After his morning visit with President Obama, Pope Francis ambled over to St. Matthew’s Cathedral (which is easily the most beautiful building in Washington) to meet with America’s bishops.
The Holy Father’s remarks were long, at times beautiful, and occasionally befuddling. For instance, he opened by saying, “I appreciate the unfailing commitment of the Church in America to the cause of life and that of the family, which is the primary reason for my present visit.” Which is wonderful, but also somewhat strange. Because he mentioned the family only in passing during his earlier remarks at the White House (and the cause of life not at all).
The pope then went on to praise the myriad social services the Catholic Church performs in America, saying:
And there followed a lovely passage in which Francis exhorted his brother bishops to never lose sight of the joyfulness of their mission:
And more:
Certainly it is helpful for a bishop to have the farsightedness of a leader and the shrewdness of an administrator, but we fall into hopeless decline whenever we confuse the power of strength with the strength of that powerlessness with which God has redeemed us. Bishops need to be lucidly aware of the battle between light and darkness being fought in this world. Woe to us, however, if we make of the cross a banner of worldly struggles and fail to realize that the price of lasting victory is allowing ourselves to be wounded and consumed.
This theological admonishment against engaging too fully in the culture wars was followed a few moments later by practical advice to the bishops on how to conduct their in modern America:
Otherwise, we fail to understand the thinking of others, or to realize deep down that the brother or sister we wish to reach and redeem, with the power and the closeness of love, counts more than their positions, distant as they may be from what we hold as true and certain. Harsh and divisive language does not befit the tongue of a pastor, it has no place in his heart; although it may momentarily seem to win the day, only the enduring allure of goodness and love remains truly convincing.
The world is already so torn and divided, brokenness is now everywhere. Consequently, the Church, “the seamless garment of the Lord” cannot allow herself to be rent, broken or fought over.
Our mission as bishops is first and foremost to solidify unity, a unity whose content is defined by the Word of God and the one Bread of Heaven. With these two realities each of the Churches entrusted to us remains Catholic, because open to, and in communion with, all the particular Churches and with the Church of Rome which “presides in charity”. It is imperative, therefore, to watch over that unity, to safeguard it, to promote it and to bear witness to it as a sign and instrument which, beyond every barrier, unites nations, races, classes and generations.
As a practical matter, it is difficult to reconcile what Francis would have the American bishops behave when the culture—along with the full force of the United States government—undertakes to prevent the Church from carrying out its mission.
The obvious case that comes to mind is Catholic Charities adoption services in Boston. Francis acknowledges the good and essential work performed by such social services and it is difficult to think of a more important task for the Church than finding homes for children whose mothers bravely chose not to abort them.
What then, should the bishops have done when the government came to shut down the Church’s adoption program in Boston?
Perhaps someone will ask Francis about that on his flight back to Rome.
