A Comment on the Comments of Francis

Pope Francis continues to make headlines. Although this time, he is taking more heat than he did for the acquisition of a 1984 Renault 4. Accused by the “right” of softening the Church’s stance on the hot-button issues of abortion and homosexuality, and misconstrued by the “left” of changing the Church’s stance on those issues, Francis is finding the papacy a hard place to please. Good thing pleasing is not his job.

            I wish to offer just a few perhaps disjointed comments on the recent interview with the Holy Father. First of all, we must remember who we’re dealing with here. No, I do not mean the Argentinian Jesuit, lover-of-the-poor (though, it cannot be denied). I mean the office behind the man—St. Peter, the Vicar of Christ on earth. My intent is not to resurrect Unam Sanctam, but rather to emphasize that it is better to be obedient and listen to our Holy Father rather than quickly and openly accuse him before the watchful eyes of modernity. Remember, obedience calls for us to follow our conscience, which is served by the Holy Father and the Magisterial teaching of the Church. Thus disobedience is warranted only if the order is utterly opposed to human reason. That being said, I realize that the Holy Father by no means spoke infallibly or even close to it. Instead, I invite all those who so sternly know “what they would do if they were in his shoes” to recall that we are not called to be in his shoes, but under his mitre.

            Second, the Holy Father was right on. The message of the Church is not one of political activism, economic freedom, or condemnation. The message of the Church is Jesus Christ, who came for the salvation of the world. This does not mean that we should abandon the fights in which we are engaged. Rather, this means that we should never forget that the kingdom of God is not of this earth, nor will it ever be. The world was not saved by a politician or an activist or a scientist, but by death and resurrection.  Christ did not bring us food or power or money. “He brought God” Pope Benedict so simply put it, “He brought God.”

            Finally, we should recall that the Church is not concerned with appearance, but with souls. Many today criticize Francis for not speaking out strongly enough against abortion or homosexuality. In a similar vein, many seventy years ago criticized Pope Pius XII for not speaking out strongly enough against Hitler. “If we speak out more,” Pius told his cardinals, “things will be worse.” What did he do instead? While many lambasted his silence, Pius worked behind the scenes to save over 800,000 Jewish people—more than all other efforts in Italy combined.  And while his reputation has been consequently smeared for decades, it is remembered with fondness by the Jewish community in Rome—the leader of which converted to Catholicism and changed his name to Eugenio in honor of Pius XII’s birth name.

            Francis, likewise, may be lambasted for his silence and criticized by many for his words as a weak representative of the Church. Although quite frankly, I’d be more interested in asking 35 years old Anna Romano her thoughts. After refusing to have an abortion, Francis called her, consoled her, and offered to baptize her baby. Perhaps this is his message in the face of word-wars. Perhaps this is his way of saying with Christ “I desire mercy…”