Reflection on Pope Francis

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to Popeular History, History through Pope-colored glasses. My name is Gregg.

As you know, Pope Francis passed away yesterday, and the Catholic Church is in a period of transition. I spoke about my podcast plans for the present sede vacante yesterday, so if you want more on that look there. Today I’d like to talk a bit about Pope Francis.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who became Pope Francis, knew all along that he was a man, but he also knew that people–literally billions around the world by the end of his life–wanted him to be more than a man to them. Not just Catholics, but Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Agnostics, Atheists and the great many who don’t know exactly what to make of all the theology stuff or who decided long ago it doesn’t fundamentally matter to them: across the varied spectrum of humanity Pope Francis caught the attention not only of the faithful and their varied spiritual siblings and cousins but also of the faithless and the hopeless, both inside and outside the Church.

From where I sit–and I’m no authority but here we are, you’ve tuned in to hear me for some reason–much of Pope Francis’ impact was actually on secular attitudes towards the Church. He knew how to capture imaginations, especially the nebulous imagination of the media.

Having broadly sympathetic coverage from the secular media may have been a blessing for Church leaders more broadly, but it left plenty of questions–many by design, as he famously loved to make a mess and would encourage others to do the same. Because doing the right thing often gets complicated, and messy, and uncomfortable. The fundamental question arising from this willingness to make a mess was simple: where was Pope Francis taking the Church?

With so many of his biggest fans either outside the Church or openly dissenting within it, it was a fair question.

One of Pope Francis’ refrains–todos, todos, todos, “everyone, everyone, everyone” played out against the background of a divided faith and world. Everyone might be welcome according to Pope Francis, but how could everyone find what they were looking for if they decided to come in? No matter what, whether by action or inaction, he was going to frustrate some.

In the end, those looking for substantial change would be substantially disappointed. And yet, those looking for no change at all would be disappointed as well. Fundamentally, Pope Francis was a moderate force seeking to keep disparate factions together, and he was willing to use ambiguity to do so. He wasn’t always ambiguous, in fact he wasn’t always *anything* so much as a man who loved to surprise and who understood well the impact of such surprises. He did have some misfires, but in his honor for today I won’t dwell on what I think those were. On the whole, I’m willing to describe myself as a fan, though I’m not sure that’s saying much, since I’ve been unironically a fan of every Pope in my lifetime. Yes, even that one.

In addition to his successes and the occasional misfire, Pope Francis had his turn managing a number of longstanding largely intractable issues where the Vatican famously thinking in centuries applies. No real conclusions were reached in the Church’s strained relationships with China and the Orthodox, with perhaps mild improvement being seen in both, and it really is a shame we did not have the chance to see any fruit of the celebrations for the 1700th anniversary of Nicaea that Patriarch Bartholomew had been planning with Pope Francis right from the beginning of his papacy, which were set to finally take place next month. Perhaps his successor will keep that commitment, but that’s a topic for another day. Meanwhile, Pope Francis’ pontificate will most likely be remembered as a period of rapprochement when it comes to LGBT individuals–ok, perhaps not so much the T, but I think it’s fair to say he put in some real effort in outreach to the marginalized there and elsewhere. On the perennial topic of curial reform, he did a lot, but I don’t know that he really fundamentally changed a lot, with one exception:

I would argue Pope Francis’ most significant reform came with his promotion of women to positions of real power within the Church. Now,  I respect the right of anyone, especially any woman, to laugh me out of the room when I say that, with him at best politely listening to many women’s concerns. BUT, normalizing the presence of women within the body that nominates bishops without facing significant pushback thus making it extremely likely to stick, that was in my opinion quite a feat, and he didn’t stop there, ultimately capping off his promotion of women with his designation of Sr. Raffaella Petrini as the President of the Governorate of Vatican City State. Basically the Vatican’s Prime Minister. Nor do I think he was done there when his time came, as all previous holders of that title had been Cardinals, and, well, I wouldn’t put it past him.

However, with his passing, all that and more, from the inside baseball liturgy wars to the broad sweep of ecumenism to more secular questions will be questions for his successors.

For today, let’s pray an Ave for his repose.

In nomine Patri, et Filii, et Spiritui Sancti, amen. 

Áve María, grátia pléna, Dóminus técum. Benedícta tu in muliéribus, et benedíctus frúctus véntris túi, Iésus. Sáncta María, Máter Déi, óra pro nóbis peccatóribus, nunc et in hóra mórtis nóstrae. Amen.

In nomine Patri, et Filii, et Spiritui Sancti, amen. 

 

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