The Church celebrates Pope Francis’ 10th anniversary as Pope and CLC Offers prayers of gratitude!
According to Massimo Faggioli, speaking at an event hosted by St Jerome’s University in Waterloo to mark Francis@10, the papacy of Francis has been like no other. He is the first pope to be elected while his predecessor was still alive and living in the Vatican. This, in itself, presented a number of challenges for Francis. Francis is also the first pope to come from the global south and so does not view the church through a European or a Western lens. And although he is not the first global pope, insomuch as Pope John Paul II traveled the world extensively, visiting countries that had never received a papal visit, Francis, except for his visit to Ireland, has avoided visits to European countries and traveled more to those regions that he would consider the periphery. Even his visit to Canada last year was more to Indigenous peoples than to the mainstream Canadian church.
What makes Francis different from his immediate predecessors, is his willingness to undertake the most -and more- ambitious reform agenda since Vatican II, in the face of tremendous opposition from the status quo and in the middle of a global pandemic.
Another difference between Francis as a global pope and John Paul II is that John Paul II lived in a world that saw the collapse of the Soviet Union (which some would argue he had a role in) and the “triumph” of western-style liberal democracy while Francis is presiding over a world that seem to be a state of breakdown, with populism and autocratic governments on the rise and the retreat into factions, both in the world and in the Church. What makes Francis different from his immediate predecessors, is his willingness to undertake the most -and more- ambitious reform agenda since Vatican II, in the face of tremendous opposition from the status quo and in the middle of a global pandemic.
In spite of the challenges Francis inherited, he seems at the 10-year mark as committed as ever to his vision of the Church of the Third Millennium. Here are some hallmarks of his vision that resonate with me and make me want to do everything I can to ensure his success:
Francis continues to remind us that God is a God of Mercy. And we are all in need of mercy as we are none of us perfect yet.
Being the church is less about agreeing and more about talking and listening.
The Spirit is to be found working on the periphery- if we want to draw closer to God we must go to the margins and away from centres of power and affluence.
The Church must be a place of welcome for all- we have to make the tent bigger.
The laity are partners in mission; priests are not the ‘bosses.’
It is ok to admit you made a mistake-even when you are the Pope.
God and salvation are not the exclusive province of the Roman Catholic Church; however, one can still assert that ‘outside the church there is no salvation’ if you change the understanding of church to something which is present anywhere the Spirit of Christ is working in the world: the institutional church does not determine where the saving Spirit of Christ is working, but should be an expert in recognizing it. We can do better at this.
How we translate this vision -which flows from our very founding in the Acts of the Apostles -into a vibrant, global community of faith (one holy, catholic and apostolic church) is the on-going work of synodality. We are followers of the Way. Where are we going? Into the heart of God. With the Spirit leading, we will know when we get there.
All of us at CLC offer grateful and prayerful best wishes for good health and many more years of fruitful ministry among us for Holy Father Pope Francis.