Pope Francis' 2015 Pre-Christmas Address to the Curia

Despite his not feeling well (he acknowledged that he has been suffering from a cold), Pope Francis addressed the staff of his Curia on Monday, December 21, 2015.

Giving his reflections while seated (he apologized for not standing), Pope Francis recalled his address last year when he  listed some illnesses or temptations that Curia staff must face. On that occasion he developed an examination of conscience, urging his audience to be careful not to give in to such things as being too busy, becoming hard-hearted, failing to coordinate with other members, spreading gossip, failing to smile.

This year he offered what he termed “curial antibiotics” which could help treat some of the diseases he listed last year, diseases which became evident during the past year and which, he said, caused “no small pain to the entire body, harming many souls, even by scandal.”

Reiterating the dictum  “Ecclesia semeper reformanda” (the Church is always in need of reform), Pope Francis assured his staff that “the reform will move forward with determination, clarity, and firm resolve.”

Despite these diseases and even scandals, the Holy Father quickly added his heartfelt gratitude and needed encouragement “to all those good and honest men and women in the Curia who work with dedication, devotion, fidelity and professionalism.”

He then listed for them a number of virtues which he urged them to embrace and put into practice.

He presented this year’s list following an acrostic for the Latin term misericordia (mercy) which does not easily transfer into English. But using each letter of misericordia, Pope Francis recalled virtues, attitudes, and actions which he urged his staff to put into practice.

He began with “M” –and related that letter to “missionary” spirit, reminding the gathering that all who are baptized are called to be missionaries endowed with  pastoral sensitivity.

His address further urged the staff to be wise and creative, fulfilling their jobs with intelligence, insight, and appropriateness. Pope Francis recalled the need for a spirituality which keeps a person human and not robotic. He asked them to set a good example, to avoid emotional excesses, to have a spirit of determination but capable of restraint from impulsive, hasty actions.

He encouraged them to practice charity, to be truthful , humble, diligent, alert, and accountable.

Pope Francis put all these virtues in the context of the Year of Mercy, noting that mercy is the virtue of those who choose to put on the heart of Christ.

“And so,” he concluded, “may mercy guide our steps, inspire our reforms and enlighten our decisions. May it be the basis of all our efforts. May it teach us when to move forward and when to step back. May it also enable us to understand the littleness of all that we do in God’s greater plan of salvation, in his majestic and mysterious works.”

Pope Francis is a man of many talents, a multi-faceted leader who knows when to push and when to ease the pressure. He is resolute but patient. He sees reality but does not give in to discouragement. We have a man of deep, practical faith in the role of St Peter, and we who listen to him, admire him, support him must not neglect to respond to his constant request, “Pray for me.”

A Kairos Moment for Reformation and Celebration

We cannot know how long we will have Pope Francis with us (I fear for his life) but we can be sure that this moment in Church history is a kairos, a time of grace.

He has embraced the mandate given him by the cardinals who elected him, namely to reform the Church, especially its bureaucracy.

The so-called Vatileak documents verify the serious problems present in the offices, departments, and dicasteries which form the management structures of the Vatican. The turf wars, the manipulation of funds, the misappropriation of revenues, the incompetent (some say “corrupt”) book-keeping practices, the failure to follow accounting regulations, the secrecy, the resistance to reform measures –all characterize the institution Francis is working to reform.

He put it bluntly to cardinals in the Curia on July 3, 2013: “We have to better clarify the finances of the Holy See and make them more transparent…It is no exaggeration to say that most of our costs are out of control…Our books are not in order; we have to clean them up.”

Earlier, a report from two auditors alerted the pope: “There is a complete absence of transparency in the book-keeping of the Holy See and the Governorate. This lack of transparency makes it impossible to provide a clear estimate of the actual financial status of the Vatican as a whole and of the single entities of which it consists.”

Both of the above quotes come from top secret documents which were shared with Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, confidential information now disclosed in Nuzzi’s book Merchants In The Temple (Henry Holt and Company, 2015). Msgr Lucio Vallejo Balda, a member of the now-disbanded Commission for Reference on the Organization of the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See, was arrested and charged with leaking the documents.

