It’s been barely two weeks since Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio took the name of Pope Francis, yet it seems like the whole world has entered a sort of time warp. Allow me to explain.
At first blush, it appears as though Francis is more a successor to John Paul I than to John Paul II and Benedict XVI. After all, his emphasis on the marginalized over the magisterium calls to mind some of the very reforms envisioned by the Second Vatican Council, which, despite decades of attempts to reverse them (first by Karol Wojtyła and, then, by Joseph Ratzinger), is apparently unstoppable. Score one for the Holy Spirit.
Attending Palm Sunday Mass this year, inspired by the new pope’s outreach to the marginalized (in what was a first attempt to re-engage the Catholic Church in two years), it felt as though I had stepped much farther back in time. The emphasis on ritual purity reminded me of the first post-Conciliar days of my youth, with the faithful clinging to the past while being forcefully (though pastorally) nudged forward. The stilted liturgical language, the pious expressions of the faithful, the surprisingly extensive use of Latin and Gregorian chant, the undeniable focus on the tabernacle, the kneeling to receive communion–all combined to make for a reverent, yet eerie, celebration of the Eucharist. This Mass was a hybrid from a bygone era. Like a scene from a movie, it was preternaturally clean. There were no “femi-Nazis” here, no adherents to liberation theology, no faithful dissenters of any sort. Only precise gestures, choreographed movements, neatly manicured environment, appropriately diverse congregants and impressive edifices. It was so disconnected from the theology I studied and the ministry I practiced that, for the first time, I didn’t miss the priestly ministry. In that moment, it seemed like a distant, even distorted, memory.
During my seminary and ministry years (1986-2001), I absorbed Vatican II, all the while witnessing John Paul II take it off the rails. Benedict XVI extended and calcified many of his predecessor’s efforts–all of which culminated in the bizarre experience of Palm Sunday. Hopefully, Francis will be able to redirect the Church’s attention to what matters most: it’s not about the branches, but the people holding them aloft.
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