Pope Francis’s famous image of the Church as a “field hospital” is so often invoked that it’s easy to forget that a field hospital is about critical care, not long-term recovery. For that, the Church also needs places where the Christian life can be nourished and deepened — a role the new movements play well, when they overcome their tendency for in-fighting.
Copyright 2024 The Catholic Thing. All Rights Reserved.
A problem with papal imagery
Fr. Robert Ombelli, CRUX
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Pope Francis’s famous image of the Church as a “field hospital” is so often invoked that it’s easy to forget that a field hospital is about critical care, not long-term recovery. For that, the Church also needs places where the Christian life can be nourished and deepened — a role the new movements play well, when they overcome their tendency for in-fighting.