From his pastoral visit to Brazil and his participation in World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, we are learning that Pope Francis is a pope of surprises.
The new pope has made it clear that he is a man who wants to be close to people. He has asked for less security and greater access to the masses. His motorcades through Rio de Janeiro were filled with scenes of babies being brought to him to be kissed and onlookers literally rushing the Popemobile for a chance to touch the Holy Father.
When the papal motorcade veered off the prepared course on his first day in Brazil, everyone thought it was a wrong turn. Speculation since then is that the pope himself directed it.
When he alit from his car, Pope Francis moved right to the barricades in order to touch people and allow them to touch him.
In his talks, he tells his fellow bishops and priests not to worry so much about pastoral structures and programs but instead to open up the doors of the churches and then to walk out and invite people inside. The pope’s emphasis is that being Church is being with people, sharing their concerns and walking alongside them.
Pope Francis speaks in Trinitarian terms. He always makes three points. To the young people in Rio, he said 1. Go out, 2. Tell the Good News, and 3. Do not be afraid.
But is the message reaching the young people? Our reporter in Rio, Antonina Zielinska, assures us that it is finding its mark. She relates that at the prayer vigil on Copacabana beach on the final evening in Rio, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for adoration. For three miles along the beachfront, there was silence. Young folks kneeling in the sands in silent adoration of their God, led by their Holy Father.
On the plane ride home to Rome, Pope Francis made headlines with an 80-minute press conference, in which he shied away from nothing. Of course, the secular press zeroed in on his remarks about homosexuals and priests.
“If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge that person? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this point beautifully but says…these persons must never be marginalized and ‘they must be integrated into society’,” said the Holy Father.
The pope says that the problem comes when people who have sinned defend that sin and form a “lobby” around their actions. That is wrong.
The same holds when a priest or religious commits a sin. The pope says that if that cleric is sorry for the sin and is repentant, the slate gets wiped clean. But he also made it clear that he is not speaking about crimes. “The crimes are something else,” he explains. “Child abuse is a crime.”
Pope Francis is presenting a pastoral approach to sin. He is not changing Church positions but merely presenting a way of going about what it means to be a Church.
What is clear is that the pope wants to keep the discussion going. He does not want to cut off the give-and-take. At one point, he told the audience in Brazil to “dialogue, dialogue, dialogue” as a way to arrive at truth.
Pope Francis has a new way of addressing the world. He speaks about drinking smoothies and cooking beans. He catches T-shirts and flags that are thrown at his car. He brings a ball and a jersey to the altar of the Blessed Mother upon his return home.
Pope Francis has captured the imagination of the world. Everyone wants to know what he is saying and doing because Pope Francis is a pope of surprises.