Pope is 'exactly the opposite' of media's portrayal, Argentinean archbishop notes

Corrientes, Argentina, Apr 22, 2009 / 18:02 pm

Archbishop Andres Stanovnik of Corrientes, Argentina revealed details of his recent ad limina visit during a press conference in which he stressed the necessity of bishops having communion with the Pope. The archbishop also said that the Pope is the exact opposite of how the media portrays him.
 
At the press conference the archbishop also explained the importance of the ad limina visit. “The Church is a living organism whose head is Christ, who is the one who governs. He does so through Peter and the apostles, present in their successors: the Pope and the college of bishops.  We bishops make no sense without communion with the Holy Father,” he said. Ad limina visits “express precisely that, our communion with the Pope.”
 
Benedict XVI, said Archbishop Stanovnik, “is very different from how he is portrayed by the media, who make him out to be an inflexible, rigid and conservative Pope, estranged from reality, insensible, dogmatic, and he is not like this. He is exactly the opposite. What is sad is that some sectors in the Church believe what the media says.”
 
“Benedict XVI is very gracious, from the very moment you meet him you feel there is no distance between you because he is a simple man and for this reason he makes everything simple,” the archbishop stated.  “One feels welcomed, accepted and close. Moreover, he is a person who knows how to listen, because the questions he asks are about the things you are telling him.”
 
“The interior of this Christian that the Church has anointed as Bishop of Rome is one of openness, a man who listens. And therefore, a person who listens to others is a person who also listens to God; he is a man of profound prayer.  It is a blessing to have a universal pastor like him,” the archbishop said.