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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Herb Rothschild Jr.: Making sense of UCC ... Police giving away trick-or-treat bags ... Ashland author memorializes slain UCC professor in poem ... Herb Rothschild Jr.: Making sense of UCC ... Police giving away trick-or-treat bags ... Ashland author memorializes slain UCC professor in poem ... LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the Editor, Oct. 7 Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Oct. 7, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Oct. 7, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Papa Francisco It’s impossible to estimate the impact of Pope Francis’s first visit to the USA. This deeply spiritual, pastoral, joyful and well-educated Bishop Of Rome, servant of the servants of Jesus Christ, has, by all media accounts, taken the American people captive and given American Catholics a reason, once again, to be proud they are Catholic. There is a joyous feeling going out across the land. So many are fired up by his speaking up for the marginalized and poor, his support for immigration, his undaunted warnings about unbridled capitalism and globalization, his pleas to wealthy nations to cut back on fossil fuels and global warming, and overall, his affirmation and call for protection and enhancement of the dignity and equality of all human life and the rights of the least, as well as the last among us. Just how many babies and folks in wheelchairs did he kiss and embrace, anyway? Wearing a simple white cassock with only the bishop’s mitre, insisting upon riding in a small Fiat, carrying his own briefcase, being seated on very simple and plain dais and chair, merging into the crowds to touch and be touched, he is the people’s pope. His voice is soft in worship, his body tilted, and yet when he speaks off-text, his Latino eyes sparkle as his hands poke the air and his excitement infects us all. He has and will continue to call Roman Catholics, all Christians and the world community to repentance for rigidity, abuse of authority, warring on neighbors. He has and will continue to invite humanity’s men and women to sit down and sup at one table and to move over on the bench of human life to make room for those who hunger for justice, mercy and peace. Do we have a long way to go before we have an equal table of justice? Indeed we do. I have lived through the years of service of eight popes, bishops of Rome, and this is the pope who most manifests my hopes for Christianity. Not just for what he says, which is wonderful and powerful, rather to whom he says it, and how he lives it. This man tells me that God is always in loving relationship with humanity, with all of nature, and that we are called to make manifest the glories of God in being fully human while we strive to make our planet a safe and joyous place for all. The Rev. Tom Buechele Ashland EDITOR'S NOTE: The Rev. Tom Buechele is a retired assisting Episcopal priest at Trinity Episcopal Church in Ashland. He was a Roman Catholic priest for 22 years and has been an Episcopal priest for the past 13 years. We can learn from Cuba I had the great privilege to travel to Cuba in July with Pastors for Peace, part of IFCO (Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization), the first ecumenical foundation created by and for people of color and one of our oldest faith-based civil rights organizations. We delivered material aid, challenged the U.S. travel ban and economic blockade, and experienced the tranquility of a nation virtually free of gun violence, extreme poverty and illiteracy. Universal health care, free education, artistry and multiculturalism are colorfully visible and joyously celebrated. Incredible! IFCO facilitates people to people diplomacy and administrates the scholarship program for U.S. students at ELAM (Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina). Altogether 132 U.S. graduates of ELAM have returned home to work in under-served U.S. communities, half of them young black men and women. We can learn much from Cuba, where the needs of all are considered rather than the privileges of a few. The IRS is threatening to revoke IFCO’s nonprofit status. Huge public input is needed. Stand for Pastors for Peace, IFCO, the Cuban people, and the better world possible for us all. Call Rep. Greg Walden, Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. Fax: 202-622-5756 The Rev. Paula Sohl Ashland DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Oct. 7, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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