The late Pope Francis would "challenge you to think," Father Rob McKeon, pastor at the Saint Catherine of Alexandria Parish in the Archdiocese of New York, said Monday on Newsmax about the church leader's legacy.
"I think the one thing is something that Cardinal [Timothy] Dolan had said," McKeon said on "Wake Up America." "He says the Holy Father's writings are almost like he's being our examination of conscience, because he would not shy away from the tougher issues and make us think a bit and consider how we feel toward certain people or how do we deal with not only our own sin, but the sin of others."
The Pope, though, would "sometimes talk off the cuff" with his comments being lost in translation, as the American press would, "I think in some way misinterpret him," said McKeon.
The confusion, he added, would leave parishes to "start explaining things" that the Pope said, and to explain that "he didn't necessarily mean this or that, but it's never good to have that confusion sometimes."
McKeon also reflected on the Pope's last message on Easter Sunday.
"There's actually a beautiful ancient greeting in Greek and Latin that is specifically an Easter greeting that is used by the church, and that is the words 'Christ is risen,''' he said. "The response is, indeed, he is risen. So it's like an Easter greeting that would be an exchange between people, and especially Catholics and those in the Orthodox faith as well. So for him to proclaim those words on Easter Sunday, not even realizing himself that he wouldn't live too many more hours, and it's going to be something to live on for years and years, is a very, very poignant message as he enters into the next life."
McKeon later told Newsmax's "National Report" that Pope Francis was a "great figure of the church," while very different from his predecessor Pope Benedict and "certainly from Pope John Paul II."
This came in part from his heritage in South America, but also from being part of the Jesuit order, said McKeon.
"With that came different priorities, a different focus," he said. "[He was] very down to earth. He was very big about human relationships, and as a result of that, his style and some of his teachings and writings have a little bit different focus, a little bit different tone than you would have seen from Pope Benedict, for example, in the life of the church."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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