Exactly one year ago, this happened:
I was teaching Monastic Liturgy. When the white smoke came, earlier than expected, I gave up all hope of trying to concentrate on the class material, and we tuned in to the online news coverage and watched anxiously.
And then he appeared on the loggia. I confess that I had entirely forgotten about Bergoglio being the runner-up in 2005, and he wasn’t on my list of papabile. He was a blank slate to me. I didn’t know what to make of him at first, as he just stood there and did nothing. No big waves, no big grins, he just stood there. I was nervous.
I also confess that I’m more musical than visual, and I honestly didn’t notice anything amiss in his vesture (or lack thereof). No red cape! It wasn’t until the blogosphere lit up, which took about 2 minutes, that I gradually realized that something big was happening.
And then I read that the ultraconservative website Rorate Coeli was horrified at the worst possible choice. And Pray Tell friend Chris Grady emailed me, “I’m pretty happy.” Two sources who track this stuff closely – from opposite perspectives. I began to feel very, very happy.
From the get-go, Pope Francis seemed very resolute about his way of doing things. In retrospect, it looks as if he began thinking on February 11, the date Benedict announced his resignation, “I could be the next pope. What will I do?” He hit the ground running.
His first appearance was in many ways an announcement of his governing program.
- His first words were “Brothers and sisters, good evening” – nothing churchy or pious, but a normal greeting from a normal person. As he said in his most recent interview, “The pope is a man who laughs, cries, sleeps calmly and has friends like everyone else. A normal person.”
- He wasn’t wearing red shoes or stole or red cape. He only put the stole on for the blessing, and then removed it immediately, in full view of the public. The focus is not on churchy rituals, but as he has since said so often, on the church getting out of the sacristy and into the streets.
- He called himself “Bishop of Rome” rather than “Pope,” and he referred to Benedict as the “Bishop Emeritus.” He has to have known of the announcement that the title was to be “Pope Emeritus.” But “Bishop of Rome” suggests a ministry which is more collegial, within the college of bishops, with less emphasis on the primacy of the guy at the top of the pyramid. Rather like this recent photo of the pope on retreat with curial officials:
- He asked all to pray for Pope Benedict. For all the difference in emphasis between him and his predecessor, he made clear his great esteem for Benedict and his desire to work in continuity with the good work Benedict had done.
- He asked the people to pray for a blessing of him before he blessed the people. This suggests collaboration and sharing of gifts between clergy and laity, rather than a one-way ministration of a higher class to a lower class.
And then, in rapid succession, so much more – he rode the bus with the other cardinals back to the guesthouse, paid his own bill at the hotel (and changed the light bulb that had gone out), celebrating Mass facing the congregation (i.e. the cardinal electors), preached extemporaneously and without miter, stayed in the guesthouse, cancelled Holy Thursday Mass at the cathedral and went to a youth prison… to wash the feet of females!
Here are some of the archived Pray Tell stories on the new pope:
Teresa Berger and Fritz Bauerschmidt and Anthony Ruff on first impressions from March 13, 2013.
The first report from the Onion that Pope Francis had resigned.
The first report that Cardinal Bergoglio had said that the Ordinariate is “quite unnecessary.”
The first report that Francis supposedly told that MC that “carnival is over” – we still don’t know for sure whether he really said that.
And then the report, later confirmed, that he was open to legalized gay civil unions in Argentina.
Pray Tell contributor Jonathan Day wrote a landmark piece on the language of papal clothing.
And the famous to-ing and fro-ing about the candles moved away from the center of the altar.
Today, a year later, I feel indescribably grateful. The Holy Spirit was at work a year ago!
How has it been for you? What are your first memories?
awr
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