Pope Francis

For the most part the media ignores religion, especially mainline religion, but the world was agog yesterday when the Roman Catholic Church elected a new pope, Pope Francis. The first pope from the western hemisphere, the first Franciscan, he holds great promise to lead over a billion members of his faith family.

There is a lot to like about this man known for his humility and concern for the poor. He is a Jesuit known for their missionary work and the rigorous scholastic education. They are known for challenging church beliefs, being progressives, but I wouldn’t count on that from Pope Francis; he is on record as against gay marriage, more women involvement in the church, contraception, and the like.

I like the idea he is spending his first day as pope in prayer and essentially came out and said “howdy” to the masses gathered to see him and then led them in words of spirituality they all knew. He also plans to visit with the “retired” pope Benedict XVI; who himself set a wonderful precedent by retiring.

Our prayers are with this man in precedent setting times and hope that we will see significant changes taking place in Roman Catholicism. I hope he gets more attention than the seagull that perched on the smoke stack where the smoke emanated. He faces many difficult challenges and may God’s grace continue to lead him. May he follow in his name’s sake of St. Francis.

I still wonder what Jesus must think of all these dudes dressed up in fancy regalia and the trappings of religious pomposity. I just can’t wrap my head around Jesus wearing anything but plain clothes. Oh well, my reformed clergy peers constantly forget the only appropriate ecclesiastical garb for clergy is an academic robe, but put on albs and other silly looking stuff. Oh well.

St Francis of Assisi was a wealthy young man who lived the high life and even was a soldier for a bit but a vision sent him off on a completely different way of life. Jesuits are the only order that take a vow of poverty, as did St. Francis. He was known for his kinship with animals and the environment. Or he was a counter-culturist of his day like Jesus the Christ. And, like Jesus he was never ordained. He is a most worthy model for the new pope.

I think we can expect some new vision from this new pope but need to be realistic and not expect all that much change. Holy institutions and holy people are still people.

This may well be the post-Christian age and a post church age, but events such as this bring us back to treasured and important traditions.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now pope Francis, blessings on you.