Francis, Mercy, and Truth
Scientists say that, when a strong earthquake occurs, it sometimes causes the rotation of the earth to shift slightly, even minutely changing the shape of the planet and the length of a day. By contrast, it often seems that the Catholic Church and the papacy in these latter days have a weak and not always helpful influence around the globe. But when Pope Francis died yesterday, it was impossible not to notice that, over and beyond all the journalistic chatter, the passing of a pope still shakes up the world. Even the deeply secular, often anti-Catholic news outlets see that.
This papal interregnum is a special time for Catholics to think and act, like Catholics. In the next days, it would be an exceptionally good spiritual discipline, for example, to ignore what most of the secular media have to say in praise or criticism of the pope and to reflect deeply on God’s presence in his Church through time and the particular role he has assigned to the successors of Peter. Not all of them were admirable men. Some were not even very Christian. A few were wise. Fewer truly great. But all of them belong to a spiritual order of reality that transcends the usual categories by which we measure world leaders.
Yes, you can, of course, try to apply political criteria to a pope. But it mostly leads to superficiality and foolishness. The notion, for instance, that conservatives opposed Francis while progressives loved him for his critiques of capitalism and advocacy of migrants and the environment – by the way, also major concerns of the “conservative” pope John Paul II (see Centesimus Annus) and Benedict XVI (in particular Ratzinger’s beautiful book In the Beginning) – is preposterous. That’s the kind of characterization that lazy journalists who see everything through simplistic political lenses use to fill up empty space.
