(WASHINGTON POST) — VATICAN CITY —Pope Francis on Sunday appeared to lecture church elders at the closing of a landmark summit on the family here, suggesting they should not be quick to exclude a broad array of people deserving of God’s grace.
In a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the end of the three-week summit — known as a synod — Francis seemed to target narrowness, focusing his homily on the biblical story of a blind man named Bartimaeus whom Jesus engages during a journey.
“None of the disciples stopped, as Jesus did,” Francis said in what at times appeared to be a scolding tone.