DKS
Pope Francis is walking the walk of making a change
Posted on: 11/24/2013 21:14
I have never received a call from the Pope, but I have received a call from the Moderator of the United Church of Canada.
Several years ago, during the tenure of the Very Rev. Dr. Peter Short, I received a telephone call one cold March afternoon. “It’s Peter Short calling. I just called to find out how things were with you.”
To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I’ve grown up with leaders in the church. I have known a number of Moderators, over the years. When I was a child, the late Very Rev. Dr. Wilbur Howard, the church’s first black moderator, was a regular dinner guest in our home. But to receive a phone call, out of the blue, from a national denominational leader was a distinct surprise.
It is that kind of surprise and change that appears to be blowing through the Roman Catholic Church today.
With the election of Pope Francis, a Vatican outsider from Argentina, the last few decades of tradition in the Roman Catholic Church appear to be changing. When I was studying theology in the 1970’s, the winds of John Paul XXIII’s Vatican Two reforms were blowing full strength. We studied
ecumenically, with the best Biblical scholars, straight from their studies in Rome or Jerusalem. We knew that the best pastoral theology professors were at the United Church college, but for Biblical studies, the professors at Regis College and at St. Michael’s College were second to none. Some did a double take when they discovered a large number of women in their classes, but they quickly realized the world was changing and women studying theology could be enriching to their thinking.
Which leads me back to Pope Francis.
Recently an American company called Global Language Monitor, which track influence on the English language part of the Internet, said Pope Francis was the most talked about person they had measured. In addition, the Pope’s Twitter identification or hashtag, @Pontifex, was the most talkedabout word.
It also appears that Pope Francis is causing increased church attendance among disillusioned Catholics, at least in Europe and North
America. Several cathedrals are reporting larger numbers of worshippers at Mass, although it may be too early to draw a more solid conclusion.
But Pope Francis is not just talking the talk about making change, he’s walking the walk.
His sending of the German Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg, Germany into a time of reflection following the discovery of his spending $42 million on a new residence and chapel is a clear sign that “there’s a new sheriff in town”, to quote one priest in an American Catholic publication.
Pope Francis reached out to the untouchables of the world. His recent embracing of a horribly disfigured man showed, dare I say it, a Christ-like touch. Perhaps the most significant for me was the delightful interruption of a papal event in St. Peter’s Square last month. A small child escaped from his group and went up on the stage and climbed up on the Pope’s chair. He wandered about the stage, obviously having a good time exploring the setting and space. The child ignored all attempts to corral him, even when tempted with candy. At one point, the child went up to the Pope and hugged the Pope’s leg. The Pope, completely unfazed, smiled and patted him on the head and continued his speech.
There is something deeply scriptural about that image. It is recorded in both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that Jesus said, “Let the
little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is too such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”
Pope Francis is also wellknown for reaching out to strangers, giving him the nickname of “The Cold-Call Pope”. He books his own appointments. He tells stories. He hugs people.
I am hopeful that he will usher in a new understanding of the Christian faith as a place for all. As my kids would say and sign at a concert to a really good band, “Rock on.” Rev. David Shearman is the minister of Central Westside United Church, Owen Sound and host of Faithworks on Rogers TV - Grey County
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