- March 15, 2013
- 4:25 pm
- Raymond Benton Jr
- no comments
My Hope for the Pope
On My Hope for Pope Francis
Father Garanzini, president of Loyola University Chicago, greeted the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio with the following statement. “It was with great anticipation that we learned yesterday that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as our new pope, Pope Francis.” He added, the selection of “the first Jesuit elected to that most holy of offices” came “as a surprise to most Jesuits.” Father Garanzini continued by noting, “Pope Francis was a professor and rector of a theological faculty. He is very familiar with academia and he taught literature, psychology, philosophy, and theology before becoming Archbishop of Buenos Aires.” Perhaps, by extension, we can add that he will be sensitive and sympathetic to the need and importance of scholarship, teaching and learning to the future.
Everything I have heard and read about his selection of Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, as his name suggests that it reflects his service to humanity, and most importantly to the poor and marginalized. Also mentioned is his humility.
I, however, am hopeful about other possibilities that arise out of the Cardinal’s selection of Francis as his Papal name. This is what I see and about what I am hopeful.
In his classic essay, “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis,” historian Lynn White, Jr. wrote, “The key to an understanding Francis is his belief in the virtue of humility—not merely for the individual but for man as a species.” White continued,
The greatest spiritual revolutionary in western history, Saint Francis, proposed what he thought was an alternative Christian view of nature and man’s relation to it: he tried to substitute the idea of the equality of all creatures, including man, for the idea of man’s limitless rule of creation.”
White added, “He failed,” and then continued, “Since the roots of our trouble are so largely religious, the remedy must also be essentially religious, whether we call it that or not.” He then added, in his concluding sentence, a bold proposal. “I propose,” White wrote, “Francis as a patron saint for ecologists.”
Perhaps by taking the name Francis, the Pope has erected the scaffolding for a bold bridge to connect with the Ecumenical Patriarch Barthalomew, known the world over as the Green Patriarch. If the two can find a meeting of the minds then perhaps, finally, there is renewed hope for those of us that see the billion-year-old heritage achieved by the evolution of plant and animal life as something more than mere resources.
That, finally, is my hope.
You can find Father Garanzini’s letter to Loyolans here (will open in a new window): http://www.luc.edu/features/scroll/pope-garanzini.shtml
You can read Lynn White’s essay here (will open in a new window): http://www.uvm.edu/~gflomenh/ENV-NGO-PA395/articles/Lynn-White.pdf
You can read about the Ecumenical Patriarch Barthalomew here (will open in a new window): http://www.patriarchate.org/patriarch/biography
Next week: Stacy Neier will post on her blog about Papal fashion.