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(This is not a daily Bible reading post, but a journal entry from the early hours of the morning!)  

 

Pope Francis recently gave an interview to 60 Minutes in which he said some things that are, once again, causing controversy. I had decided to ignore all of that in order to get on with things, as I am tired of thinking about controversial things, especially when there is so much to be done. But in a late text (I didn't see until I woke up around 4 am), a friend sent me a link to an article her friend had sent her, and asked my thoughts. The article is "Pope Francis Denies One of the Most Basic Tenets of Christianity in ‘60 Minutes’ Interview" by George C. Upper III. I thought I would reply to her in the morning, but as I was trying to go back to sleep so many thoughts were running through my head that I just decided to get up and journal them out. Here goes.

 

I honestly thought it was a saint, but I just googled it and found out it was motivational speaker Stephen Covey who said "Begin with the end in mind." No matter who said it, that is very good advice. To get this point across, Mr. Covey apparently used a thought experiment of picturing your own funeral in your head - Who would be there? What would they say about you? What would you want them to say? That's good, as far as it goes, but I would recommend we think, instead, of our particular judgment - What will God ask you? What would you want Him to say about you? What would you want to be able to say about yourself? Aside from your obvious sins, what words and thoughts will you have to defend? Think of every social media post, every gossipy conversation, every mean-spirited assertion or reply, every thought of judgment, anger, envy, or retribution that you didn't banish from your mind, but instead nursed and dwelled upon. All of these words and thoughts will come up at that moment. These imperfections needing to be burned away will all come forward when you find yourself in the presence of the perfect Good, the source of all Good, Goodness itself. Personally, I have enough to answer for in that regard from my life before I felt so convicted for Christ, so I refuse to be drawn into discussions with a starting point of personal criticism of someone else. Those discussions will only lead me to say or think something I will regret. That is why I decided to ignore the Pope's 60 Minutes interview. Prior to its airing, I had seen the snippet in which he dismissed conservatives as having a "suicidal attitude", and I had seen the beginnings of the anger and hurt this led to online. I lean more conservative myself, and I know that I do not have a "suicidal attitude,” so I just decided I wasn't going to let the Pope's words draw me into that anger, pain, or even sin (which is the true suicidal attitude!).

 

I woke up yesterday morning to learn that, once the interview actually aired, there was more controversy, the controversy that is the subject of the article my friend sent me. In that same interview, Pope Francis said that what gives him hope is "Everything. You see tragedies, but you also see many beautiful things. You see heroic mothers, heroic men ... [a]nd people are fundamentally good. We are all fundamentally good. Yes there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good." To many, these words probably seem absolutely fine, uplifting even, but there's no denying that they gloss over a fundamental tenet of Christianity, and of the reality of human nature itself. Please read Mr. Upper's article for a full fleshing out of this. Personally, I believe Mr. Upper is right in just about every aspect of his article. If I was being asked to choose an argument to support between "We are all fundamentally good and hope lies in the heroism of our fellow men" versus "We are all sinners and our only hope lies in Jesus Christ who saved us when we were yet still sinners," there is no question in my mind that the latter statement is the truth. So I won't try to defend Pope Francis' specific words, but I will try to generally defend him as a fellow human being and, more importantly, as the Pope.

 

First, I take issue with Mr. Upper's opening allegation that it seems not certain that Pope Francis has ever read the Bible. Of course Pope Francis has read the Bible. Opening the article with that is just another contribution to controversy, a needless one. It takes away from Mr. Upper’s otherwise valid criticism. Why would he make a personal attack that he knows not to be true? Mr. Upper did not begin his article with the end in mind, if the end is to bring people to the truth. We should approach everyone with charity, always. This includes giving others the benefit of the doubt and the respect they are owed as human persons with their own thoughts and perceptions. Pope Francis should do this with people, like conservatives, with whom he disagrees, and his critics should do it with him. This is true even if the other side does not reciprocate! It is the only way to evangelize, otherwise we are not bringing people to Christ, because we are not modeling Him, we are just elevating ourselves over those with whom we disagree.

 

I also will try to "defend" (perhaps the better word would be to "explain") Pope Francis' words in a general way. If I put on my liberal hat and think of his words from that point of view (which I always have to do with Pope Francis!), I can say, in his defense, that everything God created is good - God said so Himself! ("And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." Genesis 1:31). Humanity is good because we are God's creation and God is good. Now, we have free will, and we fell, and we keep falling - that is the nature of original sin and the terrible reality to which we are all subject. That is the point of all of the quotes in Mr. Upper's article, and the reason why Mr. Upper is right that our hope should be in Jesus Christ alone - only He can save us from this deadly reality of our own sinfulness. So I do believe Pope Francis should not have said that "we are all fundamentally good" without very specific clarification, but, giving him the benefit of the doubt (which I have to do if I am going to begin with the end in mind - the end being that I owe him respect), I can read it as him saying "humanity is a fundamental good of God’s creation, and that includes each individual person who has ever and will ever live," and also as seeing the heroism in individual men and women as the goodness with which God created them coming forward.

 

All of this gets me to the thoughts running through my head this morning, and the reason I felt inspired to write about this. Pope Francis often does not speak with clarity and has caused much confusion in the Church and the world. If he were just a regular Catholic saying the things he says, it would be much easier to accept. I encounter Catholics saying the things he says every day. I think of them as somewhat naive, and too willing to see everything (except perhaps those "suicidal" conservatives!) through rose-colored glasses, but I love them! Some of them I love very much, indeed! So I approach Pope Francis with this attitude of love and respect. On the other hand, however, Pope Francis is the Pope, and he should remember his duty toward the Church, toward all Catholics (even the conservative ones), and toward all of humanity, and try to speak with more precision, approach everyone with charity, and be less judgmental of those who understand Scripture differently. Pope Francis needs to begin each interview or interaction with the end in mind. Is he creating confusion or clarity? Unity or division? Is he fostering charity or suspicion? Is he teaching or dismissing?

 

Then, though, I remember that I, too, must "begin with the end in mind," and I ask myself, what is the ultimate end? What does God promise in the end? What does He want? I only know what He has told us about Himself - I know that God is unity and that He wants to reconcile all things to Himself through his Son Jesus Christ. I know that His Son established the Church as His earthly instrument for the accomplishment of this reconciliation. It is the Catholic Church; it is the Universal Church. Will God ever abandoned His Church? No. Does God want to reunite all Christians, and unite all peoples, nations, and religions, in His Church? Yes. Finally, and perhaps a bit flippantly, Does God know that Pope Francis is the Pope? Of course He does! God has a plan and He is carrying it out. It is not for me to know His plan or to try to figure it out, it is only for me to act in the way I know He wants me to act within the reality I find myself. That means not engaging in judgment, personal attacks, or vitriol. It means not feeding the fire of disunity. It is perfectly fine to criticize with valid arguments what someone else, even the Pope, says, in fact I think that is absolutely necessary. But if my criticism is going to lead me to say or think something uncharitable, then better to wait until my emotions have calmed down a bit.

 

When we focus on Pope Francis' confusing and sometimes seemingly misguided words to add to all the judgment, vitriol, dissension, and controversy, we are not keeping the end in mind. Our goal is unity and harmony. If the Pope is not helping with that, that is on him, he is a fallible human being just like everyone else and he will face his own particular judgment. I am not going to let him pull me into contributing to the rancor and disharmony we see all around us. I don't know His plan, but I know that is not what God wants. I know the Kingdom He has in mind, because He has revealed that to us, and it is my job to help build it as best I can.