(Vatican Radio) On account of the great interest expressed in Pope Francis’ homilies
at morning Mass, many people have asked about the possibility of receiving the full
text of those homilies, and not just the summaries published by L’Osservatore Romano
and Vatican Radio.
In a brief note, Father Lombardi, the Director of the Holy
See Press Office, has explained the decision to publish partial syntheses of the Holy
Father’s homily, rather than the full text.
Pope Francis, he said, wants to
retain the familiar atmosphere that characterises the daily Mass, which is typically
attended by a small number of the faithful. “For that reason,” Fr. Lombardi said,
the Holy Father has specifically requested that the live video and audio not be broadcast.
The Pope’s daily homily, Fr. Lombardi said, is delivered spontaneously, and
not from a written text, and in Italian – a language Pope Francis knows well, but
which is not his mother tongue. An integral, or official, text, would necessarily
have to be transcribed and slightly reworked, given the differences between a written
work and the homilies’ original oral form. In short, he said, there would have to
be a revision by the Holy Father himself – but this would clearly result in something
that differs from what the Holy Father intends in his daily homily.
Father
Lombardi went on to explain how the Holy See is addressing the issue:
“We
must insiston thefact that, in all of the Pope’s
activities, the difference between different situations andcelebrations, as well asthe different levels ofauthority of his words, must be understood and respected. So,
for the Pope’s public celebrationsoractivities,broadcast live on televisionand radio, the sermonsorspeechesare transcribedandpublished in full. During smaller, more familiar celebrationsand functions, we have to pay attention to the character of the situation,
and the spontaneity and familiarity of the Pope’s remarks. The solution respects
both the intention of the Pope and the natureof the morning Mass, on
the one hand; and, on the other hand, the desire to give the wider public the opportunity
to hear the message of the Holy Father even in such circumstances.
“And
so, aftercareful consideration, it seems the best wayto
make the richnessof the Pope’s homilies accessible to a wide audience,
without altering the nature of his remarks, is topublisha
detailed summary, rich in direct quotations that reflectthe
genuine flavour of the Pope’s expressions. L’Osservatore Romanoundertakes this responsibility everyday. Vatican Radio,
on account of the nature of the medium, offers a shorter synthesis,
including someof the originalsound, while
CTVoffers avideo clipcorrespondingto one of theaudioinsertspublishedby Vatican Radio.”