News of Pope Francis’ death broke just as I was about to go into a series of workshops I was taking part in in Derry/Londonderry yesterday as part of the Passion+ fringe festival to the Walled City Passion.
At the beginning of each of those workshops there was a
brief period of silence.
And it struck me that silence was probably the best
response.
The only verbal response to the death of Christ was a short
statement by a Roman officer, which in many ways was the culmination of this
year’s Walled City Passion narrative, yet was variously reported in the gospels,
perhaps depending on their audience.
By contrast the internet and traditional media was filled with
responses to Pope Francis’ demise, some carefully crafted for their intended
audiences. Some vox pops offering people little time to reflect. Most respectful,
even where their religious perspective or general worldview would have been
widely different from that of the deceased. But a few that I saw were, frankly,
appalling.
I refuse to give oxygen to the latter by naming them.
But it left me wondering for whose benefit any of those comments,
even the glowing tributes were made?
Where they honoured the man – good.
Where they were a means of offering comfort and respect to
those who mourn his loss – good.
But where they were more about the person, or organisation
making the statement, even if it was laudatory rather than critical – I am not
so sure.
Which left me wondering whether I should say or write
anything.
I am the Superintendent of an organisation, Belfast Central Mission that seeks to support people at their point of need, regardless of creed, which is very much in keeping with the ideology of Pope Francis - but since both claim to be motivated by the mind of Christ, I would hope that we would be the case. And it isn't about us...
But I’ve got little or no audience waiting for my words, as the crowds waited for Francis’ words on Easter Day in St. Peter’s Square... and as many of those launching their words out into the ether seem to think they have, with greater or lesser legitimacy...
I never got to meet the Pope, so I cannot insert myself into his story, as too many people conducting funeral services feel the need to do...
The closest I got was the video of him offering a greeting for
the 10th 4 Corners Festival recorded by our keynote speaker that year,
Austen Ivereigh, his biographer and co-writer on his covid-era book “Let Us
Dream...”
I loved that book, and indeed his other influential
writings, not least his encyclical “Laudato Si’” – a rallying cry for the
rescue of our shared home, the earth.
His advocacy for the earth, the poor, the marginalised, and
for a greater openness to the other, whoever the other might be, appealed to
me, and I dread the Catholic Church choosing to retreat into a reactionary
conservatism, akin to the swing of the pendulum in so much of the rest of the
world at present. His voice was an important contrast to that of so many of
those in positions of power at present, trying to court popularity with easy
answers to complex problems, sometimes claiming a spurious legitimacy to their actions
in the name of democracy... which is actually the populism that the Pope
frequently spoke out against, which stirs up fears and points out false foes...
and I pray that we might listen to his words (with, perhaps from crafting by
Austen Ivereigh) in his absence:
“Be
careful of those who claim now to see the future with a kind of clarity and
security. In crises "false Messiahs" always appear who ignore the
freedom of the people to build their own future, and who close themselves to
the action of God entering into the life and history of His people. God acts in
the simplicity of open hearts, in the patience of those who pause until they
can see clearly.” (Let us Dream 61)
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