Whether by luck or divine intervention, our Vicar for Communications and Editor of Catholic Outlook, Br Mark O’Connor FMS was in Rome for Easter and has extended his stay to cover one of the most significant events in the Church’s history. This is his first letter.
“For all that has been,
Thank you.For all that is to come,
Yes!”― Dag Hammarskjold
A grateful heart
It is reported that St Francis de Sales, on meeting people in the streets of his hometown, Geneva, would ask them, “How is your heart?”
Not a bad question to ask of one’s soul at such a momentous time for our church and indeed our whole world.
My own heart these days is essentially filled with gratitude – to have been alive when such a transparently human and holy man sat in the Chair of Peter.
Yet as the crowds throng into Rome, the usual Roman chaos is unsurprisingly very much a reality. But as they say, the Italians are terrible organisers but brilliant improvisers! I am sure it will come together at the funeral of the Pope this coming Saturday.
But in the meantime, one has to queue for at least three hours to get into to see the Pope’s remains in St Peter’s. And because there are over 4,000 journalists, from all over the world, who have applied for Vatican Press accreditation – despite several hours of waiting in line – I am yet to get anywhere near the two Vatican officials who are managing the process only between the hours of 11am and 1pm each day. Pray that I can get press accreditation before the Conclave begins.
But this is as nothing compared to the joy of being here in Rome to thank God for the gift of Pope Francis.
Pope Francis walking with young people at World Youth Day 2016 in Krakow, Poland. Image: Shutterstock
The gift of Francis, our brother
There is a myriad of assessments about the gift God has given us in the life and ministry of Pope Francis, one of the best is Frank Brennan’s, The Legacy of a Jesuit Pope.
But I was particularly moved by Vaticanista Gerard O’Connell’s poignant reflection – A final goodbye to my friend, Pope Francis.
Gerard recounts that in his last hours, the 88-year-old pope thanked his personal nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, who had encouraged him to go around St Peter’s square in the popemobile on Easter Sunday, “Thank you for bringing me back to the square.” The Vatican said these were his last words.
Even in his last moments, Francis was displaying one of the loveliest and inspiring qualities that have endeared him to so many millions: he was such a good human being who actually lived the Gospel…
As Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna said today: “The most striking thing was that he (Francis) was normal, that he was characterised by a completely normal humanity. I always stayed at the Santa Marta guesthouse when I was in Rome, at the Vatican. And I repeatedly spoke to the staff, the cleaning lady, the servants in the dining room, and asked: What is he like?”
“For example, I was told that he came into the staff dining room and said: Today I have no one at my table, I’m coming to you for lunch. It was this simplicity that you encountered him in the elevator, in the hallway, in the dining room. Right from the start, he said: I have to live among people, otherwise I’ll end up in a madhouse,” he said.
Pope Francis has lunch with the poor, refugees and prisoners on 17 October, 2017. Image: Vatican Media
Yes, our brother Pope Francis had warmth and deep concern for the beauty and dignity of all persons. He tirelessly reached out to remind the church and the world of our responsibilities for the poor, refugees, the suffering, the environment, families and all those alienated from the church.
And above all, he reminded us that as disciples, we are all called to accompany people in our lives. As American writer and contributor to Commonweal, Paul Elie puts it so memorably, “Francis has shown us again and again what it means for Catholics and the Church to accompany others. The Francis way of accompaniment is – you meet people where they are. You presume the good in them and hope that they will presume the good in you. You have a conversation. You open your mind and heart: you prepare to learn something from them. You go where they are going, if only for a little while, trusting that something good will come of it. You keep your wits about you, but you don’t let scruples rule you.”
A beautiful summary of the witness to hope of Pope Francis was also given today by prominent Jewish and Irish writers. I highly recommend them.
Let’s continue then to follow the pastoral wisdom of Francis and accompany others on the journey ahead.
A lovely moment capturing the essence of Pope Francis’s radiant humanity from Manila Cathedral in 2014
The graceless critics of Pope Francis
Rather sadly, however, there are some in the Church, who have stubbornly refused to accept the gift of Pope Francis’ wisdom and leadership. Some of them (largely based in the USA Church and well-funded by Trumpian Republican Catholics) are still whining, even before Francis is even buried.
These agents of agitprop are as graceless as ever. When they are not engaging in prurient ‘investigations’ of the failures in chastity of clerics, so many of them relentlessly spend their time weaponising every possible angle or story to damage the legacy of our late Holy Father.
