October 4, The Feast of St. Francis

Today the Pope visited the tomb of perhaps the greatest post-New Testament saint, Francis of Assisi, the saint whose name he adopted.

“He's great because he is everything. He is a man who wants to do things, wants to build, he founded an order and its rules, he is an itinerant and a missionary, a poet and a prophet, he is mystical. He found evil in himself and rooted it out.

“He loved nature, animals, the blade of grass on the lawn and the birds flying in the sky. But above all he loved people, children, old people, women. He is the most shining example of that agape we talked about earlier."

But he added: "I'm not Francis of Assisi and I do not have his strength and his holiness."

Not to get all mystical, but St. Francis' spirit does seem to reside in those who take his name. May the Holy Father and the great City lying to the north ever continue to do so.

Less Pomp, More Circumspection

The more I read about Pope Francis the more I like him [bold added]:

Traveling to his first dinner after his elevation, the new pope eschewed the traditional papal car and rode in a bus with fellow cardinals.....On Wednesday night, he sped up the postelection rituals so the tens of thousands of people waiting in St. Peter's Square for the new Holy Father to emerge onto the balcony didn't have to stand too long in the cold rain. [snip]

They all had dinner, and, in the prelude of a toast, the new pontiff joked with his brethren, saying: "May God forgive you for what you've done," according [to] the U.S. cardinal.

When reporters trolled for negatives on Pope Francis, they focused on his "conservative" politics. Although your humble observer disagrees with several of the Catholic Church's doctrines, he respects its principled, reasoned positions.

(Liberal Catholics, if you find Catholicism's positions unbearable just come on over to the Episcopal Church! Per the NYT's Ross Douthat:

Today the Episcopal Church looks roughly how Roman Catholicism would look if Pope Benedict XVI suddenly adopted every reform ever urged on the Vatican by liberal pundits and theologians. It still has priests and bishops, altars and stained-glass windows. But it is flexible to the point of indifference on dogma, friendly to sexual liberation in almost every form, willing to blend Christianity with other faiths, and eager to downplay theology entirely in favor of secular political causes.)

The elevation of Pope Francis took commentators by surprise (too old, Latin American, unflashy). I think that the world is more than ready for such a leader who eschews pomp and circumstance.

By the way, here are things that I doubt we'll ever hear Pope Francis say:

"We have based forward-looking statements on information currently available and disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise these statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances."

"That was off the record....right?"

"I wish to thank my wife, my parents, and especially my agent for all their support."

"Great shot, Tiger!"

"How will this play in Peoria?" © 2013 Stephen Yuen