Pope Francis speaking to the Bishops and Priests of Sicily

I have just read the address that Pope Francis gave when meeting with the Bishops and Priests of Sicily. It can be found on the Vatican website, but only in Italian: here.

The very major part of the address discusses the social and pastoral situation of the people of Sicily, and of the Church in relation to that situation. It demonstrates an extensive interest in the problems faced by Sicilian society and how the Church can and does engage with the people experiencing those problems.

It is rather misleading to concentrate comment on the last three paragraphs, and to read them outside of a Sicilian (or, at least, a south Italian) context as if they are remarks intended of a universal application. It is unfair, too, to remove them from the context of the concerns of the major part of the address that precede them.

I would draw particular attention to the two paragraphs immediately preceding the last three, in which Pope Francis speaks highly of, and encourages, the Marian devotion of the priests of Sicily.

As far as popular piety is concerned, I have a memory of a remark from early in Pope Francis' pontificate that suggests he has a very high valuing of popular piety. He observed that popular piety represents the inculturation of the Gospel. (If anyone can find a reference for this remark, please put it in the comments box - I have not been able to trace it yet.) That is the context of Pope Francis' remark about popular piety, and it should be read as encouraging such piety rather than discouraging it.

My own experience of Italy means that I can readily identify with Pope Francis' remarks about lace and about people leaving the Church for a cigarette during the homily (perhaps not literally a cigarette); and I can certainly recognise the long homily that does not really have very much of substance. Pope Francis' way of expressing things may be either rather amusing or heavily sarcastic depending on your taste. I expect that, if I had been in Pope Francis' audience, I would have had a quiet chuckle at these remarks.  But then I am not a fan of liturgical lace or of birettas. 

There is a very Italian context for these remarks, and it is quite misrepresentative to suggest that they are intended for some kind of universal application.

Perhaps we who comment should pay more attention to that last paragraph of Pope Francis where he talks about the problem of gossip....