Pope Francis at 100 Days: The World's Parish Priest

By National Catholic Reporter

Since his election, Pope Francis has captivated and energized Catholics around the world. This collection of previously published articles from the National Catholic Reporter provides early reactions to his election, analysis of his life in Argentina, insights into his words and actions in the first few months of his papacy and predictions for the future. Each section begins with a quote from one of Pope Francis' Wednesday audiences. Contributors include NCR staff in Rome for Francis' election, John L. Allen Jr., Joshua J. McElwee and Thomas Reese, as well as Eugene Kennedy, Maureen Fiedler, Richard Gaillardetz, and many more, with a forward by Joan Chittister.

• Language: English
• Publisher: National Catholic Reporter
• Release date: Mar 4, 2020
• ISBN: 9781618130853

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Introduction: ‘Don't let yourselves be robbed of hope’

By Dennis Coday

I’ll tell you when Pope Francis won me over.

I have greeted the election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as pope with great caution. The outward signs have been so compelling: The cardinal who cooked his own meals, rode the bus and subway, and made his own phone calls brought that same humility to the Vatican. He is plainspoken and has rejected much of the pomp of the papacy. This is no act, we have been assured multiple times by people who have known him for years. That is Bergoglio. That is Francis.

From his first address, he has called for a church of the poor and church for the poor. He has said repeatedly that a church that never leaves the sacristy will grow stale, that a church that is self-referential is in danger of becoming a museum piece. His chief exhortation is to take the Gospel to the margins and to live on the periphery.

His actions and words have been compelling, but after three decades of disappointment in Vatican leadership, many of us wonder how different Francis will be.

After years of hearing some in the hierarchy suggest that the church might need to be smaller and purer, now we hear Francis preaching a church wide open to all. He shocked many when he said, The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone. Even atheists? Everyone, he said. That so shocked some in the Vatican Curia that they felt compelled to issue a lengthy explanation of what Francis meant.

Francis revisited the topic a few days later, when he began a series of addresses on what it means to be church, using richly inclusive language, language straight out of documents of the Second Vatican Council describing the church as the people of God.

To be the people of God, Francis said, "first of all means that God doesn’t belong to any particular people, because he is the one who calls us … and this invitation is addressed to all, without distinction, because God’s mercy ‘wills everyone to be saved.’ Jesus doesn’t tell the apostles and us to form an exclusive group of elite members. Jesus says: ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’ …

I would also like to say to whoever feels far from God and from the church, to whoever is timorous or indifferent, to whoever thinks they are no longer able to change: The Lord also calls you to be part of his people and he does so with great respect and love!

By the time I had read those words, cracks had begun to appear in the wall of my caution.

Then on June 7, Pope Francis addressed students of Jesuit schools in Italy and Albania. In the general audience hall, looking out at 9,000 students, alumni, parents and teachers, Francis held up his prepared speech and said: I’m supposed to read this to you, but that could be a tad boring. Let me give you just the highlights and then take some questions from you, he said. Accounts of the encounter report that the event's presenters seemed hesitant about the pope's request, saying that no questions had been prepared in advance. Francis waved them away and took 10 unscripted questions from students in the hall.

A girl asked why Francis had forsaken the wealth of the papacy, living at the Domus Sanctae Marthae instead of the Apostolic Palace apartments, and other similar choices. In a comment that must have raised a chuckle, Francis said, That apartment [in the Apostolic Palace] isn't so luxurious either, don't worry, but he went on to say that part of his motivation was to try to live simply and he encouraged the students to do the same. Poverty today is a scandal. We all have to think if we can become a little poorer, all of us have to do this. How can I become a little poorer in order to be more like Jesus, who was the poor teacher?

But then he said of his choice to live at Domus Sanctae Marthae, I need to live among people and if I lived alone, perhaps rather isolated, it wouldn't be good for me. … It's not a question of my personal virtue. It's just that I can't live alone.

