By Father Robert Barron
As
by now everyone in the world knows, Pope Francis offered a lengthy and
wide-ranging interview to the editor of Civilta Cattolica, which was subsequently
published in sixteen Jesuit-sponsored journals from a variety of countries. As
we’ve come to expect practically anytime that this Pope speaks, the interview
has provoked a media frenzy. To judge by the headlines in The New York Times
and on CNN, the Catholic Church is in the midst of a moral and doctrinal
revolution, led by a maverick Pope bent on dragging the old institution into
the modern world. I might recommend that everyone take a deep breath and
prayerfully (or at least thoughtfully) read what Pope Francis actually said.
For what he actually said is beautiful, lyrical, spirit-filled, and in its own
distinctive way, revolutionary.
The
first question to which the Pope responded in this interview as simple: “Who is
Jorge Mario Bergoglio (his given name)?” After a substantial pause, he said, “a
sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.” At the heart of the matter, at the core
of the “Catholic thing,” is this encounter between us sinners and the God of
amazing grace. Long before we get to social teaching, to debates about birth
control and abortion, to adjudicating questions about homosexual activity, to
disputes about liturgy, etc., we have the graced moment when sinners are
accepted, even though they are unacceptable. Pope Francis aptly illustrated his
observation by drawing attention to Caravaggio’s masterpiece, “The Conversion
of St. Matthew,” which depicts the instant when Matthew, a thoroughly
self-absorbed and materialistic man, found himself looked upon by Christ’s
merciful gaze. Because of that look, Matthew utterly changed, becoming first a
disciple, then a missionary, and finally a martyr.
I
believe that this first answer given by Pope Francis provides the interpretive
lens for reading the rest of the interview. He is confessing to be a sinner who
has found grace and conversion and who has thereby been transformed into a
missionary. On the basis of that master insight, he is able to survey both
Church and society with astonishing clarity and serenity. One of the most
commented upon remarks in the interview is the following: “This church with
which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can
hold only a small group of selected people.” What the Pope is signaling here is
that the Church, as his predecessor Paul VI put it, doesn’t have a mission; it
is a mission, for its purpose is to cause the merciful face of Jesus to gaze
upon everyone in the world. It is not an exclusive club where only the morally
perfect are welcome, but rather, a home for sinners, which means a home for
everybody.
And
this insight provides the right context for understanding another controversial
remark from the interview: “The Church sometimes has locked itself up in small
things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first
proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you.” The Pope is not
suggesting that rules — moral, spiritual, liturgical, etc. — are unnecessary or
unimportant, but he is indeed suggesting that they are secondary to the central
reality of encountering the living Christ. If the Church leads with moral
regulation, it will appear, especially to our postmodern culture, as fussy,
puritanical, censorious. And it will most likely awaken a defensive reaction on
the part of those it wishes to reach. It ought to lead with its always-appealing
central message, namely the saving cross of Jesus, and only then should it
speak of the moral and spiritual disciplines that will bring people into
greater conformity with Christ. If I might proffer a perhaps trite analogy:
when attempting to attract a young kid to the game of baseball, you don’t begin
with the rulebook; rather, you begin with the beauty and majesty and rhythm of
the game — and then you trust that he will come in time to understand the
nature and purpose of the rules from the inside.
One
of Pope Francis’s gifts as a communicator is a peculiar feel for the memorable
image: “Shepherds should smell like their sheep;” and seminarians and priests
ought to be willing to “make a mess” come readily to mind. The most striking
analogy in the interview is this: “I see the church as a field hospital after
battle.” No doctor doing triage on a battlefield is going to be fussing about
his patients’ cholesterol or blood sugar levels. He is going to be treating
major wounds and trying desperately to stop the bleeding.
What
we find today, the Pope is implying, are millions of people who are, in the
spiritual sense, gravely wounded. They are alienated from God, stuck in the
no-man’s land of moral relativism, adrift with no sense of direction, and
tempted by every form of errant desire. They require, therefore, not the fine
points of moral doctrine, but basic healing. Perhaps this explains why the
Church’s altogether valid teachings on ethics are so often met with
incomprehension or hostility: far more elemental instruction is required.
I
will confess to sharing some of the misgivings of commentators who have
lamented that the Pope’s criticism of excessive legalism gave comfort to the
wrong people. NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) published an ad,
which simply said, “Pope Francis, Thank You. Signed, Pro-Choice Women
Everywhere,” and Planned Parenthood expressed its approval of the Pope’s call
to Catholics not to “obsess” over the issue of abortion. I certainly understand
that those who have stood on the front lines of the pro-life battles for years
feel that the Pope has unfairly characterized them as fanatics.
In
the end, I feel that this relatively casual interview, precisely because it is
not a formal encyclical, will provide a route of access to the Church for many
people who might otherwise not have bothered to pay attention. It might in fact
appeal to many of the walking wounded today who are in desperate need of mercy
and healing.
