From American Magazine-Shortly after the election of Pope Francis, I was called to a hospital near my parish. The clerk said neither the social worker nor the security chief were available to deal with a developing situation. The family of a recently and tragically deceased patient was becoming increasingly agitated, even hostile, while waiting to see their loved one in the morgue. As a parish priest, I presented a last-ditch hope for intervention.
I usually make the eight-minute walk from parish office to the hospital at a leisurely pace so I can prepare mentally for what I might encounter. This time, while walking, a strong directing question came to me: “What would Pope Francis do in this situation?” I was not asking what would the Holy See do, but rather: What would Francis the priest, the pastoral minister, do? I do not think I ever had such a thought in the past. For the first time, I was mentally reaching out to a pope, not as voice of theological authority or center of ecclesial unity, but as a source for help in a basic pastoral need.
https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2018/04/12/how-sean-bean-gets-life-parish-priest-right-new-bbc-show
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