By Glen Argan
Edmonton, Alberta (CNS) – Pope Francis is a radical reformer who is facing enemies – inside and outside of the Church – opposed to at least some parts of his agenda, said a prominent church historian.
Massimo Faggioli, an expert on the Second Vatican Council and the author of several books, said the pope is not a liberal who exalts the individual as the center of the world and who sees a minimal role for the church in public life.
Rather, he sees the church as having a role in society and indeed, “in everything humans go through,” Faggioli said at the annual Anthony Jordan Lectures Series at St. Joseph Seminary. “That is not a liberal thought; it’s a radical Christian thought.”
Faggioli is a theology professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the author of several books, including “Pope Francis: Tradition in Transition,” which will be published by Paulist Press in May.
Pope Francis, Faggioli said, sees himself as having two mandates for reform.
The first he received from cardinals at the 2013 conclave, which made him its surprise choice for pope. That mandate is to deal with problems of Vatican finances, corruption, sexual abuse and curial reform, Faggioli said.
There is consensus on the need to carry out that type of reform, and the pope faces no significant opposition to implementing it, he said.
“From the very beginning, however, he made it clear that he had another mandate that was not coming from the conclave or the institution.” That is his “popular mandate,” Faggioli said, that arose out of his experience as archbishop of Buenos Aires.
The popular mandate, Faggioli said, is defined by his comment, “Who am I to judge?” in reference to a gay person “who is seeking God, who is of goodwill.”
“This is the real challenge he is offering the church. It’s where he’s making some enemies.”
It also includes dealing with new issues that have arisen since the Second Vatican Council, such as the role of women in the church, the family and marriage, he said. It further includes his creation of the nine- member Council of Cardinals that meets every two months to help him govern the church.
The creation of the council, Faggioli said, “means basically telling the Roman Curia, ‘You are fired.’”
In the past, whenever something new was created in the church, it was still within the Curia, he said.
While it is disheartening to read about the opposition within the Church itself of our current Holy Father, Pope Francis, no one should be shocked by it. Throughout Church history, many individuals who have called for discussion or even change, have had to face those not willing to at least listen.
No one will disagree that the Church of today is certainly not the Church of yesterday. While the Holy Father is the ultimate arbitrator, the changes that we live out in the Church every day, came about because there were those who had chosen to become fully engaged listeners and discussion partners. No matter what some believe, the “sin” in all of this is not the discussion or thought of change, but it is living with your “eyes covered” and your “ears clogged.”
Every action and word of Pope Francis swims in the waters of God’s mercy and compassion. It is not very hard for those willing to keep their eyes open and their ears cleared, to see that Pope Frances is not calling for a chainsaw to be used against what we believe to be true. However, what I believe he is telling us to do, through both his actions and words, is that we must never stop discerning God’s mercy and compassion.
Since all we can do is define God’s mercy and compassion within the framework of our own humanity, we will never come to know as our God knows God’s own mercy and compassion. We owe it to the legacy of the Church and to God’s people to never stop discerning and refining our understanding of both; of course, always calling for the help of the Holy Spirit in doing so.
We have been given the successor of Peter, as well as his fellow Bishops, to help the Church to discern. It is certainly through Pope Frances, that the Holy Spirit has given us the hand to uncover our eyes and the cloth to unclog our ears. If the Cardinals were true to their oath they took at the start of the Conclave, as I have no doubt that they were, why do some choose to deny the choice of the Holy Spirit, when it is clearly being told to us by God, that Pope Francis is the one we need at this time in Church history?
Nothing may change. Maybe we will experience a little change or maybe we will experience a great deal of change. Anything that happens will be ok, as it will be as God intended. However, what I do believe is that the Holy Spirit is telling the Church that it is time for all, to once again become fully engaged listeners and discussion partners.
Let us not once again bury the “coins” that God has given to us out of the fear that we may lose them or have them stolen. God gave us these “coins” to invest wisely. It is hard not to conclude that anyone who chooses to scream at the top of their lungs, “Put them back into the ground,” when it is clear that God does not want us to do so, remains incapable of hearing the sacred whispers of the Holy Spirit telling us exactly what God wants us to do with what God has given to us. We have been given the election, the actions, and the words of Pope Frances. If we are to believe none of this comes about without the presence of the Holy Spirit, how much more clearer does it have to become, before we realize why God has given Pope Frances not only to the Church but to all of humanity?