Pope Francis

I appreciate Pope Francis. In his recent visit to the United States, he demonstrated the kind of humility, service-orientation, care of creation and Christ-centered practicality that has seemed to be so lacking in the modern day Church. One might be so bold as to suggest that he is the perfect Progressive-age Pope.

 In a climate that is filled with radicalized religious anger and vitriol, the Pope speaks and acts with kindness, mercy and grace. He embraces those who have been traditionally placed on the outside, those who are left looking in, their faces pressed hard against the glass of exclusion and rejection. He eats with the homeless. He sleeps with crowds of commoners. He shuns the power politics of amazing influence and walks humbly with the struggling and suffering.

Pope Francis' importance does not end with Catholicism.The Pope is saying what the Progressive Church Movement has been saying for the past thirty or so years. That is, the Church that bears his name must stand with Christ in service to those who are least well off, those who are victimized by the systems under which we live, those who we have rejected and excluded as "not like us." If we are to be faithful to Christ, the Church must be inclusive, welcoming, accepting, gracious and merciful. It must not be afraid of those who practice other religions, who come from other places, who are differently gendered, who are other races and other national origins. It must respect and honor every persons as a brother and sister, as an occasion to speak and act from the hope of God's will and God's reign.

The message is universal. It spans the chasm that separates Protestants from Catholics, Christians from Muslims, Jews from Pagans, each of us from each and every other. To walk with Christ means to embrace those values and practice those virtues that we know to be in cooperation with and reflections of the archetype of Crucifixion/Resurrection. Hellenists might refer to them as the "heavenly virtues." Jews might think of them as the cause behind the laws. Buddhists might refer to these virtues as Nirvana or Enlightenment. The world's religions, and every faction within and around them, are unified by the core of each of those traditions. We do and speak what is best to meet the needs of those who struggle and suffer.

The Progressive Movement has been looking for a voice, one that can compete in the media-driven gravitational pull with the radical voices of extremists. Could it be that Pope Francis is that voice? Could it be that he speaks for all of us? I certainly believe that he has spoken for Christ in his recent visit to the United States. He has spoken for me.

I appreciate Pope Francis. What do you think?