Francis caps a wild week with a warning against `worldliness’

Pope Francis greeting disabled children in Assisi

It’s been a busy week at the Vatican: a date set for the canonization of two popes, a stunning new papal interview, a meeting of the pope’s “Group of 8” cardinal advisors and an important visit by the pope to the birthplace of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi.

When it comes to the future direction of the church and the reforms planned by Pope Francis, do we know anything more today than we did a week ago?

Yes, we do.

Despite Vatican cautions about expecting too much too soon from the Group of 8, we know after their first three-day meeting in Rome that they’re focusing on some key areas of reform:

— The Roman Curia is in for an overhaul, not a tune-up. The cardinals and the pope want a rewriting of “Pastor Bonus,” the document that regulates the Vatican bureaucracy. The emphasis will be on the Curia’s identity as a network of service instead of a central church authority. The new constitution will likely modify the role of the secretary of state, tying this office more closely to papal ministry and creating a new “moderator of the Curia” to coordinate activities of other Vatican agencies.

— The Synod of Bishops will likely be revamped, too. It appears Francis wants to use the periodic synods at the Vatican as a way to implement what he’s called greater collegiality and “synodality,” implying a sharing of decision-making authority. Sometime in coming days, we should be learning how the new assemblies will work, as well as the theme for the next synod (which the pope has hinted will focus on the human being and the family in the light of the Gospel.)

— The role of the laity in the governing of the church is going to be a major topic of thought and discussion going forward in these meetings. The cardinals made a point of this, reflecting the concerns of their own faithful, and Pope Francis seems receptive. I expect the pope will bring lay people to decision-making positions in the Vatican for the first time – which also means bringing women to these positions for the first time. (Up to now, the Vatican has insisted that the power to make legally binding decisions is tied to holy orders.)

— The cardinals raised some issues related to reform of Vatican financial institutions, but are awaiting the recommendations of specific advisory commissions appointed by the pope. After fresh accusations of financial impropriety this week regarding APSA, the Vatican’s investment agency, that work acquired new urgency. Meanwhile, this week saw publication of the Vatican bank’s first annual report, considered a milestone on the path toward great transparency.

We now have a clearer idea of the timeline in the reform process, too. The Group of 8 scheduled additional meetings for December and February, but the Vatican emphasized that its work was expected to be completed “quickly.” I think that by the one-year mark of Francis’ election, the pope wants to have some key changes in place. All of this shows the wisdom of appointing a panel of eight cardinals instead of a larger and more unwieldy consultative group.

Pope Francis’ latest newspaper interview, a conversation with Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari, also shed more light on the pope’s vision of the church’s mission and his own ministry. His critique of the “Vatican-centric” view of the Roman Curia and his characterization of papal courtiers as a “leprosy” no doubt sent more shudders through the ranks of Vatican bureaucrats.

This interview strengthened expectations that Francis will share governing authority, and that he will emphasize dialogue as the dominant means of evangelization. One of his most telling comments was that “very little was done” to implement the Second Vatican Council’s call for engagement with modern culture. Francis sees himself as the pope who will finally run with Vatican II, in a way his predecessors have not.

Today’s visit to Assisi spotlighted Francis’ wider message to the church, warning against a “spirit of the world” that compromises Christian witness. Standing in the room where St. Francis stripped off his rich clothes and dedicated his life to poverty, the pope said, “This is a good occasion to invite the church to strip itself of worldliness.”

“There is a danger that threatens everyone in the church, all of us. The danger of worldliness. It leads us to vanity, arrogance and pride,” he said.

Meeting with a group of poor people served by Catholic charities, the pope said that many of them had been “stripped by this savage world, which doesn’t provide work, which doesn’t help, to which it makes no difference that children die of hunger.”

Here, too, we caught a glimpse of things to come. Francis is going to have a lot to say about economic justice, and I don’t think it will simply be a rehash of previous papal encyclicals. I expect we’re going to see gestures, decisions and words that will challenge economic systems and shake individual consciences.

