Good Pope, Bad Pope
Written by: Lorenz Köhler
From choosing to living in a simple apartment instead of the papal palace to washing the feet of men and women in youth detention centres, Pope Francis’ actions contradict behaviour expected of a modern leader. In the Catholic belief, the pope is the traditional successor to Saint Peter, whom Christ appointed as the first head of the church. As such, he stands for what Catholicism calls apostolic succession: an unbroken line back to Peter and his supreme authority.
The office of the pope is called the ‘papacy’ and it handles matters of inter-faith dialogue, charity and defence of human rights. It’s one of the most enduring institutions in the world and a prominent part of world history.
On 13 March 2013, the ‘Bishop of Rome’ and the leader of the worldwide Catholic church Pope Francis succeeded the much-maligned Benedict XVI (originally Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger).
Just one year ago, the Catholic Church arguably hit rock bottom when the reserved, cerebral and traditionalist Benedict XVI became the first retired pope since Gregory in 1451, citing ‘exhaustion’ as his reason. As Catholic followers stood still in astonishment, there was widespread umbrage at current sex abuse scandals and his butler (Pablo Gabriele) leaked classified information in an attempt to expose corruption within the Vatican.
After years of crisis, the Catholic Church may have found itself a new saviour. But can the Vatican’s Head of State really make a difference?
“My people are poor and I am one of them,” is how he explained his decision to live in an apartment and cook his own supper. He has always advised his priests to show mercy and apostolic courage and to keep their doors open to everyone. The worst thing that could happen to the Church, he has said on various occasions, ‘is what de Lubac called ‘spiritual worldliness’’, which means ‘being self-centred’. And when he speaks of social justice, he urges people to pick up the Catechism and rediscover the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. His project is simple: if you follow Christ, you understand that ‘trampling upon a person’s dignity is a serious sin’.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio hails from Argentina and is the first pope from the Americas. The 76-year-old Jesuit Archbishop of Buenos Aires is a prominent figure across the continent yet remains a simple pastor who is deeply loved by his diocese, throughout which he has travelled extensively on the underground and by bus during the fifteen years of his episcopal ministry.
Transcending the ranks of purely the faithful, the Bishop of Rome has rapidly received worldwide acclaim, accolades and awards. After Time magazine dubbed Francis ‘Man of the Year’ and Rolling Stone magazine released a ten-thousand-word piece on him - it seems that even liberal American media cannot get enough of the man. Who can blame them? The leader of the world’s one-billion-plus Roman Catholics has transformed the declining reputation of the 2000-year-old religion.
In his inaugural homily, Francis challenged the world’s economic elite in a manner that his predecessors never did: “The pope loves everyone, rich and poor alike, but he is obliged in the name of Christ to remind all that the rich must help, respect and promote the poor.”
Emulating his namesake, Pope Francis has chosen poverty, humility and solidarity with the poor as the route map to the Church’s salvation. After being elected at a time of real crisis, he’s urged the Church to ‘come out of herself and go the peripheries’ of life to meet the ‘outsiders’. He wants a ‘poor church for the poor’.
Many religious leaders have taken a similar stance but can the first non-European pope for more than a millennium deliver? And how would that change the Church?
His attempts to include the excluded, combined with his open-minded behaviour and sheer humility, have revolutionised the Catholic faith. A synod of bishops will be held in October of this year, with ‘Family Life’ its main theme. The prohibition of divorcees from sacraments - one of the most controversial and resented aspects of the religion’s doctrine - is widely expected to be revised. The self-proclaimed ‘G8’ of cardinals that will help Francis to ameliorate the church’s position has been applauded by the Italian Church historian Alberto Melloni as the ‘most important step in the history of the church is the past ten centuries’.
After half a century, arguably one of the most conservative religions in the world could be opening itself up to different voices and opinions. In an interview with Antonio Spadaro, an Italian Jesuit and the editor of La Civilta Cattolica, Francis stated ‘as baldly as any pope could do, that the church, like any human institution, must be open to changing its mind’.
“Human self-understanding changes with time,” he said. “Let’s think of when slavery was accepted or the death penalty was allowed without any problem.” He added to Spadaro, “Other sciences and their development help the church in its growth in understanding.”
