Public Comment

As a fairly devout and dedicated Catholic for the past several years, attending services at Berkeley's Newman Hall, I'm distressed by the many articles we see denigrating our church, both in this country and abroad.

But I take comfort in St. Francis of Assisi's lovely prayer, portions of which I quote below:

"Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand, to be loved, as to love, for it is in giving that we received, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life." 

So what's to become of today's Catholicism? Dare we hope that the new Pope Francis will be an inspirational leader -- a cleric of the common people, one whose personal life style has been humble and modest, helping the poor and quietly assisting those in danger? 

I'm absolutely convinced that this new Pope Francis will restore the Catholic Church to the splendor and dignity it's known for centuries! 

Heavenly Father, I humbly ask that you guide Pope Francis in leading us to a new and revitalized Catholic Church.