Francis’ reform efforts, however, are not confined to finances or bureaucracy. He reminded a meeting of the national conference of the Italian Church, some 2200 people from 220 dioceses, in November of 2015 that the Church is always in need of reform (“semper reformanda”). And he clarified that reform of the Church does not end in plans to change structures but necessarily includes “grafting yourself to and rooting yourself in Christ, letting yourself be guided by the Spirit.”

He warned the prelates and laity against putting undue trust in structures, organizations and plans, thereby stifling the movement of the Spirit. He pointed to the danger of relying on reason and clear thinking at the expense of losing the tenderness of the flesh of your brother.

He urged the assembly to embrace the church teaching on the preferential option for the poor, to build not walls or borders but meeting squares and field hospitals. :I would like, he said, “an Italian church that is unsettled, always closer to the abandoned, the forgotten, the imperfect. I desire a happy church with the face of a mother, who understands, accompanies, caresses.”

In his press conference during the flight back from Africa, Francis acknowledged that some, perhaps many, Catholics believe they have the absolute truth and as a consequence dirty others with calumny, disinformation and evil acts.”Religious fundamentalism,” he said, “is not religion –it’s idolatry."

When on December 8, 2015, Pope Francis opened the holy door marking the beginning of the Year of Mercy, he asked us to think of it as opening ourselves to express the mercy of the Good Samaritan. “Wherever there are people, ”he said, “the Church is called to reach out to them and to bring the joy of the Gospel, and the mercy and forgiveness of God.”

The Holy Year of Mercy is clearly a time of grace. The ministry of Pope Francis is also a kairos moment in Church history.  The Francis effect and the Year of Mercy are reasons to celebrate and give thanks. May both give life, excitement, conversion and joy to the Church and the world!

The Bishops' Catacomb Pact on Poverty

Just a month before the opening of the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII said in a radio address that the Church wants to be “the Church of all, especially the Church of the poor.”

Just days into his papacy Pope Francis told a gathering of reporters, “How I would like a Church that is poor, and for the poor.”

It is well-known that Jorge Bergoglio, while serving as auxiliary bishop and then as Archbishop of Buenos Aries had earned the nickname “slum bishop” because of his ministry among the poor and broken members of his archdiocese.

His own lifestyle gives witness to Gospel values: “Go, sell what you have, give to the poor, and come, follow me” (Mk 120:21). “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…” (Mt 6:19).

Several times in his apostolic exhortation Gospel Joy Pope Francis focused attention on the world’s poor, urging justice, economic change, alms and spiritual care. He also encouraged our learning from the poor (“They have much to teach us,” #198) and to be cautious of a lifestyle that excludes others (“The culture of prosperity deadens us...” #54).

One of the criticisms leveled against the Second Vatican Council is the little mention of the Church’s ministry to the poor. Only eight of the Council’s 16 documents refer to the “poor,” and the total references are but 24.

Bishops from poor diocese were particularly concerned about the Council’s failure to address the issues of poverty.

Just days before the Council’s final session, about 40 bishops (mostly from Latin America) gathered for Mass in the catacombs of St Domitilla (a series of underground caves in Rome where thousands of early Christians are buried).

Although many of these bishops had been meeting on their own and apart from the Council to discuss the problems of poverty and how the Church should respond to them, on this occasion  (November 16, 1965) the group decided to enter into a pact, agreeing to change their personal lifestyles to better reflect Gospel poverty.

Although the original signed text  is missing Bishop Bonaventura Kloppenberg (a German-born Brazilian bishop who died in 2009) did leave among his papers a complete text of the pact, which he titled “Pact of the Servant and Poor Church.”

It is believed that Archbishop Oscar Romero, of San Salvador, who was martyred in 1980 and beatified by the Church in 2015, was the driving force behind the formation of the so-called “Pact of the Catacombs.”

The opening statement of the pact says, “We bishops assembled in the Second Vatican Council, are conscious of the deficiencies of our lifestyle in terms of evangelical poverty. Motivated by one another in an initiative in which each of us has tried to avoid ambition and presumption, we unite with all our brothers in the episcopacy and rely above all on the grace and strength of Our Lord Jesus Christ and on the prayer of the faithful and the priests in our respective dioceses. Placing ourselves in thought and in prayer before the Trinity, the Church of Christ, and all the priests and faithful of our dioceses, with humility and awareness of our weakness, but also with all the determination and all the strength that God desires to grant us by his grace, we commit ourselves to the following.”

