As Luke Coppen noted in a recent piece in The Spectator, Francis “has been spun as a left-liberal idol,” in the popular media. There is reason to believe, however, that conservatives are also misappropriating Francis when convenient and spinning his words in service to their own agendas. Such conservative efforts have resulted in Francis contributing, if inadvertently, to a growing and increasingly global yogaphobia.
In a homily at a morning mass on January 9 in the Santa Marta residence, Francis reflected on that day’s gospel reading, which described how the apostles were frightened when they witnessed Jesus walking on water. The Pope explained that they were afraid as a consequence of their hearts being hardened. He went on to list a variety of potential reasons why peoples’ hearts might become hardened, such as a painful experience from a person’s past, religious narcissism or “creating a world within oneself, all closed in,” or insecurity and fear “that something painful or sad will occur.”
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