I am loving the new
pope! As a lifelong protestant, I’ve never been all that aware of the pope or
the business of the Catholic church. But with the choice of Pope Francis,
they’ve got my attention.
The pictures of the
Pope on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday were shocking. A pope—a 76-year-old
pope, no less—lying prostrate on an alter to worship Christ? The world’s most
recognized religious man kneeling before a group of prisoners, washing and
kissing their dirty feet? It’s outrageous! How beautifully, perfectly
outrageous.
Before the
feet-washing pictures began screaming from the newspapers, I didn’t even know
that was a common Holy Week practice among popes. I learned that traditionally,
the pope has washed the feet of 12 of his bishops, men dressed in elaborate, flowing
robes of honor, in Rome’s grand St. John Lateran Basilica, as a remembrance of
one of Jesus’ most famous earthly acts. But Pope Francis does not appear to be
overly concerned with following tradition. He washed feet all right, but they
were not clean, honorable feet. They were the feet of the poor, the prisoner,
the rejected, the outcast—even the Muslim.
“This is a symbol,
it is a sign—washing your feet means I am at your service,” Pope Francis told
them. This same man was washing feet long before the rest of the world cared.
As the archbishop of Buenos Aires, he washed feet in jails, hospitals, and
hospices. Newspapers and blogs attest to the fact that his attention has always
been turned to the poorest and most marginalized of society. He says he wants
the church to be for the poor. What a concept!
The pope’s lifestyle
indicates that these are more than just headline-making words. In Buenos Aires,
he chose to live in an apartment instead of the palace that was provided for
him. He cooked his own meals and used public transportation. He has eschewed
the elaborate papal robes. Upon his first public introduction to the world as
pope, he refused to be elevated on a platform above the other church leaders,
saying simply, “I’ll stay down here.”
I have to wonder if
the Catholic church knew what they were getting into with this man. If they
knew that he would choose for himself the name Francis, after St. Francis of
Assisi, who sought not to abolish poverty but to make it holy. If they knew he
would choose simplicity over ceremony and prisoners over priests. Maybe they
didn’t know, but surely God did, and I have to think He is very pleased. The
Bible calls King David a man after God’s own heart. From what I’ve seen so far
of Pope Francis, I think he may be called that, as well.
