Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

DN Editorial: PONTIFICAL PSA

FROM THE TIME he arrived at the Vatican two years ago, Pope Francis has enjoyed wild popularity among Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and the reasons for this popularity are worth contemplating as he makes his way to Philadelphia after stops in Washington and New York.

FROM THE TIME he arrived at the Vatican two years ago, Pope Francis has enjoyed wild popularity among Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and the reasons for this popularity are worth contemplating as he makes his way to Philadelphia after stops in Washington and New York.

The timing of the pope's arrival couldn't be better, not just for the city but for the United States - to remind us that religion can be a positive force, one that builds rather than divides, that comforts rather than afflicts, and that can remind of us our better selves.

Contrast this with what we've witnessed over the past decades here in the United States: an unholy alliance of church and state, as the encroaching hand of "religion" has infected politics and the public sphere. Now, whether observing the Republican majority in Congress, or that party's candidates for president, we see a disturbing display of religious conservatism, or at least those who wish to pander to conservatives.

What is that so-called religion about? In the public sphere, it becomes a religion of "anti": anti-immigration, anti-poor people, anti-difference. It is a "religion" silent on larger values like compassion, inclusion and peace.

It is a "religion" that divides.

Compare that religion to any of the actions of Francis, especially a 2014 video of the pope, where he stops his motorcade to bless a severely disabled young woman. He jumps out of the vehicle, takes the woman's face between his hands and kisses her forehead. This echoes other familiar sights of him washing the feet of prisoners, or pulling children or others out of the crowd to bless them, as he did in Washington. These actions are powerful illustrations of Pope Francis's message, not just for the Catholic church, but for the world: that kindness, goodness and humanity matters.

In every one of these actions, he pulls back the veil of American religious hypocrisy that infects our current political life and shows it for the stingy self-serving idea that it is. Trying to imagine a Trump or Jindal exhibiting this humility or compassion is laughable.

Also laughable: those lobbing criticism of the pope for his statements about world conditions, including climate change, inequality, immigration and peace, since those statements stray into the "political realm," where no pope belongs. Meanwhile, this particular political realm has done everything it could to dissolve the division between church and state, and most recently, suggested a religious litmus test for occupying the White House.

The recent criticism directed at this pope from conservatives is beyond disturbing, whether it's conservative pundits criticizing the pope for his "communist" ideas, or this one from Ann Coulter's tweet on the pope: "I'm an American and this is why our founders (not "immigrants"!) distrusted Catholics & wouldn't make them citizens."

One the plus side, they expose a cynicism and hypocrisy that most Americans find repugnant.

The common thread running throughout the conservative platform is an obsession with "American greatness." Donald Trump is not the first who claims he wants to "Make America great again."

Pope Francis reminds us all that what should matter is not American greatness.

What should matter is American goodness.