Angelus News | December 20, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 43

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ANGELUS
December 20, 2019 | Vol. 4 • No. 43
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POPE WATCH
Courageous discernment
On the day of his 50th anniversary
of ordination to the priesthood, Pope
Francis chose to personally present a
multivolume collection of writings by
his longtime spiritual director.
In addition to presenting the Spanish-language
collection, “Escritos”
(“Writings”), by the late Father
Miguel Angel Fiorito, SJ, at a conference
at the Jesuit headquarters in
Rome Dec. 13, Pope Francis wrote an
introduction to it, saying the publication
is “a consolation for those of us
who, for many years, were nourished
by his teachings. These writings will
be a great good for the whole church.”
At the evening book presentation,
Pope Francis said he had suggested
having one of Father Fiorito’s “disciples”
as the main speaker. The
editor of La Civilta Cattolica, which
published the books, asked the pope
who he had in mind. “ ‘Me,’ I said.
And here we are.”
Presenting the book at the Jesuit
headquarters, he said, “is a way for
me to express my gratitude for all that
the Society of Jesus has given me and
has done for me,” and it is a way to
encourage all the men and women
around the world who offer spiritual
direction to others following the
teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
The collection, the pope wrote in
the introduction, is a “distillation” of
“spiritual mercy: teaching for those
who do not know, good counsel for
those who need it, correction for those
who err, consolation for those who
are sad, and help in being patient for
those in desolation.”
Spiritual mercy, he continued,
is summed up in teaching people
discernment in the tradition of St.
Ignatius, a process of “curing spiritual
blindness, a sad illness that prevents
us from recognizing God’s time, the
time of his coming.”
While Father Fioriti gave hundreds
of conferences and talks, he wrote
only two books. Pope Francis said that
“around 1985” he was asked to write
the prologue to Father Fiorito’s book
on discernment and spiritual warfare.
He described discernment as “having
the courage to see divine footprints in
our human tracks.”
Father Fiorito, who became his
spiritual director in 1961, the pope
wrote, “had a special nose for sniffing
out the evil spirit; he could identify
his action, recognize his tics, unmask
him because of his bad fruits and the
bad aftertaste and trail of desolation
he left in his passing.”
“In that sense,” the pope continued,
“you could say he was a man who battled
against only one enemy: the evil
spirit, Satan, the demon, the tempter,
the accuser, the enemy of our human
nature. Between the banner of Christ
and that of Satan, he chose the Lord.”
Father Fiorito “was fundamentally
a man of dialogue and listening,” the
pope said. “He taught many to pray —
to dialogue in friendship with God —
and to discern ‘the signs of the times,’
dialoguing with other people and with
the reality of every culture. His school
of spirituality is a school of dialogue
and listening, open to listening to and
dialoguing with anyone ‘with a good
spirit,’ testing everything and retaining
only that which is good.”
Reporting courtesy of Cindy Wooden,
Catholic News Service Rome bureau
chief.
Papal Prayer Intention for December: That every country take the measures
necessary to prioritize the future of the very young, especially those who are
suffering.
2 • ANGELUS • December 20, 2019