On the church doing its job

I very much like that image of Pope Francis, that the church is a battlefield hospital. It’s not just that, but it’s certainly at least that. And in so many societies with huge rates of human casualty you have to say, well, if it weren’t for that community, which is dedicated to looking out for the interests of those that everybody else has forgotten, then it would be an appalling prospect.

Looking out for the interests of the people who have been forgotten. And I think that’s actually one of the things that the church keeps coming back to, one way and another. Who’s not here? Who’s not audible? Who’s not visible? They’re the people we need to be in touch with. And I think coming into any society, any social context, that has to be one of the questions that a church doing its job will ask: who is being forgotten? Whose voice is not being heard here?