Pope Francis has written a book called Life: My Story Through History – or, rather, he has collaborated with a journalist, Fabio Marchese Ragona, of the Second World War, he recalled his earliest memories as a little boy being cared for by his grandmother, Rosa; the Holocaust prompts him to recall the sadness of the Jewish children he played with; the arrival of the junta in Argentina recalls his atheist friend Esther, a biochemist, who was tortured and killed; Covid causes him to reflect on the prayer he made in St Peter’s Square, alone, at the height of the pandemic. It is also interesting as a reflection on his direction as leader of the Church.
In style and tone the book has the personal character that has marked Francis as Pope, one very different from his predecessors. He addresses squarely the question of whether he might one day resign and says that he won’t unless he becomes seriously ill. He emphasises his orthodoxy in respect of same-sex marriage, which he feels is not remotely analogous to God’s plan and repeats his condemnation of efforts to make international aid conditional on its introduction in poor countries; though he regards civil unions as very different. He is forthright in his condemnation of abortion as murder. Anyone who asks the (hitherto) rhetorical question “Is the Pope a Catholic?” will be reassured that he is.
In terms of the preoccupations of his pontificate, he reiterates his concern that the marginalised should feel included in the Church, particularly homosexuals; but he adds pointedly: “It is important not to scandalise and disorientate the faithful.” This comes in the wake of the confusion created by Fiducia Supplicans and the blessing of individuals in irregular relationships. He insists that the great “perversion” within the Church is clericalism: “It is important to preserve and promote the faith by placing ourselves close to the people, leaving our embroidery, frills and lace cuffs in the closet.” In the culture wars in the Vatican, the Pope is still holding his own.
Although he talks carefully of the situation in Gaza and Ukraine, where he says “I was willing to do anything to make the guns fall silent,” he can at other times speak rashly, as when, in response to a question from a journalist, he seemed to envisage a Ukrainian surrender. He was plainly indignant to read one critic’s observation that “Francis is destroying the papacy,” though he seems not to register real concerns with his synodal process. And while his condemnation of the sexual abuse of minors in the Church is vigorous, and he insists that the Commission for the Protection of Minors will make a difference, he must know that many critics feel it was insufficiently robust and proactive at the outset.
Tellingly, Francis quotes the famous prediction of his predecessor (as Joseph Ratzinger) on the future of the Church, when he suggested in 1969 that “what awaited us was a Church that would start afresh from a position of minority status, with few adherents, placing faith at the centre of all experience; a more spiritual, poorer Church that would become a home for the indigent, for those who have not lost sight of God.” If that is this Pope’s perception too, he must do his best to maintain unity in this smaller Church. It should be the guiding principle of the next stage of his pontificate.
This article originally appeared in the April 2024 issue of the Catholic Herald. To subscribe to our award-winning, thought-provoking magazine and have independent and high-calibre counter-cultural Catholic journalism delivered to your door anywhere in the world clickhere.
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