Not everyone is buying into the Revolution. Linda Woodhead, professor of the sociology of religion at Lancaster University, is a Francis-sceptic: “There is huge hope riding on this pope, but so far it has been gestures; everyone is holding their breath before the Synod in October. I think it is likely there may be movement on divorcees and the sacraments, but what about the role of woman in the church? What about the church on its relation to gay people?” According to Woodhead, the German bishops’ report indicated a vast divide between the laity and the Church: “Above all, when it comes to premarital cohabitation, the status of the divorced and remarried, birth control and homosexuality.” Adam Shaw, Editor of Fox News, thinks Francis will be a disaster for the Catholic Church and compared him to President Barack Obama, whom he dubbed a ‘disappointment for America.’ He also added: “Like Obama, Francis is unable to see the problems that are really endangering his people. Like Obama, he mistakes the faithful for the enemy, the enemy for his friend, condescension for respect, socialism for justice and capitalism for tyranny.”
It must be noted that Fox News has always had a conservative bias towards pressing issues. The pope’s message is more revolutionary than most people tend to think: when Francis openly condemns an economy of exclusion, he refers to it in a ‘Catholic’ context. The economy, like all structures built my humankind, is only positive if it promotes the common good for all. “If the economy becomes so overwhelmingly exclusive that it serves to further the wealth of a few while virtually guaranteeing the poverty of many, then the structure itself has been corrupted and perverted from any morally right purpose.” This applies to most aspects of our current global economy.
After World Catholic Youth day in Rio last year, Father Bernd Hagenkord, an employee at Vatican radio, was expecting a routine press conference and the usual media response. But, to his dismay, he learnt that a spontaneous press conference was being held behind the papal plane. “I was shocked. It was so dangerous. As he answered questions, I was thinking, 'Okay, you answered that one well. Now please stop!'" An hour into the conference, a female journalist, who couldn’t believe what was happening, took the opportunity to ask about the existence of a ‘gay lobby’ inside the Vatican. Francis addressed the bigger picture. "If someone is gay, and they seek the Lord, and they are in good faith, who am I to judge?" The comments prompted a media frenzy. To give some context, Benedict had described homosexuality as an ‘intrinsic disorder’.
A faith as old as the Catholic church does not simply change overnight but, according to Jon O’Brien who is the CEO of Catholics for Choice, the brevity of the statement ‘Who am I to judge?’ and the outsized attention it gained is evidence of the pope’s sway. “His posing a simple question with very Christian roots when uttered in this context by this man became a signal to Catholics and the world that the new pope is nothing like the old one.”
Argentine rabbi Abraham Skorka, who’s known Francis for over twenty years, told Paul Valley (writer of Bergoglio’s biography): “He’s totally aware that he must in some sense be a revolutionary pope, not only for the Catholic Church, but for the whole of humanity.”
The Pope’s words and deeds reveal spiritual principles that have allowed him to lead the Church and influence our world – one that is rapidly changing world and requires leaders who value the human need for love inspiration and meaning. During Francis’ career, he’s publicised an unfathomable indebtedness to the Jewish tradition and has made Jewish-Catholic affairs a prime concern. Yet Francis will later this month embark upon a historic visit to Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank, a region beset by unrest and religious violence… and where Christians are often driven from their homes and victimised by Islamic fundamentalists.
Israel has become a significant ally of Christians as it’s one of the few areas of stability and prosperity in the region. Francis will take on the dual task of challenging extremism while encouraging reconciliation amongst the region’s Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Zion Evrony, Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See, believes many Israelis are enthusiastic about the imminent papal visit to the Holy Land and that Francis could ‘pave the way’ towards peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
In merely a year, Francis has made a lasting impression that has left even veteran Vatican-watchers astounded. The director of English programming at Vatican Radio, Sean Patrick Lovett, arrived in Rome in 1977 and has seen Pope Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI come and go. But never has he witnessed such authority and charisma: “In recent times, it’s felt like I’ve had to defend my faith, to defend the fact that I’m Catholic. Now I’ve never been so proud to be a Catholic working in the Vatican. At the moment, I’m just enjoying the man. I’m drawing inspiration from him.”
So are we.