We wonder if the princes of the Roman Catholic Church knew what they were getting when they elevated Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to be Pope Francis in March. Perhaps, they knew very well.
In an extraordinary interview published last week with 16 Jesuit journals, the pope expressed a thoughtful tone of humility.
In the passage that has gotten the most attention, the pope says that the church “cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. … The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.”
In other words, strive for balance and remember that the church is a “field hospital” that must heal wounds. “It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”
Francis notes: “We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”
Francis explained that he is a pastor who needs his flock; he didn’t want to live in the traditional papal apartments because they were cut off from people. “People can come only in dribs and drabs, and I cannot live without people,” he says.
Liberals may be disappointed if they believe this pope will fundamentally change church teaching on the role of women, priestly celibacy or contraception. Francis warns that any change must come slowly, and he worries about what he calls “female machismo.” Note what he says: “I am a son of the church.”
But there is a new pastoral message coming from the Vatican _ that of a humble servant who calls up young Catholics, washes the feet of prisoners and is an urgent voice for the world’s poor. This is a pope who believes, unlike his predecessor, that the church must be a big tent, a message that already is resonating with many American Catholics.
