A traditional Catholic, and a truly catholic pope
Kevin Rafferty lauds Francis' vision of a more open, more caring church
Pope Francis continues to spring surprises, but perhaps the biggest one is that we now have a pope who is "catholic", that is, universal.
Asked to define himself, the new pope responded: "I am a sinner. This is the most accurate description. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner … I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon."
They show a pope determined to change the church's relationship with the world. The new thrust is openness and caring, especially for the downtrodden
The statement was part of a long interview with Antonio Spadaro, his fellow Jesuit and editor of La Civilta Cattolica.
That interview and another, more spontaneous one with Eugenio Scalfari, the atheist founder of the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, show a pope determined to change the church's relationship with the world. The new thrust is openness and caring, especially for the downtrodden.
Popular articles have drawn attention to the differences in style between Francis and his predecessor, Benedict XVI, now living in retirement in the Vatican. Benedict was a monarchical figure with bright red loafers, who lived in the historic spaciousness of the Vatican apartments, generally kept himself to himself and ruled through the Curia, the formal government of the Holy See.
Francis is more the common man, who wears plain black shoes, lives in a guesthouse in a "small bare room with a table and five or six chairs and a painting on the wall", according to Scalfari, and is gregarious. He arranged the interview with Scalfari in a phone call that he made himself, and has surprised other ordinary people by responding directly to their messages with calls, starting, "Hi, it's Pope Francis here."
What is more important is the change in substance. Benedict was unafraid to see a shrunken church secure in its doctrines and was quick to kick out priests or theologians who dared to challenge strict orthodoxy.