Francis: The pope of hope

Pope Francis ... the smiling pope

By Bob Gaydos

Reflecting on the anger, bitterness and violence that punctuated much of the year just past, I resolved to start the new year with acknowledgment of some positive development. Some sign of hope, as it were. I found it in, of all places, the Catholic Church. Or rather, the Vatican.

Actually, to be specific, in the Pope.

         Pope Francis, the people’s pope, has been a revelation and a one-man revolution within an organization

that has been entrenched in dogma and shielded by ceremony for centuries.

Since his surprise election to the papacy nearly two years ago,

the Argentinian prelate has seemed to revel in speaking and acting like a,

well, like a man of God. A least what my definition of such a person would be:

Humble, unassuming, honest, approachable, compassionate, non-

judgmental, empathetic and realistic.

         Francis, the 266th pope, brought a positive note to the end of a brutally

negative 2014 by: (1) Convincing President Obama and Cuban President Raul

Castro to reestablish normal diplomatic relations between the United States and

Cuba, ending more than 50 years of pretending they weren’t neighbors; (2)

announcing that the Catholic Church would be committed to fighting global

warming. Diplomacy and science have not exactly been prominent issues for

popes for some time.

        These actions came at the end of a year in which Francis consistently and

passionately criticized the culture of greed that has claimed much of the planet,

resulting in the very rich getting even richer and much of the rest of the

population struggling to simply exist. “The excluded are still waiting’” he has

said of the false promise of “trickle-down” economics.

To top it off, in case no one was paying attention, Francis, who has shunned

many of the papal trappings, used his Christmas address to the cardinals at the

Vatican to scold them for their personal ambition, pettiness and attitude of

superiority to the people they, in fact, are sworn to serve. In other words, time

to change your focus, fellas.

Along the way, indicating that the Catholic Church is not, as some

have suggested, totally anti-science, he has declared that the theories of evolution

and the Big Bang are, indeed, real, and can co-exist with the Church’s teaching

of Creation. “God is not a magician with a magic wand,” he has said.

          He has also encouraged cardinals to be less-obsessed with birth control

and homosexualty (“Who am I to judge?”) and more committed to helping the

world’s poor. And he has moved decisively to remove more of the stain of sexual

abuse by priests that has been the most dominant issue associated with

the Church for several decades.

All of this has angered conservative Catholics and especially conservative

politicians who have counted on implicit papal endorsement for their views

(especially on social issues) for many years. Suddenly, the pope’s infallibility

on how we should treat each other and the planet we share is open to, not just

question, but outright challenge. Fox News is apoplectic.

So be it. As a leader with no armies, the Roman Catholic pope

can sway millions simply with his words and actions. Yes, the church is wealthy.

Yes, it has political influence. Yes, it has an investment in repairing its soiled

image and attracting new followers to replace those who left it because of the

priest sexual abuse scandal.

        Still, whatever one’s religious views, I believe that sometimes a person comes

along and takes everyone by surprise by doing the unexpected. In Francis’ case,

by acting like a humble servant of his God, rather than like the exalted ruler of

some chosen group of people. Given the symbolic power of the position, this

is huge.

I am sure the former cardinal from Argentina -- a supposedly safe,

compromise choice -- has many cardinals shaking their heads today and

wondering, “Tell me again; why did we vote for him?”

        And that may be the most positive thing of all about Pope Francis. He

has begun a discussion within the Vatican, within the Catholic Church and, by

his involvement in global issues, throughout the world, on what our role is in

relation to each other. It may be a discussion that will reveal the hypocrisy

and greed that permeate today’s society. Perhaps it will even

answer the question of what it means to be thy brother’s keeper.  

That’s pretty hopeful stuff to me.

bobgaydos.blogspot.com

Pacem in Terris? At least in Warwick, yes

By Bob Gaydos

Spending a summer afternoon at Pacem in Terris, in Warwick, can be like being transported to another world. Which may well have been what Frederick Franck had in mind when he created his six-acre oasis/sanctuary/art museum/sculpture garden/spiritual retreat on the banks of the Wawayanda River (photo). On special Sundays, magnificent music, such as was performed last Sunday in a stone grotto by the Loma Linda String Quartet (playing Haydn and McCartney), heightens the feeling of beauty and tranquility that is palpable almost everywhere one looks.

Franck, who died in 2006, was a pacifist, agnostic, painter, sculptor, dental surgeon, author and student of Zen Buddhism. Put prolific in front of everyone of those. A seeker of peace on earth and among all religions, he was among a select group of artists who sketched all the sessions of Vatican II, presided over by Pope John XXIII, whom Franck greatly admired. Inspired by what he saw and heard, he came home to Warwick and created his “tranreligious” sanctuary.

“Pacem in Terris, of course, was the title of the encyclical issued by the pope in April of 1963, “on establishing universal peace in truth, justice, charity and liberty.” That remarkable doctrine, among other things, encouraged religious orders to modernize, to bring the Catholic Church actively into the life of the 20th century. For many orders, this meant opportunities for greater education and learning skills to advance the causes of justice, liberty, charity and truth within their communities, not just in churches. For many orders of nuns the encyclical was, in itself, a symbol of individual liberty and justice. Instead of simply repeating church doctrine, they could actively spread the pope’s message of peace in various community settings.

And they did. And they have continued to do so. And for that, with a succession of more conservative popes since John XXIII, thousands of American nuns now find themselves threatened by the Vatican. The same institution that encouraged them to become educated, to proclaim their individual rights and responsibilities, now wants them to cease and desist. The nuns, members of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents 80 percent of American nuns, say this is not what Vatican II was about. Franck would likely agree. In fact, many lay Catholics agree with the nuns, staging demonstrations around the country to show their solidarity.

Last week, the nuns met in St. Louis to plan their response to a no-nonsense order issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The bishops said the sisters, through words and deeds had spread “certain radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.” The Vatican was particularly concerned with the nuns’ interest in sexuality, contraception, same-sex marriage and women in the priesthood. Although the group has taken no official stand on any of those issues, it has engaged in open discussion about them, arguing that they are vital issues of social liberty and justice of the times.

Which apparently everyone but the all-male Vatican can see.

The long-building ultimate confrontation has yet to occur as the sisters took a little detour after their conference, at which they took no official position. Instead, they met with Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain, assigned by the Vatican to redraw the mission of the sisters to more accurately reflect what the men in Rome want. The nuns said they expressed their concerns about the Vatican report honestly and openly with Sartain, who, they said, was a respectful listener. The bishop has been mum since the meeting, but then he probably feels, as the Vatican’s point man, that he’s holding all the cards in this game.

For their part, the nuns do not seem ready to fold. In the spirit of respectful dialogue of Vatican II, more meetings with Sartain are scheduled for the fall. But they also said they “will reconsider if LCWR is forced to compromise the integrity of its mission.”

Perhaps more tellingly, the LCWR also issued a statement saying: “The expectation of the LCWR members is that open and honest dialogue may lead not only to increasing understanding between the church leadership and women religious, but also to creating more possibilities for the laity and — particularly for women — to have a voice in the church.”

One could says, in reading “Pacem In Terris,’ that a natural evolution of the church in light of a rapidly changing world, was what John XXIII had in mind. It would seem that any institution, even a religious one, must evolve with the people and society it professes to serve, else how can it continue to properly serve?

A voice for women in the Catholic Church? A radical idea? Maybe 50 years ago. Maybe not. Perhaps Sartain should spend a few hours in the gardens at Pacem in Terris reflecting on the spirit of “Pacem in Terris” before speaking to the sisters again.

Photo by Idrea Ramaci

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