Those who have difficulty with miracles may be
feeling challenged after the past six weeks.
It now seems it is the
probable that takes a little longer, not the impossible.
The resignation of Pope Benedict
XVI was, well, unbelievable, even “bizarre, unprecedented”.
But who
would ever have believed his successor could be a Francis “from the ends
of the Earth”? A Jesuit, an also-ran from the 2005 conclave, 76 years
old, 50-1 at Paddy Power ?
You could understand the confusion of the
Italian bishops’ conference.
Two hours after Francis was elected it
issued a statement congratulating the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan,
Angelo Scola, on becoming pope. An epic mistake.
It arose, it seems, because the Italians had
prepared messages of congratulation for about nine men-most-likely-to.
The person responsible pressed the wrong button.
The word in Rome is that Francis secured 90
votes on the conclave’s fifth vote, with Cardinal Scola and the former
Archbishop of Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet runners-up.
Pope Francis is, of course, a Catholic, as the usual graceless ones here in Ireland
rushed to point out with such stretched wit so the rest of us would
know he concurred with their line on abortion, same-sex marriage,
contraception – teachings that owe more to Greek philosophy than to
anything Jesus said. He never addressed any of those topics.
The poorest of the poor
No, the great surprise about Francis is that he is so Christian.
He walks the walk.
So many prelates
are content to just talk the talk.
He eschewed the trappings of his
office to live frugally in Buenos Aires while committed to and spending much of his time among the poorest of the poor in the city’s slums.
Our graceless ones have never shown much
concern for the poor or issues of social justice.
They prefer the arid
don’ts of dogma, as they interpret it, to feeding the hungry, clothing
the naked, giving drink to the thirsty.
The pope promises to remind such narrow types
there is more to Christianity than the letter of the law and while
people may not live by bread alone they must have bread to live.
His
demeanour promises reorientation of a church that has lost its way,
starting with reform at the top.
But issues of governance are of secondary
matters for most Catholics.
What inspires them is Francis’s simplicity,
his ordinary crucifix, the black shoes, that he pays his bills
personally, his humour, the spontaneous asides.
Above all, his plea – “How I wish for a church
that is poor and for the poor!” – has found deep resonance in Catholic
pews all over the world.
He said it at that remarkable first audience on
March 16th when he met the world’s media.
But what most moved many at that encounter were
his final words. They indicated a return to a church that no longer saw
itself as the preserve of a self-styled pure elite but could again be
home to the great hotch-potch of humanity, as under Pope John XXIII.
Pope Francis told the gathering: “Many of you don’t belong to the Catholic Church,
others are not believers. From my heart I impart this blessing, in
silence, to each of you, respecting the conscience of each one but
knowing that each of you is a child of God: May God bless you.”
True respect for conscience appears to have
made a return in the Catholic Church.
Francis’s words were followed
through last Tuesday when US vice-president Joe Biden and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi received Communion at the Mass to celebrate his inauguration, despite their pro-choice positions on abortion.
Pope Francis has had a good start.