“Viva il Papa!”
01/19/2024
Pope Francis, like his most recent predecessors, has two fixed appointments each week—his general audience on Wednesday mornings and his Angelus address and apostolic blessing on Sundays at noon. At both of these weekly gatherings someone in the crowd will inevitably shout out at a certain point, “Viva il Papa!” Everyone else then repeats the phrase with a full-throated, “Viva!” Those of us who have covered the Roman papacy for many years take this for granted. But the stadium-like cheer for “Papa Francesco” at a recent general audience suddenly caused me to pause and take a different look at his pontificate. I got somewhat emotional as I watched the 87-year-old pope hobble slowly with his cane into the Paul VI Hall. The audience gave him a standing ovation as he struggled with determination to move his physically impaired and overweight body to his chair at center-stage, reminding me just how much ordinary people really love and appreciate this man.
I, too, have greatly admired so much of what Francis has done these past nearly 11 years to try to revitalize and give new momentum to a Church that looked so tired and on the point of collapse in 2013, when he was elected Bishop of Rome. But I've not always liked the Jesuit pope’s bedside manner. I’ve criticized his sometimes-harsh treatment of Vatican aides and employees, most of all the way he publicly embarrassed Cardinal Angelo Becciu by abruptly stripping him of his conclave voting rights. Francis never informed the cardinal of the exact charges against him or allowed him the opportunity to defend or explain himself. The pope’s shocking defenestration of this lifelong papal diplomat was done in a way similar to how the former Holy Office used to silence and punish errant theologians. Can you imagine if Benedict XVI had done something similar? Or what if he had publicly equated surrogate motherhood with human trafficking, or likened having an abortion to hiring a hitman as Francis has? The mainstream media would have crucified the Bavarian theologian-pope who was once called “God’s Rottweiler.” But they usually give Francis a pass.
In any case, my criticisms of the current pope have been more about his governing “style,” not his theological views, pastoral or social priorities, teachings or reforms. But sometimes, even here, one can lose sight of the bigger picture. I was reminded of this after reading a long article that appeared several days ago in the Rome daily, La Repubblica. Its main author was Iacopo Scaramuzzi, a friend and colleague whom I consider to be one of the most astute observers of the Vatican. The piece gave a broader perspective of what has happened since March 2013, when Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the first Jesuit and the first person born in the New World to become pope. He was also the first one to take the name Francis after the saintly friar from Assisi who’s often been called “the second Christ” because of his radically evangelical way of life. The La Repubblica article conceded that the Argentine pope has had to act in an almost dictatorial manner at times to deal with internal opposition and even corruption. It also conceded that not all of his personnel choices or policy moves have been successful. But it noted that this was just one side of a complex personality that has also displayed genuine acts of benevolence, openness, mercy and patience. Though it was not exactly spelled out in black and white, the piece reminded me of what I first found so encouraging and attractive about Francis in the early weeks and months of his pontificate—he is someone extremely comfortable in his own skin and is not embarrassed to let people know that he is a sinner like everyone else. The pope is not afraid to let the mask slip because—as far as I can tell—there is no mask.
Now the old pope is on the last stretch of his pontificate. No one can say how much time he has left, but it is clear that his energies are diminishing almost as fast as he’s trying to complete his Church reforms. He has become, at times, both wistful and whimsical in a grandfatherly like way that makes him even more likeable and sympathetic to many of us than ever before. This is especially true at a moment when doctrinally rigid clerics, including bishops and even a few cardinals, are intensifying their attacks against him. The pope has exposed the legalistic and judgmental attitudes that gird their professed defense of Catholic teaching. They’ve brutally accused Francis of making a “mess” of things in the Church. But there is no doubt that things needed to be shaken up. The synodal project, as nebulous as it may seem even to his fans and supporters, is the pope’s way of trying to open up and expand an imploding Church so that the fewest number of people get crushed by its steady collapse.
Pope Francis will probably not succeed in completing the much-needed reform of the Church. What individual could? But he is laying the firm foundation for that project, one that will have to be left to his successor(s) to continue building upon. But for whatever time is left in this pontificate, you can be sure that the elderly pope will continue to provoke criticism from clericalists and traditionalists through his efforts to make the Church more welcoming to all. And for that we can only say: “Viva il Papa!”
Robert Mickens is the English editor for La Croix International website.