Advent is a time of expectation and preparation for the Prince of Peace. But 2017 has not been a year of peace inside the Catholic Church. Backlash to Francis' leadership and teachings from a boisterous Catholic constituency is raising questions about church unity. How should Catholics respond?One of my favorite Christmas shows is the 1966 TV cartoon adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” It’s a staple of the season for me, and it never fails to warm my heart and put a smile on my face. Last week I heard the famous—or infamous—soundtrack on the radio… You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch You really are a heel, You're as cuddly as a cactus, You're as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch, You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel! I just burst out laughing. What horrible things to say about a person, even the Grinch! I laughed again. Dr. Seuss certainly had a way with words. Around the same time I began writing the script for our year-in-review show for 2017, which will premiere on Saturday, December 30 at 8pm ET. While looking back through the headlines it dawned on me that we would have to include a rather discomforting story: the war against Pope Francis. (This phrase comes from an October article in The Guardian, a secular paper.) More than the previous four years, 2017 witnessed Catholics - who strongly oppose or support Francis - singing the Grinch song about one another in public. It’s not a good trend. From the beginning of this pontificate there has been a degree of discomfort and ideology-driven resistance from some Catholics. But there was a general and sincere willingness in the early years, for the most part, to give Francis the benefit of the doubt. They were quick to tell more exuberant Catholics, “Just watch, the honeymoon will be over soon.” In some ways the honeymoon is over, but in many ways it isn’t. The novelty of Francis has definitely worn off, but he continues down a path of reform with extraordinary courage and determination. He’ll be 81 in a week, but it hasn’t slowed him down. I remember visiting with the late Cardinal Loris Capovilla —secretary to Pope John XXIII—back in 2014 and joking with him at 99 years old about how free-spoken he was! I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect Francis to trend toward restraint with age. Approaching the five-year mark, those who originally expressed caution privately, now express disagreement publicly. The most flagrant example came in the form of a “filial correction” from a group of priests and theologians in September of this year, who called on Francis to denounce the heresies they allege he has propagated. It sounds like the stuff of a Netflix drama. That letter received over ten thousand more signatures in less than a month. In response, a group of clergy and scholars supportive of Francis issued a counter-petition garnering more than sixty thousand signatures, the last time I checked. They thanked Francis for his “courageous and theologically sound papal leadership.” This is just the latest in a series of increasingly severe and public tit-for-tats over Francis’ leadership and teachings the past few years. Some of the presumptions being made about others, and the language used to attack others is really disturbing…and these are Christians. It’s starting to feel like the church is in a ecclesial cold war. You're a monster, Mister Grinch, Your heart's an empty hole, Your brain is full of spiders, You have garlic in your soul, I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine & a half foot pole! Our sources close to Francis tell us the Pope is very peaceful. He is concerned about the nastiness surfacing from within the ranks, but he is determined to move forward down the path Vatican II charted. That path has led him beyond the walls of the church to encounter the world. He doesn’t travel any more than his recent predecessors did, but where he chooses to go and what he chooses to talk about have consequence because of his unique moral credibility and proactive approach to dialogue. The world today needs Francis to be Francis. His recent visits to Myanmar and Bangladesh are a good example. No one else could have done what he did there. The real story was not the “R” word controversy, but his encounters with other religious leaders where he spoke of unity. As I followed the events, I felt Francis could have been speaking to his fellow Catholics… In Myanmar to the Supreme Sangha Council of Buddhist Monks:
“If we are to be united, as is our purpose, we need to surmount all forms of misunderstanding, intolerance, prejudice and hatred. How can we do this? The words of the Buddha offer each of us a guide: “Overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the liar by truth” (Dhammapada, XVII, 223). Similar sentiments are voiced in a prayer attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, let me bring pardon… Where there is darkness, let me bring light, and where there is sadness, joy.”In Bangladesh at the ecumenical and interreligious meeting for peace:
“It is a particularly gratifying sign of our times that believers and all people of good will feel increasingly called to cooperate in shaping a culture of encounter, dialogue and cooperation in the service of our human family. This entails more than mere tolerance. It challenges us to reach out to others in mutual trust and understanding, and so to build a unity that sees diversity not as a threat, but as a potential source of enrichment and growth. It challenges us to cultivate an openness of heart that views others as an avenue, not a barrier.”It’s a sad reality today that inter-Catholic dialogue at times feels like inter-faith dialogue. In fact, inter-faith dialogues are often more respectable. You're a rotter, Mister Grinch, You're the king of sinful sots, Your heart's a dead tomato Splotched with moldy purple spots, Mr. Grinch, You're a three decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce!
“The Roman Pontiff, as the successor of Peter, is the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity of both the bishops and of the faithful…. The pope's power of primacy over all, both pastors and faithful, remains whole and intact. In virtue of his office, that is as Vicar of Christ and pastor of the whole Church, the Roman Pontiff has full, supreme and universal power over the Church. And he is always free to exercise this power. For our Lord placed Simon alone as the rock and the bearer of the keys of the Church, and made him shepherd of the whole flock.” (Lumen Gentium 22, 23)
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Archbishop Gualtiero Bassetti said a parishioner told him he’d been named a cardinal by Pope Francis, and “my jaw dropped” when he found out it was true. The 71-year-old archbishop of Perugia-Citta della Pieve and president of the bishops’ conference of Umbria in central Italy […]