Vatican City, Apr 28, 2016 / 09:23 am
In his homily Thursday Pope Francis stressed the need to be open to the novelty of the Holy Spirit, by discerning new movements and directions without being immediately closed off from them.
Francis asked Mass-goers at the Santa Marta chapel April 28 how the Church responds when faced with something new, and perhaps never done before, clarifying that this is "not worldly newness, like fashions and clothes, but the newness and surprises of the Spirit, because the Spirit always surprises us."
The answer, he said, is "by meeting, listening, discussing and praying before the final decision."
This is the same method the Church has used since the beginning, and is how she answers resistance based on assertions such as "it was never done this way," or "you must do it like this."