Then comes a series of lifestyle changes and initiatives the signing bishops agree to undertake; among them are:

--we will try to live according to the ordinary manner of our people in all that concerns housing, food, means of transport, and related matters.

--we renounce forever the appearance and the substance of wealth, especially in clothing (rich vestments and loud colors) and symbols made of precious metals

--as far as possible we will entrust the financial and material running of our dioceses to a commission of competent lay persons

--we do not want to be addressed verbally or in writing with names and titles that express prominence and power (such as Eminence, Excellency, Lordship); we prefer to be called by the evangelical name of “Father”

--we will do everything possible so that those responsible for our governments and our public services establish and enforce the laws, social structures, and institutions that are necessary for justice, equality, and the integral, harmonious development of the whole person and of all persons

--when we return to our dioceses we will make these resolutions known to our diocesan priests and  ask them to assist us with their comprehension, their collaboration, and their prayers.

This catacomb pact was developed and signed 50 years ago. The majority of the histories of Vatican II never mention the pact. Most Catholics never heard of it. It is hard to determine whether the agreement had influence on the churches of the signers.

But it appears that Pope Francis knows of the pact, or at least shares in its convictions and provisions. Look at the propositions and then look at Pope Francis’ ministry, and the two fit like hand in glove.

Full text of the Catacomb Pact is available online, e.g., http://www.sedosmission.org/web/attachments/article/137/Catacomb

The Pope's Leadership: Humble and Unafraid

I’ve been reading Jeffrey A. Krames’ book Lead with Humility, (American Management Association, 2015), subtitled “12 Leadership Lessons From Pope Francis.”

Krames’ analysis of the leadership style of Pope Francis includes a number of observations:     The new pope is not afraid of change, nor does he shy away from shaking up the institution; he is not afraid of disruptive innovation.     Pope Francis believes that leadership is service, and true leaders lead in a spirit of humility.     He lives on the frontier, insisting that leadership requires going out to the periphery, “smelling like the sheep,” decentralizing decision-making.    The man is pragmatic, seeing things as they are not as he would like them to be.

As a young priest Jorge Bergoglio was appointed in 1973 as Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in Argentina. His leadership in that office has been described as “cautious and conservative.” By the time he left that position the Jesuit community in Argentina was divided into two camps (one pro-Bergoglio, the other anti).

One Jesuit superior said as late as 2013, just after the announcement that Cardinal Bergoglio had been elected as Pope Benedict’s successor, “Yes I know Bergoglio. He’s a person who’s caused a lot of problems in the (Jesuit) Society and is highly controversial in his own country.”

In 1992 Bergoglio was ordained a bishop, and became an auxiliary for the Archdiocese of Buenos Aries. It was in this role that he became known as “the bishop of the slums,” and when he became the Archbishop of Buenos Aries in 1998 he continued to give personal care for the poor and forgotten members of society, and lived a humble life-style choosing not to live in the elegant Archbishop’s House, taking the subway and the bus to get around the city, and even cooking his own meals.

In 2013 Cardinal Bergoglio was elected “Bishop of Rome and Vicar of St Peter,” and chose the name Francis, honoring the 13^th century saint nicknamed “Il Poverello” or “the Poor One.”

All reports coming from the conclave agree that the electing cardinals wanted a man who could reform the Curia (the Church’s bureaucracy) and restore energy to the Church’s mission. In one of his last official statements, Pope Benedict XVI had acknowledged that sometimes the Church displays “a disfigured face.” The new pope was expected to address these issues.

In short order Pope Francis called together a Council of Cardinals (nine of them) to assist him in the reform of the Vatican Bank and the Curia in general.

It was a sensational news-break when journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi revealed the contents of documents which Pope Benedict’s butler Paolo Gabriele had photocopied from the pope’s personal desk. Nuzzi summarized the story and the contents in his digital book Ratzinger Was Afraid, confirming rumors about irregularities in the Vatican Bank’s book-keeping and about Curia cover-up.