They insist that we best evangelise in the future by providing our contemporaries with more ‘clarity’ and doctrinal truth. They complain Francis was just too ‘fuzzy’. For me, that’s a massive oversimplification of the relationship between faith and culture.
Pope Francis’ meeting with the detainees of the San Vittore Prison, Milan on 25 March 2017. Image: Vatican Media
Francis was neither “liberal’ or “conservative”. He was simply a radical disciple of Jesus of Nazareth who lived the Gospel.
And in any case, I just don’t trust the ‘good faith’ of these vociferous anti-Francis complainants. Often their ideas and theories are simply used to hide agendas that have more to do with people’s personality structure, wounds and deeper resentments than anything to do with Gospel truth.
Observing this still ongoing scandalous campaign in Rome in recent days, I am reminded of Dostoevsky’s short story entitled The Grand Inquisitor.
One summary reads, “In the tale, Christ comes back to earth in Seville at the time of the Inquisition. He performs a number of miracles. The people recognise him and adore him but he is arrested by Inquisition leaders and sentenced to be burnt to death the next day. The Grand Inquisitor visits him in his cell to tell him that the Church no longer needs him.”
He keeps shouting at the silent Christ. Why have you come back again to trouble us? You have no right to add what you said before! So, don’t come to us anymore, we are in control now! Please watch a great re-enactment of this scene on YouTube by John Gielgud.
Pope Francis hears confession during a penitential liturgy with young detainees in Las Garzas de Pacora Juvenile Detention Center in Pacora, Panama, 25 January 2019. Image: Vatican Media
What comes next?
After Saturday’s funeral, the burial will take place at St Mary Majors, as requested by Francis in his will and testament.
Then comes the pre-conclave meetings for a number of days and then the Conclave itself. One astute Vatican observer said to me today: “The longer the pre-conclave meetings, the shorter the conclave!” Make of that what you will…
At a special press conference today on the passing of Pope Francis Jesuit Fr. General Arturo Sosa also tellingly reminded us: “We are not choosing a successor to Francis but to Peter!”
So, it is foolish to even speculate who that might be – hopefully the Holy Spirit will sort it out. Bergoglio was a surprise, and his successor is going to be one too!
The Salus Populi Romani icon sits in the Borghese Chapel inside of the Basilica of St. Mary Major. Pope Francis would visit and pray here at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey. Image: Shutterstock
Francis, the gift of the Latin American church
When all is said and done, every Pope brings a special gift to the Church and the wider world.
Francis’s gift emerged from the lived experience of the Church in Latin America. A church that heroically implemented the Second Vatican Council amidst great suffering and persecution.
The Claretian priest Pedro Casaldáliga, who was bishop emeritus of the Amazonian diocese of São Félix do Araguaia, Brazil, once penned a prophetic poem – ‘Deixa a Cúria, Pedro!’
Here is an English translation of the poem – it is a virtual summary of what Francis achieved in his Petrine ministry:
LEAVE THE CURIA, PETER!
Leave the Curia, Peter,
disassemble the Sanhedrin and the walls,
order all the impeccable scrolls to be changed
to words of life and love.
Let us go to the garden of the banana plantations,
undercover and by night, at any risk,
for there, the Master sweats the blood of the poor.
The tunic/vestment is this humble disfigured flesh,
so many cries of children unanswered,
and memories embroidered with the anonymous dead.
A legion of mercenaries besieges the frontier of the rising dawn
and Caesar blesses them in his arrogance.
In the tidy bowl, Pilate, legalistic and cowardly, washes himself.
The people are just a “remnant”,
a remnant of hope.
Leave them not alone among the guards and princes.
It’s time to sweat with His agony,
It’s time to drink the chalice of the poor,
lift the cross, devoid of certainties,
shatter the building — law and seal — of the Roman tomb,
and wake up to
Easter.
Tell them, tell us all
that the grotto of Bethlehem,
the Beatitudes,
and the judgement of love as food,
remain in force and steadfast.
Be no longer troubled!
As you love Him,
love us,
simply,
as an equal, brother.
Give us, with your smiles, your new tears
the fish of joy,
the bread of the word,
roses of embers …
… the clarity of the untrammeled horizon,
the Sea of Galilee,
ecumenically open to the world.
What a grace to have lived at a time when Pope Francis prophetically lived out this very poem in front of our eyes.
Until my next letter in a few days…
Brother Mark O’Connor FMS
