Like an Old Testament prophet shaking believers and non-believers alike by his words and actions, Pope Francis continues to make headlines around the world nearly every day. He continues to apply the ‘medicine of mercy’ that Pope John XXIII called for at Vatican II in new and surprising situations. From the ‘End of the World,’ the Argentine Pope brings a new perspective on the traditional faith. He is carrying out his role as Supreme Teacher most eloquently through his gestures of love and mercy. He strikes a chord in the hearts of many that have been closed in the past to what the Church offered.
Pope Francis wants this medicine of mercy to reach everyone. He speaks of a ‘holy middle class’ that he wants to reach and foster. He tells Father Spadaro, “There is a ‘holy middle class,’ which we can all be part of... I see the holiness in the patience of the people of God: a woman who is raising children, a man who works to bring home the bread, the sick, the elderly priests who have so many wounds but have a smile on their faces because they served the Lord, the sisters who work hard and live a hidden sanctity. This is for me the common sanctity.”
While Pope Francis has often been contrasted in the media with his predecessors, there is in fact much continuity. Pope Francis' changes are not intended as a rebuke to former popes, but are simply the way he has always ministered as a pastor. Cardinal Dolan tells us in “Praying in Rome”, “Pope Francis is a simple and sincere man, not one scripting his actions and messages. He’s just himself. This is who he is. He has no marketing plan that says, for instance, that he’s not going to live in the papal apartments or that he’s only going to speak in Italian. His strategy and protocol is his sincerity.”
The three popes should be seen in a hermeneutic of continuity. Like Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis is a charismatic and open figure, comes from a far-away land, loves the youth, and has great devotion to Mary. Like the son of Poland, he is interested in a theology of women grounded in the example of the Blessed Virgin, has dealt with oppressive regimes, and speaks strongly from the Church’s social teaching. In fact, Pope Francis has finalized and approved Blessed John Paul II’s canonization as a saint, which he plans to preside over on April 27, 2014. Like Pope Benedict, Pope Francis has a love of the Church as the Bride of Christ, warns against reducing the Church to merely a nongovernmental organization, has zeal for social justice, and has a personal presence of humility. Pope Francis shared the following about his predecessor’s resignation, “Pope Benedict has done an act of holiness, greatness, humility. He is a man of God.” In fact, on June 29, Pope Francis promulgated the encyclical Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith), which Pope Benedict had been working on as a catechesis for the Year of Faith and has added a number of his own touches as well.
The encyclical, which speaks eloquently in Pope Benedict’s usual style on the harmony of faith and reason and the importance of faith for society as a whole, completes the series of encyclicals Pope Benedict had intended as a catechesis on the theological virtues: faith (Lumen Fidei in 2013), hope (Spes Salvi in 2007), and charity (Deus Caritas Est in 2005). Pope Francis visited with the Pope Emeritus at Castel Gandolfo on March 23, and in the Vatican Gardens on July 6, to converse and to pray. At Castel Gandolfo, Pope-Emeritus Benedict, dressed as he does now in a simple white cassock, attempted to show special deference to Pope Francis, to which the new Holy Father responded, “We are brothers.”
In fact, some have even described the three pontificates in terms of the three theological virtues: hope for John Paul II, who encouraged the people from the Cold War through the Millennium to “be not afraid,” faith for Pope Benedict XVI, who emphasized the unity of faith and reason, and charity for Pope Francis, who has put the teachings of his predecessors into practice in a dramatic and touching way. All three popes have worked successively to fully implement Vatican II. Pope Francis inherits from Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict pastoral boundaries for the reform from Vatican II to retain continuity with the Church throughout the ages. All three popes have taught the same unchanging Faith of the Church.
Pope Francis tells us that despite the problems of the Church and the world, we should have hope for the future. On March 15, he told the College of Cardinals, “Never give in to the devil’s pessimism, discouragement and bitterness. Christians need to share the Gospel message with joy and courage because it will truly answer people’s deepest needs.” The Holy Father explained to Father Spadaro that it is not optimism he is looking for. He says, “I do not like to use the word optimism because that is about a psychological attitude. I like to use the word hope instead.... The fathers of the faith kept walking, facing difficulties. And hope does not disappoint....” He continues, “Christian hope is not a ghost and it does not deceive. It is a theological virtue and therefore, ultimately, a gift from God that cannot be reduced to optimism, which is only human. God does not mislead hope; God cannot deny himself. God is all promise.”
Today, many people are looking the Church to change. Some are looking for Pope Francis to change doctrines. Pope Francis has insisted that what needs to change is not the doctrines, which by their nature cannot change, but the people need to change. Cardinal Dolan speaks of the future changes in Pope Francis' papacy, “The Pope will call for a radical change within our hearts and souls, because that’s what Jesus did. The Church is interested in a change in the human heart - a change otherwise known as repentance and conversion.”
Pope Francis explains to Father Spadaro his approach to the problems of the Church of today, “The thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. You have to heal... wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”