Nuzzi reported, “The material came from the Secretariat of State, from nunciatures, from individual cardinals and from all over the world…Already from a first glance, the papers reveal something important: the Curia’s first instinct was to cover up anything that could embarrass God’s representatives on earth or simply raise questions and doubts about their actions.”

Just weeks into his pontificate, Pope Francis began to address the issue of reform. In October of 2015 Pope Francis noted that  “While the reform path of some structures of the Roman Curia, working with the Council of Cardinals established by me, September 18, 2013, is progressing according to schedule, I have noticed that some problems have emerged which I intend to address promptly. I would like first of all to reiterate how this transition period is not a time of vacatio legis (a vacation from the law).”

Pope Francis is not afraid. Nor is he hesitant. He expects his directives to be followed. He is aware of those who would obstruct the much needed reforms.

His style of leadership is evident in his summoning the Synod on the Family. He is collaborative and consultative. He believes in using synods as a way of leading the Church, inviting the participation of laity and hierarchy alike. He reflects the spirit of the Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Church.

When a group of cardinals wrote Pope Francis a letter prior to the Synod on the Family (October, 2015) expressing their concerns about conspiracy, fore-gone conclusions, and undermining Church teaching, Pope Francis addressed their concerns openly and to the point, assuring them that there is no conspiracy and that the synod will be conducted in an honest and open debate.

Commenting on the synod, on the infamous letter and on the group of cardinals who wrote it, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras said at a conference at Fordham University on November 3, 2015, that the letter writers “felt embarrassed for what they did because it was useless, not necessary.”

Cardinal Rodriguez reminded his audience that Pope Francis is a man of prayer. “He knows what he is doing. He’s not just acting without reflection, without praying over the steps he is taking.” And addressing the concerns of some Catholics who feel that they must reject any reforms of Catholic practice regarding sex and marriage, Cardinal Rodriguez  explained that the synod  focused not on doctrinal change but on pastoral practice, which is subject to change: “I say it is necessary to be open to the Holy Spirit because the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit, not by the attitudes of men or women or pastors of the Church.”

It isn’t just because they both share the same name that we find similarities between the influence of Francis of Assisi and that of Francis of Argentina. Author Jon M. Sweeney maintains in his book When St Francis Saved The Church (Ave Maria Press, 2014) that “(St) Francis’s conversion led prophetically and organically to a conversion of the Christian faith itself.” The life-style, the focus on Gospel values, the eagerness to "repair" the church are common elements in the ministry and spirituality of both men.

Sweeney writes that anyone who has been paying attention to Pope Francis can note “the changing atmosphere in the Catholic Church today. Since he was elected in March 2013, there has been fresh air blowing into old and staid ways of doing things….Something is happening. Is it too bold to suggest that another Francis may just be saving the Church again in the twenty-first century?”

It was not without reason that when FortuneMagazine listed "The World's 50 Greatest Leaders" in 2014 at the top of the list was Pope Francis!

Synods Are Usually Messy

Besides being one, holy, catholic and apostolic, the Church is also messy –it is the fifth, even if unspoken, mark of the Church.

Controversy and conflict were present from the very beginning.  Some Jewish Christians insisted that Gentiles who chose to accept Jesus as Lord had to follow the religious practices of Judaism.  Paul and Barnabas challenged that requirement. The so-called Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) was an initial effort to settle the matter and restore peace.

Not long after, Paul and Barnabas had an argument about whether John Mark should accompany them on their missionary journey, and “so sharp was their disagreement that they separated” (cf Acts 15:39), Barnabas taking Mark to Cyprus, Paul taking Silas to Syria.

It ought not surprise us that such messiness should be characteristic of the Church when we acknowledge that the Church is made up of human beings and especially if we accept the imagery of the Church’s being born from the wounded side of Christ!

Pope Francis  is dedicated to the synodality of the Church. He called it “a constitutive dimension of the Church” and “the more appropriate interpretive framework to understand the Hierarchical ministry.”  He quoted St John Chrysostom’s observation that “the church and synod are synonymous.” He affirmed these insights on October 17, 2015, in a speech to the 270 bishops and lay persons participating in the Vatican Synod addressing the problems of family life.

