Cardinal Baldisseri pointed out that 60,000 young people have already answered the questionnaire on line for the preparation of the 2018 Synod dedicated to them.
Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, made the point in the columns of the Italian Catholic Agency SIR on July 1, 2017. “A few weeks ago we launched a site and we have already had 173,000 contacts and 60,000 answers, numbers that show the public’s interest in this question. We already have the Synod’s preparatory document and at the end there is a questionnaire. With this site we want to reach young people directly and we already have great answers,” specified Cardinal Baldisseri in connection with the forthcoming Synod on Young People, all young people, not only active Catholic young people.
The Cardinal talked about “The Pope Seen Up Close”, on June 30, on the occasion of the feast of the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire, organized from June 27 to July 1, 2017 at Matera, in the south of Italy, European Capital of Culture 2019.
The Pope “never abandons anyone, not even his collaborator when he is in difficulty.” The Pope “has great humanity; he is able to create an atmosphere of collaboration, he establishes trust and fidelity, which he maintains,” he said.
Cardinal Baldisseri was Secretary of the Conclave that elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio Pope: “After the Conclave, I was at Casa Santa Marta; all the cardinals had left and the new Pope was alone. Thus, I found myself being the secretary. One evening, he said he wished to speak with me and it was at that moment that he announced that I would become the Secretary General of the Synod,” he said.
The cardinal also talked about Pope’s Francis’ way of governing. “At the end of papal ceremonies or Masses, the Pope takes off his vestments and the first thing he does is greet the cardinals. It is when he says what he wishes to say. If he has met someone a week before and he must give an answer to a question, he does so at that moment. It’s quick. It’s a way of governing, a style, that also pleases those that collaborate with him.”
