The Pope’s
revolutionary message/
CNN | 22/09/2013
It’s time
to stop being surprised by Pope Francis.
Since he
became pontiff, he’s made a lot of news. His tweets echo around the world. He
embodies principles of humility and piety. He eschews the fancy trappings of
office favored by his predecessor, from the Popemobile to the red shoes. He
washed the feet of prisoners, including a Muslim woman, on Holy Thursday. He
telephones ordinary people who write to him.
In Rome,
he called for “revolutionaries” to leave the comforts of their home and bring
the word into the streets. In Rio, he told the gathered youth to “make a mess”
in the dioceses as they help the church shake off clericalism.
He has
sought to create a “culture of encounter” in which atheists and Catholics might
come together. “Do good,” he said memorably. “We will meet each other there.”
When he announced that he would canonize Pope John XXIII, the great reformer,
on the same day as John Paul II, he emphasized continuity among all Catholics,
even those of different factions. When asked about gay priests, he replied,
“Who am I to judge?”
Most
recently, he gave a long interview in which he articulated a new vision of the
church that does seem revolutionary. In the West, reaction has focused on his
statements about hot-button social issues. For example, he said, “the teaching
of the church (on abortion, gay marriage, and contraception), for that matter,
is clear … (but) it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.”
Given the
constant drumbeat of the American church hierarchy on exactly those issues, the
line comes off as a surprising rebuke. Deeper critiques lie within the
interview as well. When he spoke about doubt and dialogue, he said, “If the
Christian is a restorationist, a legalist, if he wants everything clear and
safe, then he will find nothing.”
At the
very least, Francis has found a message that resonates with Catholics and
non-Catholics alike. But as repeatedly stated by commentators and church
officials, he has not changed anything. He has called for no new doctrines. His
reorganization of the Vatican goes slowly. The problems besetting the church
before his election remain. Traditionalists, who wish to preserve gains won
under the past two popes, and reformers, who are frustrated by the pace of
change, agree on this one thing. To this point, Francis’ impact emerges from
his behavior and his words, not his executive power as pope.
And yet,
he has this power to surprise. Every time he demonstrates his humility or his
empathy, his words resonate with Catholics and non-Catholics alike. They bring
both pleasure and surprise that such a seemingly honest, humble and holy person
really could be pope.
Don’t be
surprised at what Francis is doing; instead, wonder if the rest of the church
hierarchy is going to catch up. Francis’ revolution emerges out of the core of
Catholicism. He emphasizes humility, poverty, social justice, non-judgment,
peace and especially mercy. That he can seem so transformative without changing
any theological principles is a testament to the depth and power of his reform,
not its limitations.
Such a
reform has historical precedent. More than 800 years ago, another Francis, the
son of a cloth merchant in Assisi, came to Rome to see the pope. The church of
the 13th century relied heavily on ritual and formula. This reliance distanced
the priests from their parishioners and was a growing problem in an era of
societal change. Francis and his disciples, who attempted to live in perfect
poverty and humility, had dedicated themselves to preaching and outreach to the
people. They tried to pattern their lives by the principles of Christ.
The pope,
Innocent III, gave Francis his approval and supported the new Franciscan order.
He hoped that the charismatic humility of Francis might help address some of the
problems the church was facing. Eight hundred years later, Archbishop Jorge
Bergoglio became the first pope to take Francis’ name as his own.
St.
Francis’ revolutionary message focused on a return to first principles, as he
saw them. While Pope Francis has ascended to the throne of St. Peter and St.
Francis never chose to be ordained, one can locate certain parallels unfolding
between the two men and their efforts at reform. This pope is also turning to
the first principles as he perceives them. Pope Francis makes the argument that
everything he needs to transform the church already exists within the core
teachings. And if this is the core, how can anyone choose not to follow?
What
would it look like for the rest of the hierarchy to go where Francis is
leading? For one thing, they might find lots of their lay parishioners and the
women and men in holy order already there, working.
But while
the hierarchy clearly elected Francis to reform the workings of the Vatican,
it’s not clear that they expected his personal piety to put such pressure on
them. Traditionalist response to Francis has concentrated on his personal
charisma while emphasizing the orthodoxy of his doctrinal positions. Such
responses seem to indicate a resistance to the idea that they might need to
change anything.
In a
recent interview with the New Catholic Reporter, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New
York talked about the new pope. He said that in the wake of Francis, he found
himself “examining my own conscience … on style, on simplicity, on lots of
things.” The cardinal wondered whether his living arrangements, in the
historical residence of the archbishops of New York, were appropriate. But the
cardinal wasn’t quite sure what to do about it, given that he can’t sell the
building.
St.
Francis would have agreed. He carefully never argued for the church to sell of
its property or divest itself of income. Of course, he was outside the church hierarchy
and relied on papal protection for his safety.
Pope
Francis, on the other hand, might have a plan for an empty archbishop’s
residence if Cardinal Dolan wanted to downsize. After all, he did recently
suggest that empty church property should be used to house refugees.
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