Some Further Reflections on Pope Francis

A day has passed since the election of Pope Francis, and here are a few more scattered thoughts on the new Bishop of Rome.

You Can't Have a First Without a Second

Officially, the new pope is to be known as Pope Francis, without any Roman numeral after it.  We would only start calling him "the First" if a successor took the name Francis for himself.  For instance, until Queen Elizabeth II assumed the thrown of England her Tudor predecessor was simply known, during her reign and after her death, as Queen Elizabeth.  What is interesting is that Pope John Paul I broke that precedent by declaring himself "the First" when he took his papal name.  It was suggested to me that he "knew" there would be a second.  Maybe a prophetic voice was speaking through him, but I doubt Albino Luciano though his successor would come quite so quickly.

Instruction on Certain Aspects of the "Theology of Liberation"

Yesterday I wrote that Pope Francis has a deep dedication to the poor, and that he knew liberation theology (LT) from the inside.  Both statements are true, but this should not lead to the impression that he supports that theological outlook.  He has been highly critical of LT, criticism that has led to a bit of a rift between himself and the Jesuits, the order he was a member of before becoming a bishop. A few Latin American religious I know were hopeful of a cardinal from their region being elected for the very reason that he would be sympathetic toward LT.  I'm afraid they will be sourly disappointed 

I do not claim to be an expert on LT, but having studied in a Mexican seminary I did get the opportunity to study it in its "native setting," if you will.  The Salesian Theological Institute in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco was not conservative or traditional in the ways we think of here in the U.S., but the professors were for the most part schooled in Rahner and von Balthazar; pretty main stream European theologians.  There was a particular course on LT, and one of our pastoral theology classes was pretty much coming from that approach.   We had seminars on indigenous theology, which is an offshoot of LT.  I don't want to get off track on a critique of the Theology of Liberation, but to say it was presented to me by several professors, both in Mexico and here in the U.S., as an all or nothing proposition.  Either you take it all or you reject it.  Well, if that is the case, I say goodbye and good luck.  While I sympathize with aspects of it, there are simply too many holes in it for me to embrace it in its entirety. 

As Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote a controversial instruction on LT, that was not a full condemnation, but stated there were deep problems with some expressions of it.  When he became Benedict XVI many of the proponents thought they could just wait him out, and a successor, especially from Latin America, would look more kindly upon their cause.  If they thought approbation would come from Pope Francis, they are seriously mistaken.

A Jesuit Pope

Technically, if a member of a religious order becomes a bishop they leave their community and become a member of a diocese.  This has to do primarily with the vow of obedience; bishops belong to the universal Church, and as successors of the Apostles they can't be subject to a religious superior.  Nonetheless many, probably most, religious bishops still identify with their order.  It is not uncommon for them to sign their names with their congregation's initials after their name, like I would put "SDB" after my signature to identify myself as a Salesian.  When they retire they have the right to be taken back into one of their order's houses to live.

But more than these practicalities, to be a Salesian, a Franciscan or a Jesuit like Pope Francis is to imbued with a particular spirit and spirituality.  We are all Catholic, all disciples of Christ, but we each have different styles of living out that discipleship.  Another added wrinkle is that Francis was a member of a Salesian parish in his youth, and maintains a strong devotion to Mary Help of Christians and Blessed Artemide Zatti, a Salesiam brother.  He also presided at the beatification of Zeffirino  Namuncura, a Salesian alumni from Argentina who, like Dominick Savio, died young.

What the pope being a Jesuit will mean, especially considering his strained ties with his community, I can't say.  Jesuits are intellectuals, but they are also missionaries.  Time will only tell.