A friend responds to my story about the Southern Baptist evangelist James Robison, High Fivin’ the Pope, with a story of her own.
Several months ago I happened to see an interview Robison had with a prominent Protestant minister who lives in Argentina. He told Robison that Pope Francis had been his spiritual director in Argentina before he became pope. This minister saw him regularly for spiritual direction — I think once a month.
Anyway, when Francis became Pope Francis, the Protestant minister told Robison, “I never expected to hear from him again.” But it wasn’t long before he got a phone call from the new pope. Pope Francis said, “Isn’t it time for our monthly meeting?” And the minister flew to Rome for his spiritual direction. I suppose it’s still going on.
Robison heaped praises on Pope Francis and said how much he respected, admired, and loved him.
Which was, as I wrote in the article, what I saw as well.