Pope Francis restated his ardent desire to visit China, said Chinese Catholics have “the virus of hope” and revealed the advice he would give to his successor in an exclusive interview with Pedro Chia, S.J., the director of the Jesuit Communication Office of the Chinese Province, released on Aug. 9.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Pope Francis spoke about how he handles stress and time management, the biggest challenges of his papacy, experiencing crises in religious life, the grace of the Spiritual Exercises and the advice he would give to a person considering a Jesuit vocation.
Father Chia asked how the pope deals with criticism and opposition. Francis replied that even critics who are not constructive “are always helpful because they make one reflect on one’s actions.” He said that consulting and listening to others also helps him. As for facing resistance, he said, “Many times you know that you have to wait, to endure…and often correct yourself because behind some resistance there can be [constructive] criticism. Sometimes also with pain, because the resistance, as it happens at these moments, is not only against me personally; it is against the church.”
During the interview, Francis responded with humor several times, such as when asked what he would say to a young man who tells him he wants to be a Jesuit, Francis quipped, “Let him become a Dominican!” In a more serious vein, he added, “I would tell him to allow somebody to accompany him and to enter into discernment.” Moreover, he said: “There’s something in the Society of Jesus that we must never lose…missionary spirit…. It’s a missionary order. It’s interesting [that] the difficulties and resistance that St. Ignatius faced at the beginning were conflicts with people who looked inward and lost their missionary spirit.”
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Gerard O’Connell is America’s Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.
With thanks to America and Gerard O’Connell, where this article originally appeared.
