I've been so busy lately that I just
haven't had the energy to blog. But instead of writing about any of
those things making me busy, now that I have a few minutes, I prefer to write about Pope Francis.
As the conclave of cardinals was
setting up, Bob and I watched with sort of cynical interest. We read
the analyses and followed the handicapping and figured some Italian
cardinal who was a good administrator would be elected pope. If we
were lucky, he would clean out some of the people who had led to the
scandals in the Church. If we weren't, he would move the the Church
even further to the conservative side, making the changes implemented
after Vatican II more and more impotent.
Instead, the conclave did something
unexpected. They elected a cardinal from Buenos Aires, Argentina. A
cardinal who was best known for his humility and simple lifestyle.
And he did a bunch of surprising things. He took the name Pope
Francis, when there has never been a Pope Francis before. (And no,
major media outlets, that doesn't make him Pope Francis I. He will
be known as “the first” in retrospect when and if there is a Pope
Francis II.) He declined to sit upon a throne and accept the tribute
of the other cardinals, preferring to stand at their level and greet
them each that way. When he made his first public appearance, he
asked the assembled faithful at St. Peter's to pray for him. He chose
not to take the papal limousine back to his quarters for the night,
opting to ride the bust with the other cardinals. He stopped on his
way back the next morning to pay the bill at the place he had stayed
in the days leading up to the conclave.
And he continues to surprise. For
example, instead of performing the traditional washing of the feet at
St. Peter's or the main parish church there in Rome, he is going to a
juvenile detention center to wash the feet of those incarcerated. He
personally called the owner of the kiosk back in Argentina, where he
used to buy his daily paper, to cancel his paper order.
I am not naive. I don't think this pope
is going to be the one who makes the big doctrinal changes in the
church that many liberals hope for. He's not going to begin to
ordain women, or even married men. He won't change the church's
stance on homosexuality. He is fairly conservative in his beliefs
and he won't be the one who makes any of those changes. But no one
else who was realistically likely to be elected was, either. Those
changes were not in the cards for this papacy. Period.
But I think this pope may make changes
that have far reaching effects. This is a man who views his
papacy...his ministry.....probably the entire world …..in the
context of the beatitudes. He is someone who believes in simplicity, in
meekness, in mercy; Who has lived his life dedicated to these
concepts and trying to integrate them into his own life. And I am
naive enough.....or idealistic enough....to believe that this world
view can make a powerful difference. I can't wait to see what new
examples he presents us, and how that mindset affects the decisions
he makes. I actually dare to hope that this pope could be such an
example of the Christian life that he inspires Catholics and
non-Catholics to think about their faith and how it affects their
life in a new way.
It's like we've been given an Easter
gift. Alleluia!
No comments:
Post a Comment