17 March 2013

Significance of a "Religious" Pope

Great News! Pope Francis is a Religious belonging to the Jesuit Order. He is the first Jesuit ever, to sit on the Chair of St. Peter. Does that say anything to the Jesuits? .... Or to us Religious of the Apostolic life?

If the choice of the Pope by the college of Cardinals is attributed to the Holy Spirit, there is perhaps a message from God in it, for the whole Church and us, religious in particular. What is this message?

The Catholic Church today is faced with four serious charges:
1. Shameful financial corruption of the Vatican Bank;
2. Shocking Authority crisis and arrogance in the Curia offices;
3. Scandalous sexual misbehaviour & abuse by the clergy;
4. Secularism and dwindling divisive faith in the Catholic church community.

Though all these charges may not be what the secular press paints them to be,
the Catholic Church must definitely address these charges and therefore:
- Needs a transparent simple witness to Evangelical poverty;
- Needs a humble fulfilment of God's Will through Evangelical obedience;
- Needs a genuine integrity of love through Evangelical Chastity
- Needs a sincere communion of hearts as an Evangelical community.

Perhaps the Holy Spirit's choice of a Religious Pope, very significantly a Pope Francis, is to rebuild the Church, along the lines of renewal by an earlier Francis, also a religious, the Saint of Assisi.

A look at the "charges" points mostly to wrong and even sinful behaviour in the area of the Evangelical Counsels.  Again, the "needs" mentioned above, call for a better observance of these same Counsels.

Hence, the choice of a Religious Pope may indicate a reformist programme of a contrite Catholic Church which must include a more radical return to the practice of Evangelical Counsels of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, not only by those called to the Consecrated life, but by every single Catholic.

In this choice of a Religious Pope the Holy Spirit is perhaps also addressing another worrisome situation in the Catholic Church, the dwindling membership in Religious Congregations. This choice may be therefore a wake-up call to reinvigourate Consecrated Life, its relevance to modern times, and its important role in the rebuilding of the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ.

Pope Francis is already attentive to the voice of the Spirit and has called the Catholic Church to be poor and for the poor, leading us by his own life of humility, simplicity, poverty and fraternity. God bless Our Pope Francis!    

2 comments:

  1. It is true father it is the need of the time and i really fell the this Pope will do miracles in the Church because he is leading us by his example of humility, simplicity, poverty and fraternity.

    The more Church projects itself as perfect the accusations too will be greater...

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