CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Pope Francis has agreed to take part in a virtual event sponsored by Loyola University in Chicago and speak with several students from the Western Hemisphere.
Loyola University’s Dr. Michael Murphy said that as the university was planning a dialogue involving students from the United States, Mexico, and South and Central Americas about issues facing the Catholic Church and the world, they were talking to Dr. Emilce Cuda, a member of the faculty who is an Argentinian theologian.
“We kind of joked, let’s invite Pope Francis. He seems very personable. He likes this kind of thing. And we all kind of laughed it off and then, but she responded a week later, ‘The pope accepts,’” Dr. Murphy laughed.
Dr. Peter Jones, interim dean of the Institute for Pastoral Studies at Loyola, said the university is excited to create an opportunity for the Pope to meet incredible students and provide some energy and guidance.
“When the Pope is off-script, you never know what’s going to happen and sometimes lightning can strike and be the most glorious thing you can imagine," Dr. Jones said.
Dr. Murphy added that the event is right up Pope Francis’ alley.
“It really fits his eye. It wasn’t a whim, but like, he’d been looking for a way in to university students. This is the main thing, is the university students need to be heard, listened to in the very rich tradition of the Church," he said.
Dr. Jones said dozens of students from the Western Hemisphere will meet online over the next few weeks and decide which of them will be in the group that speaks with the Pope on topics that could range from human migration to the climate crisis and economic injustice.
He said the goal is to create a series of encounters among students who will share their experiences with students they normally would not have talked with. They’ll talk about “vexing social problems,” as well as their ideas and solutions for them.
Dr. Jones said, “At first, I was surprised [the Pope Francis had agreed to take part in the virtual event] and the more I thought about it, the less and less surprised I really think I should have been about his willingness to be present to us and to inject into this process what the pope’s voice can inject into a process like this which is energy, recognition and really infuse the process, help us infuse it with the Spirit.”
Dr. Murphy noted that, “This is not some evangelical moment, even though that might be the fruit of it, but students-young people particularly-institutions have failed them and the Church being one of them. But, there’s so much other great stuff by the Church that ought to be looked at, too. And so, this is a time of reparation.”
Murphy said that if the event ends up getting young people back to church, that’s great, but that just as importantly it’s to let them know they belong to something, bigger than themselves.
The event will run for about an hour and will be livestreamed Feb. 24. Pope Francis will speak in Spanish and translations will be offered in English and Portuguese.
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