March 19, 2013      Martin Mallon  (Ireland)      Martin's previous articles

                            
                            POPE FRANCIS

Pope Francis is a welcome relief to the previous two Popes. Humility, love and mercy, flowing from his relationship with Jesus, are his hallmarks. This is obvious so far. There is a general feeling of euphoria buoying the faithful since his election.  

What is his view on contraception? According to one article: “he has suggested contraception–which the church opposes–may be permissible to stop the spread of disease.”[i] Another article states that: “when it comes to birth control: He has preached pragmatism, saying contraception is permissible in some cases to block the spread of disease.”[ii]  

However, the majority of articles use the phrase “staunchly opposing abortion, same-sex marriage, and contraception." They do not make it clear where this information comes from, although some mention that he was opposed to Argentina supplying condoms free, which is a different issue and does not confirm his opposition to contraception per se.  

What we can be sure of is that he is currently coming under pressure from the curia to maintain church teaching on contraceptives and we can only hope and pray that he realises that the church, the People of God, has already ruled that institutional church teaching is wrong on this matter. It is time the institutional church paid attention to the laity and the sensus fidelium, the sense of the faithful.  

This Pope has lifted the spirits of many, given new hope and with his priority for the poor has directed the church to where its attention should be focused, where Christ’s attention was focused. Firstly on God, then on the poor and not just the poor in spirit, but the large swathes of the world suffering way below the poverty line.  

We are all waiting to see what Pope Francis will do next; who he will appoint to the leading roles in the curia, how will he handle clerical child sexual abusers and how will he deal with church wealth?  He met with thousands of journalists on Saturday and “Oh, how I would like a church which is poor and for the poor!” Francis said at one point, sighing.[iii]  

“I would like a church which is poor…” he said. This is bound to cause consternation in the Vatican and among many cardinals, bishops, monsignors and priests; not to mention the laity. How will Opus Dei and the Legionaries of Christ, two wealthy religious congregations, deal with this new reality?  

Is this the end of sumptuous formal Traditional Latin Masses with those beautiful, and expensive, robes and accessories? And what about red shoes? At last we have a Pope who appears to have a healthy attitude to wealth and by healthy I mean an attitude similar to that of Jesus.  

It is early days in this new and exciting pontificate, with the official installation taking place today, but I do not remember a time when there was so much optimism and enthusiasm in and for our church. The current buzzword doing the rounds suggests that we are all “energised” by this new Pope. Let us remember that he is only a man, we must not idolise him, and thank the Holy Spirit for miraculously engineering his election, the answer to many prayers. He needs constant prayers to ensure he is not diverted from the course the Holy Spirit has set him on.  

I have heard it said that he will not help women as he is too orthodox; yet as cardinal we have photos of him washing the feet of a woman on Holy Thursday. This is not a man to be restrained by traditions that are unfair. His priority for the poor will also help women.  

In Ireland we are hoping that he will treat censored priests, such as Fr Tony Flannery, with more love and mercy than the last administration. A resolution is to be submitted to the Irish Bishops’ Conference by the Association of Catholic Priests regarding the Vatican and censored priests:  

In the light of the above teaching from the Synod of Bishops in 1971, we the undersigned ask the Irish Bishops’ Conference to meet, as soon as possible, with those Irish priests who have been censured by the Vatican in recent years. The purpose of the meeting would be to request the Bishops’ Conference to enter into discussions with the CDF to :

To (explore) how best to resolve the matters that have led to the censuring of the priests and;

To set up local mediation structures to address any such issues in the future.

We would like to see this happen as a matter of urgency.[iv]

We hope and pray that the bishops act accordingly and that under Pope Francis a favourable response is received.  

Pope Francis will not be constrained where he knows injustice is being practised by the institutional church.  

This Pope needs our prayers urgently and constantly. We must continuously ask the Holy Spirit to guide and strengthen Pope Francis. We thank you Holy Spirit for Pope Francis.