Catholicism at a Crossroads
The Death of Pope Francis I and the Direction of the Catholic Church
From the moment I first heard of Pope Francis, I liked him. He understood. The first Jesuit pope, he took the name of the man who started the order, Francis of Assissi. He adhered to the idea that nobody, not even the Pope was perfect, and that life was a constant test of education, service, humility and grace. As Pope, he demonstrated that ethos time and time again. At a time when the Church was becoming stagnant, orthodox, and losing members, he was a breath of fresh air that reinvigorated the faithful and expanded the reach around the globe. As the first pope from South America, he strengthened the bonds of Christianity to Latin America and into the emerging countries of the world.
His death, as with most popes’ deaths, marks the church at a crossroads. Do they continue on this path of global expansion and outreach, and continue on with Francis’s legacy of humility, or do they retrench, rebuild the structures from within and take a more administrative approach? The modern trend has been that the more ideological popes are succeeded by more internally focused papacies. This makes general sense, since the advantages of the one are usually neglected by the same, and redressing, reinforcing, and rebuilding are often necessary putting the Vatican on the opposite path; one foot can’t extend further out without the other.
Pope John Paul II, the second longest serving Pope ever, was very much an ideological Pope. A Pole at the peak of the Cold War, his appointment is viewed as one of the factors in the decline of communism and the “godless” Soviet Union in the 1980s. He was seen as a model of forgiveness, forgiving the person who tried to assassinate him in a remarkable moment. But part of the reason he was such a long serving Pope is that as he lived longer into old age than most, and as he grew older and more infirm, he was less able to oversee the day to day administration of the Vatican that the job requires. Corruption and mismanagement grew within the Vatitcan institutions and the need to fix a number of wrongs was required. By then John Paul had appointed EVERY Cardinal who was to vote for his successor. It took only four ballots to elect Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI. His unofficial title during Pope John Paul’s latter papacy was “The Pope’s Bulldog.” A conservative and orthodox pope, he set out to clean house and rebuild the foundations, a task even he found difficult to correct. While the Catholic Abuse scandal had been ongoing for decades before he became Pope, it became public under his Papacy and he was the global face of the wrongs that had occurred.
Benedict’s age all but assured a reasonably short papacy. However, nobody predicted that in 2013, Pope Benedict would do something that hadn’t occurred in over 600 years; abdicate the Seat of St. Peter. Growing health ailments had made the Pope consider that someone else should take the mantle, as he did not want to happen to his Papacy what had happened to John Paul’s. He gave the title up.
While Pope Francis (at the time Jorge Mario Bergoglio) was not considered a front runner, there was a sentiment within the College of Cardinals to incorporate Latin America much more into Vatican affairs. Home to the world’s largest Catholic population, but represented in College by only 19 of the 117 Conclave Cardinals, Bergoglio’s candidacy was very unlikely. Yet, behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel where the vote took place, the would-be Pope made a speech that many of the other Cardinals agreed was where they wanted the Church to go. He won on the fourth ballot.
And here we are at another such moment. As with Francis, there is no clear frontrunner, and there are also possibilities throughout the emerging world. Ideologically, the Church has leaned and appealed to more liberal Catholics over Francis’s term, but now the world is trending in a less liberal direction. Does that mean those within the College decide to vote a more orthodox option, or continue to lean into Francis’s expansion of the church? Do they elect a younger option who has the possibility to sit as pope for 25+ years, or do they choose an older Pope who may not sit as long? Do they advocate for addressing more of the internal affairs of the Vatican or do they pick another thoughtful ideas candidate?
One thing is for certain, in 20-30 days, the direction the Vatican and the World’s Catholics go for the next 20 some years will be determined by a group of 200 or so men in a Church in Rome under the paintings of Michaelangelo. Whom they select will impact the world in ways we maybe won’t even understand until well after they are gone. Nonetheless, their stamp on history during these troubled times will not be in doubt. Whether that is a good legacy or one of infamy, only time will tell.
PurpleAmerica’s Cultural Corner
I’d be remiss if I didn’t recommend the Oscar Nominated movie “Conclave” from last year. Sure, its a pretty simplistic and predictable procedural film, but Ralph Fiennes is great and Isabella Rossellini does more in her 15 minutes of screen time than any of the other nominated Supporting Actresses. It’s an entertaining film, with a thoughtful but laughable plot twist at the end, well worth 100 minutes of your time.
Another item I saw that was interesting and throughtful was CNN’s “Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History”. Covering various popes throughout history and narrated by Liam Neeson, this 6-part series was a fascinating history lesson that provides context to the modern day Papacy.
Lastly, I want to recommend Netflix’s “The Two Popes” starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Price as Popes Benedict and Francis, respectively. As boring as one might expect a film in which the two mostly just talk back and forth to be, it’s actually very well done and the time just flies right by.
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day
There have been 266 Popes in history. The most common name? John, with 21 different Popes choosing the name.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
“Sede vacante.” Latin phrase meaning “The seat is vacant,” used to describe the vacancy of the papacy after the death or abdication of a Pope.
Ideally the Catholic Church will continue trying to modernize and become less Euro centric in the same general direction that Francis was leading it. And I think a younger pope would be preferable overall. I'm a non practicing Catholic but it's a great religion (along with Judaism) to have in your background if you want to go into comedy..