Matters of Church and State

IS THE POPE CATHOLIC?

       This tired old joke has made a strong comeback, but not as a joke.   With the arrival of Pope Francis I, people are a starting to ask the question in earnest.  Not surprising, either, because Francis is acting and talking like no other Pope in my lifetime or probably in yours.

   

         The most recent departure from norm is the comment he made about gays during a news conference on the way home from the World Youth Congress in Brazil.   “Who am I to judge,” he asked and the rhetorical question was so startling to reporters that it made the front page of newspapers around the world, including the Washington Post and the New York Times.

         Who am I to judge, they asked?  That’s what Popes do, cried commentators and comics alike, some seriously, some in jest.   And it’s true that most pronouncements from the Vatican reported in both the secular and religious media for the last half century have had to do with the Pope condemning one thing or another or excommunicating an errant priest or nun who dared to question Catholic teaching and tradition.

         As a result, one could easily be excused for thinking that the only things the Pope and the Vatican seemed to care about was abortion, contraception, sexual orientation, same-sex marriage, and the condemnation of anyone who dared suggest that women should become priests.  And – oh, yes - solidifying their power base.

         Then here comes Pope Francis talking and acting like a simple pastor to the world, in the best sense of that term, declaring that God’s love and redemptive power extends to everyone who seeks to do good and lead moral lives, including gays, people of other religions or no religion, even atheists.  Breaking tradition and outraging traditionalists, he washes the feet of prisoners at a Rome detention center, including two women, one a Serbian Muslim woman and the other an Italian Catholic.  He tells clerical careerists looking to climb the next rung on the career ladder to get out of their offices and chanceries and deal with real people and their real problems and concerns.  To the end, he has resurrected the image of the good shepherd, pointing that a good shepherd deals with his sheep up close and personal, to the point that shepherds must get down and dirty and even smell like sheep.

 

         By casting his lot with the poor and the marginalized in society, and living in accordance with that belief, Francis is not only modeling the behavior of Francis of Assisi, his patron saint, but the example of the Man who started this whole movement more than 2,000 years ago.  He too cast his lot with the poor and the outcast, hanging out with tax collectors and sinners, including thieves and prostitutes, the very dregs of society.  And warning his followers not to judge lest they be judged.  His message of love and forgiveness also included everyone.  He was truly the world’s first Catholic

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         After centuries of seeing Popes acting like imperial majesties, wrapped in the livery and trappings of Medieval and Renaissance potentates, more concerned with power than their original charter, it is exhilarating for us older Catholics in particular to see Francis getting the Catholic Church back to basics and putting Christianity’s founder and his message back in the driver’s seat.

Jerry