Kris-Crossing Mindanao
Labeling Francis
By Antonio Montalvan IIThe list of papabiles always titillating the world’s curiosity notwithstanding, no one ever has predicted correctly who gets elected pope.
The list of papabiles always titillating the world’s curiosity notwithstanding, no one ever has predicted correctly who gets elected pope.
The election of the first non-European pope is long overdue. After all, Pope Francis’ native region, Latin America, is currently home to nearly half (44 percent) of the world’s Catholics. But the Catholic Church is increasingly losing out to Protestant competition there and elsewhere.
The solemn drama and pageantry at the Vatican came to a jubilant culmination on St. Joseph’s feast day with the installation of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis. Events that led to this celebration were brought on real time to all corners of the world, Catholic and non-, through the digital eyes and ears [...]
I really like this new Pope. Last Holy Thursday, he washed the feet of 12 people, in a reenactment of Jesus Christ washing the feet of his 12 apostles. It’s a ritual to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s commitment to humility, its highest official himself submitting to this lowliest gesture. Nothing new there of course except for this: The feet belonged to the inmates of a juvenile correctional in Rome, two of whom were girls, and one of whom was Muslim.
As a sociologist, my interest in religion does not proceed from the axioms of faith, but from an understanding of human society as a system that serves a multiplicity of functions. Whether one is a believer or not, one cannot deny the place that religion occupies and continues to occupy in the human community. It is not a static role. Its boundaries are continuously contested and negotiated, and, indeed, what it means to live a life of faith in the world is constantly being redefined.
The media have made much of the contrast between the shy, aristocratic aloofness of Pope Benedict XVI and the folksy approachability of his successor, Pope Francis.
Yesterday we celebrated Palm Sunday, the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The official calendar gives the day a very cumbersome title: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion.
“Didn’t the dark leather shoes that Pope Francis wore at Tuesday’s installation rites remind you of Imelda Marcos?” a friend asked. No. Should they?
“Pope Kiko.” The common Filipino nickname and endearment for those named Francisco and its other versions was in my thoughts the moment the Vatican’s cardinal deacon intoned, “Habemus Papam Franciscum.”
Well, it was the first time a pope had resigned in more than 600 years. So it was only fitting that it would also be the first time a pope would come from other than Europe in more than 1,300 years.
Last Thursday, at the ungodly hour of four in the morning, my son, Francisco, woke me up to announce that we had a new pope. With a broad smile on his face, he added that “Francis” was the chosen name of Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina. My initial reaction was to ask what time it was.
The last thing I expected from the conclave was a Jesuit Pope. But that is what the 115 cardinals gave us. I did not even know that there was a Jesuit among the 115 gathered in the Vatican. I first heard that there was at least one during a dinner conversation the Sunday before with a French Jesuit, who told me about the Jesuit cardinal of Buenos Aires. But I promptly forgot about him. Last Tuesday I went to bed not expecting that I would be greeted with the jaw-breaking news that a Jesuit had been elected pope for the first time in the history of the Church.