This momentous week began with the decision to canonize Popes John Paul II and John XXIII next April 27. Pairing the two was an unexpected decision by Pope Francis a couple of months ago, and I think he’s setting the stage for an event designed to underline church unity. Although the two popes had different approaches and appealed in different ways to groups of Catholics, by declaring them both saints Francis will accentuate the qualities that transcend those differences.

In new interview, Francis takes aim at ‘Vatican-centric’ view

“Heads of the Church have often been narcissists, flattered and thrilled by their courtiers. The court is the leprosy of the papacy.”

Once again, Pope Francis has delivered a dose of candor, on topics ranging from reform of the Vatican bureaucracy to his favorite saints. And once again, he’s done it by going outside the usual (filtered) Vatican channels of communication – in this case, in a conversation with an Italian newspaper editor who happens to be a nonbeliever.

The remark about the papal “court” will deservedly make headlines. It should be noted that Francis was not impugning the entire Roman Curia, which he said has another defect: “It is Vatican-centric. It sees and looks after the interests of the Vatican, which are still, for the most part, temporal interests.”

“This Vatican-centric view neglects the world around us. I do not share this view and I’ll do everything I can to change it. The Church is or should go back to being a community of God’s people, and priests, pastors and bishops who have the care of souls, are at the service of the people of God,” he said.

There were several other striking comments in this latest chapter of The Real Francis:

— The church’s evangelization must be carried out through dialogue, not proselytism, which the pope called “solemn nonsense.” This is a man unafraid of putting Christian beliefs out for critical discussion, convinced that “to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas” is part of a process that will attract people and ultimately lead toward “the Good.”

— The church’s credibility rests in its ability to listen to the people, and understand their “needs, desires and disappointments, despair, hope.”

“We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace,” he said.

— The pope made it clear that the Second Vatican Council is his road map – and he recognizes that 50 years after Vatican II, not enough has been done to implement its call for dialogue.

“Vatican II, inspired by Pope Paul VI and John, decided to look to the future with a modern spirit and to be open to modern culture. The Council Fathers knew that being open to modern culture meant religious ecumenism and dialogue with non-believers. But afterwards very little was done in that direction. I have the humility and ambition to want to do something.”

— As on previous occasions, Francis dropped some strong hints that he will govern in a less authoritative and more collaborative way, using synods of bishops to share governing authority. His appointment of an advisory group of eight cardinals was a step in that direction, he said.

“This is the beginning of a Church with an organization that is not just top-down but also horizontal. When Cardinal Martini talked about focusing on the councils and synods he knew how long and difficult it would be to go in that direction. Gently, but firmly and tenaciously.”

— Saint Francis of Assisi, whose birthplace the pope will visit later this week, will be his model.

“(Saint Francis) dreamed of a poor Church that would take care of others, receive material aid and use it to support others, with no concern for itself. Eight hundred years have passed since then and times have changed, but the ideal of a missionary, poor Church is still more than valid. This is still the Church that Jesus and his disciples preached about.”

— The pope revealed that he meditated deeply before accepting the papacy, asking the cardinals if he could spend a few minutes in the room next to the balcony that overlooked St. Peter’s Square, where tens of thousands were waiting.

“My head was completely empty and I was seized by a great anxiety. To make it go way and relax I closed my eyes and made every thought disappear, even the thought of refusing to accept the position, as the liturgical procedure allows. I closed my eyes and I no longer had any anxiety or emotion. At a certain point I was filled with a great light. It lasted a moment, but to me it seemed very long. Then the light faded, I got up suddenly and walked into the room where the cardinals were waiting and the table on which was the act of acceptance. I signed it, the Cardinal Camerlengo countersigned it and then on the balcony there was the ‘Habemus Papam.’”

— Finally, in beginning a face-to-face dialogue with Eugenio Scalfari, the founder of the Rome newspaper La Repubblica, the pope made it clear that he was not simply conducting an intellectual exercise with one of Italy’s best-known atheists.

