A MAN OF CLEAR IDEAS

 

POPE LEO ‘has the mentality of a mathematician’ and ‘knows how to govern,’ confrère says. 

In an interview with the Vatican newspaper, Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, OSA, one of two undersecretaries of the General Secretariat of the Synod, shared his memories of the new Pope, with whom he worked at the Augustinian general curia beginning in 2008. (The future Pope was the Augustinian prior general from 2001 to 2013.)

 

The new Pope “is a man with very clear ideas,” said Bishop Marín. “He has the mentality of a mathematician and a canonist. He is extremely orderly, tireless in his work, thoughtful. He never makes decisions lightly. He meditates, reflects, and prays. He is a person who, faithful to the Augustinian style, always works in a team.”

 The prelate added:

He is a man who knows how to listen, he listens a lot and listens to different opinions. This does not mean that he agrees with all of them, but he listens to them and dialogues. He knows how to govern. He makes decisions, but always in a dialogical style.

 Turning to the topic of sexual abuse, Bishop Marín said that “he has always been by the victims’ side. Always. And he has scrupulously respected all the protocols. His way of proceeding has been irreproachable. He was one of the few who has always remained by the victims’ side.”