Francis and
Benedict
Image from Catholic News Agency
Here’s a newsflash to the world: Pope Benedict and Pope Francis are both Peter, and they are also different
people. (I speak, of course, of when
Benedict was pope, not pope emeritus.) Obviously
the readers of this blog understand what that means, but much of the world
seems to be struggling with it.
First, there’s the secular American
media, who see everything in terms of American politics and think that everyone
else does, too. The first questions they
asked upon the election of the new pope were: “Will Pope Francis change Church
teaching on contraception? What about
abortion? How about gay marriage? Ordination of women, perhaps?” They do not realize that Pope Francis is
Peter, with the charism of infallibility when he teaches the whole Church on
matters of faith and morals. To save the
secular media the trouble, I can easily answer their questions for them: no,
no, no, and no.
None of those issues are changeable or
negotiable. They are part of the Deposit
of Faith, given us by God, who will not change His Mind on them. Watching the American press scramble for
answers to these questions provides comic relief, but nothing of real
substance. Of course, it gets dangerous
when they use lies about our pope to further a political agenda.
Case in point: the suggestion that as
a cardinal, Pope Francis supported civil unions for homosexual people. This, of course, has been soundly denied, and
Cardinal Bergoglio’s statements on gay marriage included stronger condemnations
than anything I ever heard from Pope Benedict.
But, the Supreme Court is about to take up the case of California’s
Proposition 8, which found its strongest support among Catholics and Mormons,
so we should expect the media to try and weaken the Catholic case in the public
mind.
What’s worse is when even Catholics
start buying into this stuff.
What I’ve been hearing more of from
some Catholics, unfortunately, are complaints (even suspicions) about the
pope’s liturgical style.
I should first say that I appreciate
anyone’s concern with the protection of our liturgy, and the lessons we were
taught by Pope Benedict, and especially his famous motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, are precious and
should not be forgotten.
But Pope Francis is a different man,
whose style is simple. That is who he is,
and the Holy Spirit gave him to us.
Perhaps there are more lessons we can learn. Liturgical abuse would be one thing, but we
should not panic because of his simpler style.
Just as Pope Benedict told us the Novus Ordo Mass and the Extraordinary
Form should work together to inform each other, and to deepen our love of the
Mass, so too should the lessons of Pope Benedict and Pope Francis complement
each other to inspire a deeper love and understanding of the liturgy.
As a Church, we have embraced our new
Holy Father, and the few concerns that I have heard raised have, for the most
part, been raised with charity and sincerity.
We all need to remember, however, that vigilance in protecting our
liturgy from abuse is certainly a virtue, but suspicion is not. May faith and charity guide us all.
