Pope Francis’s pontificate has now lasted well over a decade. In that time, he has published three encyclicals and six apostolic exhortations, the most recent of which came out last month, on the feast of St Francis of Assisi. He has also issued dozens of apostolic letters and motu proprios. This is not especially unusual by modern standards. In his eight years, Benedict XVI also managed three encyclicals, though he was a little more restrained with the exhortations (four) and the motu proprios (18). St John Paul II wrote 14 encyclicals – roughly one every two years – and 15 apostolic exhortations. St Paul VI produced nine encyclicals in 15 years – one every 20 months – as well as overseeing the final documents of the Second Vatican Council. Going back a little further, popes were even more prolific, to the extent that since 1900 we have had an encyclical every year, on average. St John XXIII alone cranked out eight in only half a decade.
We have become very used to a highly vocal, active and visible papacy. Particularly since John Paul II, we expect the pontiff to be a kind of global celebrity and political troubleshooter as well as fulfilling the role of guardian of the deposit of faith. There is nothing wrong with this per se, and it certainly has benefits. During the 1980s, John Paul II played a pivotal role in the defeat of Communism by bringing his personal moral authority to bear on the tyrannies of Eastern Europe. Papal appearances at Eucharistic Congresses or World Youth Days or World Meetings of Families probably attract bigger crowds to such events and extend the reach of their message. Papal visits to individual countries are morale boosters for the faithful and can be inspirational. And it is certainly good for Rome to explain Church teaching in a new way for a new age, or to consider new problems. Now and again, we get a pope who is a genuinely gifted thinker – Benedict XVI is an obvious recent example – whose writings are a gift to the Church to be unpacked and developed over many decades.
All the same, there are risks involved. Being feted on the world stage can turn the head of even the most humble man, or distract from other important aspects of the papacy, notably the careful stewarding of the Church. John Paul II, for instance, made numerous dreadful episcopal appointments and failed to comprehend the scale and seriousness of the emerging sex abuse crisis.
Regular comment on public affairs can lead people to think that the Church is just another NGO, a lobby group with its own political stances. Producing too many teaching documents carries the risk that their impact is lessened, and that even faithful, observant Catholics might cease to pay attention as closely as they should. Individual popes who promulgate a body of work closely associated with themselves, or who adopt approaches to the liturgy and governance that are out of sync with the Church’s previous self-understanding, can contribute to a sadly common false view of the Petrine office, where its holder is a kind of CEO figure who carries through his own “policies”.
Might it perhaps be time, therefore, for a pope with a less expansive view of his role? Are we due a period of relative quiet from the Chair of Peter? There is no reason why every future pope must follow the precedent set by the three popes of my own lifetime. I don’t mean that the next conclave should seek out a silent hermit as the next successor to St Peter – though what a fascinating and invigorating experiment that would be! Nevertheless, there is undoubtedly something to be said for a Pope who steps back from the role of commentator on public affairs; who allows a period of reception and reflection on established Catholic thought rather than adding more of his own ideas; who focuses his energies on good government of the Body of Christ rather than trying to strut and fret upon the stage.
There is an old bit of political wisdom about the perils of haste and over-reaction, usually formulated as “unless it is necessary to act, it is necessary not to act.” We might retool this axiom for the Roman pontiff: “unless it is necessary to speak, it is necessary not to speak”. Clearly the Pope cannot withdraw from view entirely or take a vow of silence; he rightly gives frequent homilies as part of his role, and offers reflections at regular public audiences. There are times when statements from the leader of the Church are required, and the Vatican is, after all, a sovereign state active in diplomacy.
Yet when we consider the Church’s huge problems – repaganisation in Europe and the Anglosphere, the collapse of catechesis, failure to handle abusive priests properly, the still-murky Roman finances – we find issues that can only really be addressed by hard, unglamorous work behind the scenes; by prayer and discipline and thought. We do not need more meetings or more papal visits, or more encyclicals and exhortations, to be read by a small minority. As an old boss of mine used to say: we are judged on what we do, not what we say we will do.
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