In terms of communication, Pope Francis “is better than Ratzinger, he
is a modern man, he is the Pope of the Internet, he is the Pope of the
world of globalization”.
That is the verdict of Umberto Eco, the world
famous Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher and author of the
best-selling novel, “The Name of the Rose”.
“I am convinced that Pope Francis is representing something
absolutely new in the history of the Church, and perhaps in the history
of the world”, the Italian writer told La Nacion, one of the main
Argentinean dailies in an interview published today in Buenos Aires.
He reacted with some discomfort, however, when asked by La
Nacion for his opinion of Pope Francis: “I am extremely annoyed when
the whole world asks me what I think of Pope Francis. It would be
interesting to know what Pope Francis thinks of me, but I do not know…”
“When some rather ingeniously ask me whether he (Francis)
represents a revolution, I reply that revolutions are only evaluated
after a hundred years”, Eco added.
Asked what he thought of the fact that the Pope had written a
letter to the founder of the Italian daily, La Repubblica, Eugenio
Scalfari, ‘a non-believer, in response to two editorials written by him
in that paper, Eco, clearly not enthusiastic, remarked, “Well, it was
an incentive for the print media”, in other words it helped sales.
Pushed for what he really thought about this, Eco responded,
“I would not permit myself to judge Pope Francis, who probably wrote
this letter because it seemed useful and interesting for him to do so,
and that is very good.” He recalled how ten-years ago he had
corresponded with Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, and this resulted in
four long letters that were subsequently published as a book.
Responding to a question as to whether he was surprised that
the papacy has gone out of Europe for the first time in more than a
millennium, Eco recalled that “it went out of Italy” with the election
of Karol Wojtyla in 1978, and prior to that the last non-Italian pope
was Hadrian V from Utrecht in 1552.
“When it happened with Wojtyla it
was something new that showed that the Church was no longer an Italian
power against the Germanic empire as it had been in the previous
centuries, it was something universal. And so it seems to me that it
was quite normal that there would be another foreign pope after Joseph
Ratzinger”.
Surprisingly, the 82-year old Eco did not rate the fact that
the papacy had crossed the Atlantic for the first time in history as
“something exceptional” because of the airlines we have today.
He did concede, however, that the choice of the first Latin
American pope in history marked the end of ‘euro-centrism” in the
Church.
“This no longer exists. If the cardinal chose this Pope, it
means that we are in a globalized world. Therefore, because
globalization exists, it is normal that they chose Argentinean Pope.
They could have chosen a Pope from Ghana, but the chose one from
Argentina. That’s globalization, and I don’t see how the Church could
escape from this phenomenon”, he said.
Questioned how he, as a world-famous semiotician, rated the
way Pope Francis communicates with the world, Eco said “he is better
than Ratzinger, he is a modern man, he is the Pope of the Internet”.
It
does not matter that Francis does not use the computer, he said, “He is
the Pope of the world of globalization. I find him highly interesting,
but he doesn’t surprise me. It seems to me that he is in tune with the
evolution of the global culture. What surprises me, however, is the
curiosity of journalists or of the public at the fact that Pope Francis
exists. I am not surprised.”
Umberto Eco admitted that he was “surprised” by “the fact
that he (Francis) said ‘Buonsera’ (‘Good evening’)” when he greeted the
world on the night of his election.
“This was a rupture of a centuries
old liturgy. They are small gestures that can signify a lot”, he
stated.