Little white crosses scattered before a statue of the Holy Family make up a poignant memorial called the Cemetery for Aborted Children in South Korea. Home to about 15 million Christians, South Korea suffers the highest rate of abortion in the world. During his trip to the country last August, Pope Francis visited the site in part to clear up the media's "misunderstanding of his social agenda," said Vatican journalist and Boston Globe associate editor John L. Allen Jr. Some media outlets had accused the pope of downplaying the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage to gain secular popularity. According to Allen, the pope's agenda is none other than mercy -- a value he hopes will permeate church leadership at every level. In a spirited talk before the National Association of Catholic Chaplains March 9, Allen described the visit as one of many examples of the pope's belief that "mercy" and "service" should define church leadership, not "power" and "authority." Allen added that the pope is a "mastermind" at reminding us that "we must be conscious of those in most need of God's loving mercy." Paraphrasing the pope, Allen said, "We should never get so caught up in pastoral planning that we become blind to the people." He also paraphrased Pope Francis in saying "we need pastors who carry the smell of their sheep" because of how close they are to their flock.
The spiritual climax of the Gospel of John, as Father John Waiss points out, occurs at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus utters his parting words: “Woman, behold, your son!” and “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27). While these words were addressed to the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the Church has long understood this moment as a universal adoption. To truly image Christ, we must share in His parentage; if we embrace God as our spiritual Father but reject Mary as our mother, we treat Christ as a half-brother rather than our "firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). As Origen noted as early as the third century, the profound depths of the Gospel are only accessible to those who, like John, rest their heads on Jesus’ breast and receive Mary into their own homes. This maternal role is deeply rooted in biblical typology, positioning Mary as the fulfillment of the great mothers of the Old Covenant. She is the New Eve , the mother of all the living according ...