Pope Francis Quotes
Jesus teaches us to put the needs of the poor ahead of our own, our needs, even if legitimate, will never be so urgent as those of the poor, who lack the necessities of life.
Pope Francis. "Angelus, 3 August 2014." Vatican.va, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 3 Aug. 2014.
If I had the power I would steal all your royal wealth and give it to Christ’s brothers and sisters.
Her monasteries were organized into male and female sections with monks and nuns respectively—a complete gender reversal of control of religious institutions of the Catholic Church where until modern times females were subservient to males. Remarkably, Brigid controlled both as there was no abbot. She heard confessions, ordained clergy, and may have even celebrated mass. Her first biographer claimed that she had been consecrated a bishop. Bishops were occasionally elected by the people. Brigid was one of the first political advocates of redistribution of wealth.
Jennings had been purchased by Webster and served as his personal butler. As such, and technically a free Black, Jennings had the run of Washington including the Capitol. Webster had freed Jennings with the understanding that Jennings would work off his purchase price. About a year before Jennings had fully worked off his freedom price, he organized a slave escape of Washington house slave by arranging for a ship, the Pearl, to take them North. He wrote his letter to Webster and then went to the docks where the slaves boarded the Pearl. At the last minute, he left the ship and returned to the Webster home feeling that he had given his word and to leave at that time would be dishonorable. The slaves sailed, but were caught by a posse shortly. Most of the slaves were sold as field hands to the deep South, but the white ship’s master, Daniel Drayton, was tried for stealing property. He was defended by Horace Mann, and fined an amount he could not pay and went to jail. The Pearl escape received much notoriety as the escapees were all very “privileged” slaves. Two years later in the Compromise of 1850, selling slaves on the open market was banned in Washington DC. Millard Filmore pardoned Drayton after 4 years in jail. Jennings completed his promise of service and was never prosecuted for his organization of the escape.
Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Francis is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first pope from outside Europe since Gregory III, a Syrian who reigned in the 8th century.