He reminded the assembly that the word synod means “walking together.”  He said that from the start of his papacy he intended to enhance the Synod of Bishops, describing it as “one of the most precious legacies of the Second Vatican Council.”

Pope Francis knows that synods are messy. They have been part of the Church’s history and mode of operating since New Testament times. The Council of Jerusalem in 54 AD  can be considered a synod, as well as the gathering of bishops described by the early Church Fathers such as Clement I, St Ignatius of Antioch and Irenaeus of Lyons.

When the bishops gathered in Nicea  in  325 AD for what we generally consider the First Ecumenical Council they agreed that “it would be well for synods to be held each year in each province…one before Lent…the second after the season of autumn” (canon 5).

Current Canon Law addresses the matter of synods, explaining in canons 342-348 the responsibilities and authority of the Synod of Bishops, and in canons 460-68 the nature and purpose of Diocesan Synods.

In essence the Synod of Bishops is convoked by the pope, meets to foster unity between the pope and the bishops, offers counsel  to the pope in matters of faith, morals and discipline, and “considers questions pertaining to the activity of the Church in the world” (Canon 342).

A Diocesan Synod is convoked by the bishop and meets to foster the unity of the local Church and offer counsel to the bishop.

Pope Francis thinks of the Synod of Bishops as a means for keeping alive the image of the Ecumenical Council and to reflect the conciliar spirit and method. Synodality helps the Church stay on the right path.

Both the Synod and Pope Francis have been subjected to negative criticism. Some Catholics fear that bringing up certain topics for discussion may challenge Church teaching and hierarchical authority. They think Pope Francis is undermining the magisterium.

(It has been somewhat amusing to hear critics who insisted Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XIV must be followed and obeyed to the letter because "after all, he is the pope," and yet do not accord Pope Francis equal status and credibility.) 

Pope Francis, however, recognizes that conversations about basic teachings and especially about discipline are necessary to keep the Church faithful to the Gospel and effective in its ministry in the modern world. He is not dismayed by controversy and or by opinions expressed by the participants. All of the discussions are geared to arriving at the truth.

Some want the pope to preside over a synod as a conductor leads an orchestra. All musicians have the same score, and although they may play different instruments they are united under the maestro’s baton. A synod, however, is not a symphony orchestra, and if the sounds are at times cacophonous and unpleasant, it is the pope’s responsibility to bring the disjointed sounds to a harmonious conclusion.

As Pope Francis put it to the bishops, “The synodal process starts by listening to the people…the synodal process culminates in listening to the Bishop of Rome…”

Pope Francis confirmed that a synod always acts cum Petro et sub Petro (with the pope and under the pope), and this is what guarantees unity. He said, “In fact the Pope, by the will of the Lord, is ‘the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the multitude of the faithful.’”

He told them explicitly that the pope is the supreme witness of the whole faith of the Church, “the guarantor of obedience and conformity of the Church to the will of God, to the Gospel of Christ and to the Tradition of the Church” –it is not, he said, a matter of his personal convictions.

It seems to me that “prophets of doom” who annoyed Pope John XXIII when the Church was preparing for the Second Vatican Council have re-appeared as “nay-sayers” opposing Pope Francis and the synod.

Many in the media and some in the Church do not understand the synodal process. It is an opportunity to look at issues and problems frankly, boldly, honestly –it is time for parrhesia, free speech. Disagreements, challenges, and rumors of conspiracy are to be expected.  But those who understand the process do not lose heart. The Holy Spirit is active, providing order in spite of seeming chaos.

The Church is not a museum, but a work in process. It is still developing, still being refined, still in need of reform. A synod  promotes the walk; the participants do not necessarily agree on the path to take; the Holy Spirit provides direction.

The marks of the Church remain: one, holy, catholic, apostolic and messy. God is not finished with us. We are still on the road --walking together.

Pope Francis, Collegiality, Consultation

One of the major issues to surface at the Second Vatican Council was episcopal collegiality, the concept that the bishops as successors of the apostles share with the Pope and never apart from him “supreme and full authority over the universal Church” (Lumen gentium 22).

