Dear People of Christ Church,
Habemus Papum!
We have a pope.
Or is it Habent-They have a pope?
Yesterday as soon as I heard there was white smoke coming out of the Vatican, we turned on the radio in the office and I was glued to twitter and facebook to see who it would be. I've not studied Latin, but I appreciated a tweet from a friend that explained the difference between habemus and habent-because fascinated as I was, I don't, at the end of the day, tend to include myself in the "we" of pope-having.
For Anglicans, the pope was one of the reasons to break away. Clearly his motives were mixed, but when King Henry VIII wanted to locate the center of his church where the church itself was, part of the goal was to localize. The idea that someone far away was making decisions and declarations about what was supposed to be happening in England-at that time, for all intents and purposes, Rome was on the other side of the world-was a big incentive to creating a self-sustained church. We're doing the Intro to the Episcopal Church class on Sundays in April, and one of the first ways I begin to explain what Anglicanism is is to say how it's all just "closer to the ground" than the Roman Catholic Church. The church in the United States is self-governing in its way, and our own diocese again is more homegrown. Not even the Presiding Bishop, who in other provinces of the church would be called an "archbishop," can "make" us do anything. When our diocese chose the first female bishop in the world, with Bishop Barbara C Harris' historic election in 1989, nobody anywhere could tell us that we couldn't. Not to mention that all bishops are elected by both clergy and lay people, so the "conclave" idea is pretty different from the way we do things.
Still, there's really only one bishop of Rome-one pope-and just because I'm not a Roman Catholic, I'm still a catholic, small "c," as in the "one holy catholic and apostolic Church," praying to be one in Christ with everyone who seeks God and tries to follow Jesus. In that context, "catholic" just means "universal"-whatever institutional barriers we may erect, we are still one church, and we draw our identity from the earliest believers in the same way as the Roman Catholic Church does. Politically and theologically, I would dearly love it if Pope Francis got up tomorrow and said, "OK, the gays and the ladies are in," but, as one of you commented on my facebook page, "the pope is still Catholic." There's lots of sexism and lots of prejudice against GLBT persons everywhere in society-in our own wider church as well-and we are not less brothers and sisters with those with whom we disagree about those issues.
And there is a lot that is intriguing about this new pope. As a Jesuit, he's part of an order of priests that has seen its share of dissension with Rome. As an person of faith and a church leader, he's modeled his life in simplicity. He didn't live in the fancy bishop's residence in Argentina; he has his own small apartment, and apparently even cooked his own meals (!). He visited an AIDS hospice and kissed the feet of patients there. Coming out to address the crowds, he kept his usual cassock and cape on, and didn't wear the vestments that had been made for him. After he prayed with the crowd-and he prayed with the people, asking them to pray for him as well-he took the bus back to the hotel, not the papal car. And then he went to go pay his bill at the hotel himself! So far, it sounds like he's doing things his own way, and I am interested to see what more he will do. The fact that he's from Argentina (though born to Italian parents) also signifies a shift; Europe isn't the center of the world anymore
Sister Simone Campbell from the "Nuns on the bus" nationwide tour last year to promote the church's mission on social justice (in particular in response to Paul Ryan's proposed budget that would slash social-welfare programs) tweeted, "Pope Francis brings hope & care for the poor. He can come join us on the bus!" So I'm inclined to say that if he gets the pro-justice imprimatur from Sister Simone, he can have it from me, too.
This Sunday, we'll pray for Pope Francis, and for all God's people, of all faiths, throughout the world.
Blessings,
Sara+
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