Nairobi, 09 March, 2023 / 9:55 pm (ACI Africa).
The Church is experiencing “a Mother Teresa moment” with the leadership of Pope Francis who has expressed a deep connectedness with people on the fringes of society in his 10 years at the helm of the Catholic Church.
According to Fr. Bonaventure Luchidio, the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), Pope Francis, just like St. Mother Teresa of Calcuta (1910-1997), is “a heart person”, and is passionately moved by the needs of the wounded Church.
“Mother Teresa would do anything in her power to help the poorest of the poor. She worked tirelessly to see that the hungry were fed, the sick were treated, and the sad had a smile on their faces. The same can be said of Pope Francis. The Holy Father is a heart person and he understands and lives what he says. Listening to him, you can tell that he has the issues of the people at the core of his heart,” Fr. Luchidio says in a Tuesday, March 7 interview with ACI Africa.
He adds, “When he talks about the issues of the migrants and refugees, you see him bringing some migrants from Lampedusa to Italy; you see him sharing a meal with the poor in Italy on the day of the poor.”
Like St. Teresa of Calcutta who has been described as “the Saint of the gutter” for helping the poor and the sick on the streets of Calcutta, Pope Francis is a hands-on person and leads by example by “getting the hands dirty” while serving the people.