Bishops, then, “are not branch managers of local offices of the Holy See” (as Father John O’Malley puts it in his What Happened at Vatican II, p. 304). Their power comes through their ordination.

A vocal minority of the Council’s members opposed discussion of collegiality and were successful in preventing the Council from considering the matter head-on. None of the documents developed any detailed structure for putting collegiality into practice.

Pope Francis, however, has not shied away from the issue. His calling together the Group of Nine to advise him on reform of the Curia is a practical expression of  the collegiality of  bishops.

Another example of Pope Francis’ acceptance of collegiality is his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Gospel Joy.

This extraordinary document was motivated by the request of the bishops who gathered in 2012 for the Thirteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

Although the texts of the synod are considered confidential and are not published since the synod is considered “consultative,” Pope Benedict XVI agreed that a series of fifty-eight propositions coming from the synod of bishops could be released. One of the propositions reflected the request of the Synod Fathers to “consider the opportuneness of issuing a document on transmitting the Christian faith through a new evangelization.”

The focus of the synod had been “The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian faith.” Pope Francis responded to the request. His Evangelii Gaudium is truly a “post-synodal apostolic exhortation.” Just a glance through the Exhortation’s notes reveals the many, many times Pope Francis refers to the synod and its more than fifty propositions.

Pope Francis acknowledges the synod’s request in section 16 of his exhortation: “I am reaping the rich fruits of the Synod’s labors.” And he continues, “In addition I have sought the advice from a number of people…I am conscious of the need to promote a sound ‘decentralization.’”

It is clear that Pope Francis was not simply repeating what the synod had proposed (he included many of his own convictions and dreams), but his exhortation reflects the input of the college of bishops and of the People of God in general.

Pope Francis believes in collegiality, consultation, and openness to the advice of others.  

Pope Francis as Comforting and Afflicting Prophet

It is commonly held that the cardinal electors who chose Jorge Bergoglio to be the new pope were giving him the mandate to reform the Church, with iummediate attention to the Curia. Pope Francis took on that task, notably in forming his “Group of Nine,” cardinals from around the world who form an advisory (and investigative) panel to help him in his role as leader of the Catholic Church.

His efforts to reform the Curia include not simply structural changes but spiritual conversion as well. He famously reminded the curial  staff  just before Christmas in 2014 that they must not think of themselves as “lords of the manor” but as servants, and he went on to an examination of conscience listing 15 temptations (he called them “la malattia” or “the disease’) which they should avoid now and in the future.

Reform of the Curia is not complete. There is a staying power in the curial structure that resists change. Some critics of the Curia during the Second Vatican Council said that bureaucrats had a not-so-secret refrain among themselves: “Councils come and go, popes die, but the Curia goes on!”  Reform of the Vatican Bank, however, with significant structural changes appears imminent.

From the start of his papacy, however, Pope Francis has been as much concerned about reform of the world as he is about reform of  the Vatican and the Church at large. He consistently urges Christians to go out to the peripheries –to places on the margins of society, to people suffering from conflicted lives and broken hearts.

His first official journey was to Lampadusa, the small Sicilian island which has become the port of entry for refugees fleeing poverty and political turmoil in Africa. Thousands of these migrants have drowned  as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean in over-crowded boats and small rafts. In a special Mass on the island Pope Francis welcomed the migrants, mourned those who have died in their attempt to improve their lives, thanked those who were caring for the refugees, and warned the world at large about “the globalization of indifference.”  He also asked pardon for "those, whose decisions at a global level have created the conditions which have led us to this drama."

Pope Francis’ remarks about climate and economy have generated significant critical responses. For example, radio’s talk show guru Rush Limbaugh has judged Pope Francis to be guilty of Marxism because of the pope’s condemnation of  “unfettered capitalism.” El Rushbo  labeled as “communism” Pope Francis’ concern about man-made global warming. He also took offense at the pope’s remark that “if Christians don't dig deep and generously open their wallets, they do not have genuine faith.”

