startling onlookers, who had expected the Pope to absolve others of their sins—not to confess his own.

In retrospect, the intent seems obvious—the Pope was leading by example, entering into the ritual rather than holding himself above it. The act itself was unexpected, though.

There was no memory of a recent Pope going to confession in public: not John Paul II, who led a “Day of Pardon” at St. Peter’s, in 2000; not Benedict XVI  who expressed concern over the slackening of the practice of frequent confession, following the Second Vatican Council.

But now there was a Pope, on his knees, a sinner asking for mercy, just like the people he serves.

Paul Elie, The New Yorker. March 13, 2023

“I am a sinner … I am sure of this. I am a sinner whom the Lord looked upon with mercy. I am, as I said to detainees in Bolivia, a forgiven man. … I still make mistakes and commit sins, and I confess every fifteen or twenty days. I confess because I need to feel that God’s mercy is still upon me.”      Pope Francis        `

Think of a time when YOU “Led by Example” and set the tone for the lives of others.

NOTHING DISPLAYS THE POWER OF CHRIST LIKE A CHANGED LIFE!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO REMEMBER POPE FRANCIS IN YOUR PRAYERS.

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