"If it is Necessary for me to recite the Creed, I can!"

“E se è necessario che io reciti il ‘Credo’, sono disposto a farlo!”

With those words, spoken on the plane from Cuba in response to a question about him being a bit of a leftie, the Holy Father dismissed those complaints that he is taking the Catholic Church in a heretical, or at least quasi-heretical, direction. He reminded his listeners that the social doctrine of the Church flows from the same set of beliefs as our other Catholic doctrines. And, he did so with a characteristically light touch and without a hint of defensiveness.

As mentioned, for the next five days, I will be watching every talk and offering immediate takeaways as quickly as possible. So, instead of a morning post about the news of the day, Distinctly Catholic will be in real time mode. And, until I put that phrase on the page, “real time,” I had not thought about how exactly precise it is. We Catholics live in the tangible world, but we know that more real than what we can see or hear is what we believe. It is that which endures. And, the Holy Father has come to help all of us pay better attention to that which endures, better to say, to Him who endures. Buckle up.