Retracing his steps Limbaugh did admit, “Now, maybe this is not communism, I don't know, but it's scary, and it's a little out there.  Remember what all this is related to is climate change, folks.  Every bit of this is related to climate change.”  Then, unable to let go of it, he added, “A man of religion, the Vicar of Christ, seems to have fallen in with the communist way of doing things: Controlling mankind through command-and-control governments backed by police or military power. This is what the pope is essentially calling for.  The problem is, human beings suffer under collectivist or communist regimes.  They do not prosper.”

Clearly Pope Francis has irritated one of America’s staunchest defenders of capitalism, one of its most out-spoken critics of made-made climate change. Pope Francis has done what he intended; he or more accurately his message has challenged the mindset of those who are comfortable in their convictions and who resent their values being questioned.

Pope Francis is reaching out to the world. He is exercising the pope’s role as a prophet. He is coming to the defense of those who are impoverished, who are victims of injustice, who do not have protection of their God-given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I do not know whether the pope is right in his judgment about global warming; I doubt that capitalism is in itself an evil economic system.  But I do believe that Pope Francis looks at the world at large and is conscious of environmental and economic conditions far different from and more depraved than what we see and experience in our part of the world.

The role of a prophet, it is said, is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.  Pope Francis’ namesake did an admirable job of doing that very thing. The little friar of Assisi challenged the habits of society in celebrating Christmas when he said, “If I could speak to the emperor I would ask that a general law be made that all who can should scatter corn and grain along the roads so that the birds might have an abundance of food on the day of such great solemnity, especially our sisters the larks” (Celano, II, 200).

I suspect Francis of Assisi might be labeled a Marxist for suggesting that when the weather was cold he would ask a rich man to give him a cloak, and would tell him, “I  will accept this from you with this understanding, that you do not expect ever to have it back again.” And then, when Francis met a poor man, he would clothe him with what he had received with such joy and gladness (Celano, I, 76).

When we are unaware of the conditions in which some people must live we are not likely to feel compassion for them or want to change the structures that cause their misery. For example, many of us think of human trafficking as a problem in other parts of the world, but when we learn that more than 17,500 are trafficked in the United States every year (stats from US Department of Justice), then we may become concerned enough to do something about this modern form of slavery (trading people for forced labor or prostitution) happening especially in California and Texas.

If we learn that more than 10% of the US population lives in poverty, we may blame them for laziness, but when we encounter that poverty in the inner city homeless or the Appalachian shack dwellers, we may respond differently.

As I see it, Pope Francis is engaged in raising consciousness. I can always find arguments to temper my response. I know from being a pastor in a poor neighborhood that some of the poor play the game, that some are unequivocally lazy, that some take advantage of the government dole or the generosity of donors. I also know that there are many others who through bad choices or no-fault of their own are truly poor –economically, psychologically, mentally, spiritually.

I found adults who were abused as children and that abuse has left a permanent scar. I found people struggling to make things better for themselves, but found the bureaucracy of the welfare system a nightmare of forms, appointments, and regulations. (You have an appointment for 8 am, you do not have a car and must take the bus, you have two young children who need to board the school bus at 8:30 am –What do you do about the kids? What do you do if the bus route doesn’t go where you need to be? What do you do if you are late and you need to re-schedule?)

Pope Francis has undertaken the role of prophet. In that role he will irritate some, provide comfort for those in need, inform those who never thought of a given situation, and touch people of good will. Whether you believe in global warming or not, his message urges care for the environment –which is a good thing. Whether or not you buy his criticism of capitalism, his message urges you to be careful not to put money over people --which is a good thing.

On his return flight from Latin America, Pope Francis said he is aware of the negative reaction his comments about capital;ism have generated in the United States, and he agreed that he must listen to his critics and enter into dialogue with them. "If I don't dialogue with those who criticize," he explained, " then I have no right to express an opinion." He said he intends to study these criticisms before his visit to the United States and Cuba in September in order to prepare for the dialogue.

All Christians are called by their baptism to share in Christ’s role of being priest, prophet and servant leader. Pope Francis is modeling the Christian’s response. Right now he is emphasizing the prophetic role. The afflicted are being comforted, the comfortable are being afflicted. That’s what happens when prophets come on the scene.