Pope Francis: Shepherd of the world

The world is now seeing what a devoted Catholic shepherd of souls from Argentina looks like in the person of our current Holy Father, Pope Francis. His quiet reserve, his deep prayer and spirituality, his humility and charity, his simple and frugal lifestyle, his doctrinal orthodoxy, his liturgical reverence, and above all his personal pastoral style and his exceptional talent as a preacher and communicator, all remind me of Father Abel, the Argentine shepherd saint of my childhood and early teen years at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Guadalupe, California. A great deal of prayer, careful study, and meditation under the guidance of the Holy Spirit went into the preparation of each of his daily morning homilies on the Scripture readings. Despite his modest exterior, Father Abel was quite learned, well versed in Catholic doctrine and theology and the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, as well as biblical history and exegesis. Furthermore, he was in tune with where Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger were leading the Church at the dawn of the Third Millennium. In addition to being a man of deep prayer and high education, Father Abel was a good teacher. His daily homilies at Mass, often centered on three basic “elements,” were simple and direct, yet profound and rich in theological insights, much like those of Pope Francis. They were always delivered slowly and carefully, so that we could take in every word and idea he presented to us, and he made direct eye contact with each of his listeners as he spoke, just as Pope Francis does. And, best of all, these homilies always came straight from his head and from his heart, without the aid of a prepared text, just like Pope Francis’ daily homilies at Mass.

Father Abel’s homilies illuminate the Scriptures and make them come alive for us simple laity. He was a true shepherd, who nourished us spiritually with the Word of God and the sacraments of the Church and who inspired us to live our Christian faith with his example of holy living. Now Pope Francis, another Argentine Catholic shepherd of souls, is doing the same as pastor of his little flock in the Domus Sanctha Marthae, as Bishop of Rome, and as Supreme Pastor of the Universal Church. Like his patron, Saint Francis of Assisi, he is a reformer, called by God to rebuild his crumbling Church in a corrupt and materialistic age of radical secularism. He is carrying out this mission of reform simply and effectively by boldly preaching and authentically living the full truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. With his clear teaching and his personal example of humble service, he is returning the Church to the roots of her faith and the essence of the Gospel message.

From his first words and actions as the Successor of Saint Peter, this man has made it clear that he has come to serve, not to be served. By humbly referring to himself as “the Bishop of Rome” rather than “the Pope,” he indicated that he is not interested in using the power of the papacy to control and dominate others for his own aggrandizement, as some arrogant and regrettable have done. made the pontiffs corrupt in the history of the Church, which has led to divisions, schisms and wars. Rather, Pope Francis sees his office as a ministry of loving service to Christ’s faithful, whose task as bishop of Rome is to “preside over all the churches in charity” and thus keep them united in the one true faith of Christ. This simple and humble approach to the papacy is in keeping with the wishes for papal reform and Christian unity expressed by Blessed John Paul II in his 1995 encyclical. Ut Unum Sint (So that all may be one). Pope Francis’ deep humility and charity are having a remarkably strong positive effect on the leaders of Orthodox churches, which have been separated from full communion with Rome since 1054. His papal inauguration Mass was the first in nearly a millennium to the patriarch attended. of Constantinople. That very significant gesture was a clear sign that, under the influence of Pope Francis, the Orthodox Churches have now begun to move seriously towards full reunion with the Church of Rome. After all, it was not so much doctrinal disagreements and cultural differences that divided the Eastern and Western Churches, but the imperial and domineering attitude of certain corrupt and power-hungry popes in the early Middle Ages that led to the Great Schism. . Just as the lack of charity of certain Popes divided the Churches, the charity of Pope Francis is helping to bring them together and to heal the old wounds of division.

Pope Francis’s humble Christian demeanor and warm personal approach have not only endeared him to his fellow Catholics and other Christians, but have also attracted the admiration and respect of people of good will throughout the modern secular world. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon praised him as “a man of peace and purpose” and “a voice for the voiceless.” He has been nominated “Man of the Year” for vanity fair magazine. “Pope Francis is the best news for the Catholic Church in centuries,” singer Elton John declared in a recent interview. “This man has single-handedly brought people back to the teachings of Christ… Non-Catholics like myself stand up to applaud the humility of his every gesture… Francis is a miracle of humility in a time of vanity.” And the Italian atheist Giorgio Faletti admitted that “Jorge Mario Bergoglio immediately struck me as a great communicator, a person whose face inspires that kindness that a representative of Catholics in the world should inspire, a man who has qualities to repair with his figure”. all the scandals that have recently damaged the image of the Vatican and what it stands for”.

In his formally prepared speeches and addresses, as well as in his daily extemporaneous homilies at Mass in the Domus Sanctha Marthae chapel, Pope Francis courageously preaches the full truth of the Gospel of Christ, without minimizing or overlooking difficult or controversial areas. In his first homily as pope delivered in the Sistine Chapel, he urged the Church not to reject the cross: “When we walk without the cross … we are not disciples of the Lord.” In the homily at his installation Mass, Pope Francis reminded us of our basic human responsibility to protect all of God’s creation, including human life and the natural environment, for the benefit of all. In his first address to the diplomatic corps of the Holy See, he drew attention to “the spiritual poverty of our time” manifested in what his predecessor Benedict XVI called “the ‘tyranny of relativism,'” and stated: “Francis of Assisi says we must work to build peace. But there is no true peace without truth! There can be no true peace if each one is their own criterion, if each one can always exclusively claim their own rights, without worrying at the same time about the good of others, of all, on the basis of the nature that unites every human being on this earth”. In line with his two predecessors, Pope Francis has also criticized the injustice and inhumanity of the current global economic system that allows the few to benefit greatly at the expense of the many. He has condemned “the dictatorship of an economy without a name, without a face” and has pointed out that we have fallen into a “globalized indifference” that has robbed us of the ability to sympathize with our brothers and sisters who suffer in other parts of the world. Through these and many other homilies and speeches, Pope Francis is shaking us Christians out of our comfortable complacency and challenging us to live the Gospel in such a total, radical and authentic way that it completely changes our lives and transforms the world. modern.

In his latest and greatest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed: “Defending the truth, articulating it with humility and conviction, and bearing witness to it in life are…demanding and indispensable forms of charity.” As the 265th successor of Saint Peter, Pope Francis now carries out this essential mission of Christian charity. With his words and his example, he is preaching the truth that will set us free, the truth that has the power to save humanity from self-destruction. And, slowly but surely, he is drawing the modern secularized world back to Christ. Pope Francis has become more than just the leader of the Catholic Church; he has become the shepherd of the world.