In his own gentle way, he reached out to Scalfari, probing the journalist’s beliefs and asking him at one point: “Do you think we are very far apart?”

The two will no doubt meet again. I think the pope will continue to conduct this very public conversation with the idea of inspiring similar bridge-building efforts throughout the church.

Two popes, two saints, two questions

Pope Francis today chose April 27, 2014, as the canonization date for Popes John Paul II and John XXIII, a move that sets the stage for one of the most unusual and significant events of modern church history.

Proclaiming as saints two of his predecessors taps into some deep populist sentiments among Catholic faithful. Yet it also raises questions about the saintmaking process and the relationship between sainthood and papal performance.

The date chosen by Pope Francis makes sense. From a practical point of view, it gives Polish pilgrims in particular an opportunity to travel to Rome at a time of year when roads will presumably be free of snow and ice. April 27 is also Divine Mercy Sunday, which Pope John Paul made a church-wide feast to be celebrated a week after Easter. The pope died on the vigil of Mercy Sunday in 2005.

Last July, Pope Francis approved a second miracle attributed to Blessed John Paul II’s intercession, clearing the way for his canonization. At the same time, in a surprise move, Francis proposed that Blessed John XXIII be canonized at the same time, even though a similar second miracle was lacking.

Francis had a number of reasons for taking this unusual step. For one thing, the church is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, convened by John XXIII. For another, the new pope has clearly found inspiration in the vision and style of John XXIII, the much-loved Italian who was pope from 1958-63.

I’m convinced the pope also wants the dual canonization to be a unifying event, demonstrating that diverse models of holiness have a home in the Catholic Church.

But the canonizations inevitably raise questions, as well. One is procedural: in most cases, the church’s saintmaking norms call for approval of two miracles before canonization – a first miracle before beatification and a second one before canonization.

If a pope simply waives the miracle requirement (and no one is questioning his right to do so), what does it say about other pending sainthood causes? Are we reaching the point where miracles are no longer needed as a divine seal of holiness?

I spoke recently about this issue with Portuguese Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, who formerly headed the Vatican’s sainthood congregation. He told me the miracle requirement was not disappearing.

“Of course, sainthood exists independent of a miracle. But it’s still a valuable confirmation of holiness,” he said. The waiving of the second miracle for John XXIII was simply the exception that proves the continuing validity of the rule, he said.

An even thornier question is to what extent, if any, canonization endorses or exalts a pope’s decisions as head of the universal church. In 2009, when the cause of Pope Pius XII was being hotly debated, the Vatican addressed this issue, saying that while the sainthood vetting process must take into account the historical context in which a person lived, it was “not a judgment on the historical effects of all his operative choices.”

Likewise, Pope John Paul II once said that in beatifying or canonizing a pope, “the church does not celebrate the specific historical decisions he may have made.”

Nevertheless, for many Catholics, the church will be canonizing “John Paul the Great” and not simply a very holy man. His role in the demise of communism, his global travels, his political skills and his development of the church’s teaching authority, in the minds of many, are all part of what made him a saint.

On the other hand, critics who fault the Polish pope for his handling of the priestly sex abuse scandal are bound to question the wisdom of this canonization.

I expect that in coming months we’ll hear the Vatican explain that these popes are being held up as models of virtue and holiness, and not inducted into a papal “hall of fame.”

Historical note

The custom of proclaiming popes as saints was strong in the early church, an era in which many pontiffs were martyred. Of the first 50 popes, 48 were declared saints. That trend stopped in the Middle Ages, and over the last 700 years only two popes have been proclaimed saints.

It seems that recent popes are on a much faster track to sainthood, a trend inspired in part by Pope Paul VI, who launched the sainthood causes of Pius XII and John XXIII at the end of the Second Vatican Council. John XXIII was beatified in 2000. John Paul II was beatified in 2011.

At present, the causes of Pius XII and Paul VI have advanced to the point where they await only a miracle for beatification, the major step before canonization. The cause of Pope John Paul I is also being studied at the Vatican.