By Roy Lagarde | CBCP News
October 29, 2023
Pope Francis holds his crosier during Mass marking the end of the first session of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Oct. 29, 2023. ROY LAGARDE
VATICAN— Pope Francis has spoken out against what he called ‘idolatry disguised as spirituality’ at the closing Mass of the first Rome session of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality.
Speaking before the hundreds of synod delegates and about 5,000 people who packed St. Peter’s Basilica, he emphasized the importance of being a Church that serves all people and avoiding “self-centerdness”.
“We must constantly struggle against all types of idolatry; not only the worldly kinds… but also those forms of idolatry disguised as spirituality: my own religious ideas, my own pastoral skills,” the pope said in his homily.
“Let us be vigilant, lest we find that we are putting ourselves at the center rather than Him,” he said.
The Church, according to him, needs to be the “servant of all,” especially of “the least of our brothers and sisters”.
“This is the Church we are called to ‘dream,’ he said. “A Church with open doors that is a haven of mercy,” he said.