A teenage boy told the pope that he was trying hard to believe in God and be faithful, but that he often struggled with doubt. What can you say to help me and others like me? he asked the pope. The life of faith is a journey, Francis answered.

Journeying is an art because if we're always in a hurry, we get tired and don't arrive at our journey's goal, he said. If we stop, we don't go forward and we also miss the goal. Journeying is precisely the art of looking toward the horizon, thinking where I want to go but also enduring the fatigue of the journey, which is sometimes difficult. … There are dark days, even days when we fail, even days when we fall … but always think of this: Don't be afraid of failures. Don't be afraid of falling. What matters in the art of journeying isn't not falling but not staying down. Get up right away and continue going forward. This is what's beautiful: This is working every day, this is journeying as humans. But also, it's bad walking alone: It's bad and boring. Walking in community, with friends, with those who love us, that helps us. It helps us to arrive precisely at that goal, that 'there where' we're supposed to arrive.

That is when he had me. That’s when I allowed my caution to be tempered with hope. Maybe it’s because I have teenage sons, and I want them to hear precisely this message. Is it any wonder that the Italian newspapers immediately dubbed him the world’s parish priest?

Of course, we are in early days of this papacy and many questions remain. How will Francis handle the deep distrust between bishops and laity, resulting from decades of clergy sex abuse and episcopal cover-up? How will Francis bridge the deep divisions within the church caused by rigid ideology? Can Francis open the doors of the church wide enough so that women and our gay brothers and sisters feel welcomed, included and fully members?

Longtime readers of the National Catholic Reporter tell me that they find in Francis a hope and a spirit they have not felt since the papacy of John XXIII. It is an analogy that others have made, and that made me return to the special edition that we produced in October 2012 for the 50th anniversary of opening of the Second Vatican Council. The lead essay by Fr. Charles Curran begins:

For progressive Catholics, Pope John XXIII is a hero and a saint. He convoked, masterminded and led the work of the Second Vatican Council, which produced such profound reform in the life of the church. Many today look upon John as having had from the very beginning a clear idea of where he wanted the council and the church to go.

I disagree. In my judgment, John did not have a clear idea of the reform he wanted to bring about at Vatican II. In fact, I was quite disappointed with the first years of his papacy and was not expecting much to happen at the council.

His greatness in my eyes is that he was open to change and growth.

I hesitate over my next thought as I wonder, 100 days into his papacy, does Francis have the capacity for growth and change that made John great? That is my hope. We shall see.

Francis’ last comments to the student gathering were on hope. He told them: You young persons: Don't let yourselves be robbed of hope. Please, don't let it be stolen from you. The worldly spirit, wealth, the spirit of vanity, arrogance and pride … all these things steal hope. Where do I find hope? In the poor Jesus, Jesus who made himself poor for us. … In the flesh of Jesus who suffers and in true poverty. There is a connection between the two.

Consider the last words of Charles Curran’s essay, which were written months before we knew a new pope was on our horizon:

It is difficult to know what exactly brought about the change in John XXIII. His personality certainly was a factor. He was a humble, gregarious and loving human being who was open to others and willing to listen to them. He had an interest in history and had written some historical works, and a historical perspective makes one open to historical change and development. Further, he was especially helped by a number of outstanding cardinals and bishops upset with the council preparatory documents.

But as believers, we also recognize the important role of the Holy Spirit. We give thanks today and celebrate the gift of Pope John XXIII—to the Vatican Council and to the church. But we pray also that in these difficult days for the church, the Spirit will raise up friends of God and prophets like him to continue the work of church reform.

Let’s not let ourselves be robbed of hope.

Dennis Coday

NCR Editor

June 20, 2013

Early Reactions

May the church be the place of God’s mercy and love, where everyone can feel themselves welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live according to the good life of the Gospel. And in order to make others feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged, the church must have open doors so that all might enter. And we must go out of those doors and proclaim the Gospel.

—Pope Francis continuing a