THERE simply is no question about it.
April 27, 2014, Divine Mercy Sunday, has no parallel in the history of the
Church or of the world. A current pope, Francis I, proclaimed before an immense
sea of humanity at St. Peter’s Square and billions around the world glued to
their television sets and internet-facilitated gadgets two predecessor popes,
John XXIII and John Paul II, “to be saints” and enrolled them “among the
saints, decreeing that they be venerated as such by the whole Church” while on
the sideline his immediate predecessor, almost shy and remarkably self-effacing,
Benedict XVI, stood witness to the occasion. A pilgrim in Rome could not help
remarking about two papal “saints in heaven” and another two “at St. Peter’s
Square”.
Two recognized
saints on the one hand; two potential saints on the other?
Fast forward to
today. Beyond the jubilation and the cacophony of praise and criticism from
both Catholics and non-Catholics, need we not ask the all-important question:
What does the event tell us professed Christians of this day and age? Without
pretending to have the last word on the matter, I would like to share a few of
my unsolicited thoughts.
One, the Petrine
ministry, the other name for the role of Roman Catholic Pontiffs among both
Catholics and non-Catholic Christians, is healthy and strong. More than two
thousand years after Jesus said to Peter, “You are Peter (Kephas) and upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of
the netherworld will not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18), Peter still stands in
the person of contemporary Roman Pontiffs, contrary winds or ever-loyal
following notwithstanding. It is unfortunate that we still hear this name
“Roman Pontiff” to call the successor of the Apostle Peter by. But, like the
Incarnation has the Word of God inexplicably and irretrievably intertwined with
our human nature, the Shoes of the Fisherman are till now inseparable from the
cobblestone pathways of Rome. The Vicar of Christ, like his Master, is in the
world though not of it. What’s in a name? Faith and Scriptures answer:
“Mission”. The Apostle Peter and his successors have a firm foothold in the
Eternal City so as to proclaim and usher in eternity to the world, with the
Lord’s flock constantly coming in and going forth to drink in the message in
order to later spread it from the house tops of today’s humanity. Two papal
saints in heaven and two saintly popes on earth is a big statement of Jesus
Christ’s unshakable faithfulness to his promise. Peter may have had lapses and
falls from grace; but the love of the Master always sustains him with more than
enough strength to lift up and guide the faith of the flock as well as the
attention of the world on the ways of the Kingdom.
Two, the
practice of venerating saints adds to and not detracts from the following of
Jesus Christ. Reviled and at times openly called “idolatry” by non-Catholics,
the spiritual activity in which and by which Catholics call upon canonized
saints to pray for their needs and intentions, mindful of their gifts and
charisms while still on earth, is still alive and kicking, if we are to judge
from the immense crowds in Rome before, during and after the canonization of
the two popes. Even despite misconceptions perpetrated by secular media, such
as Sts. John Paul II and John XXIII being “performer of miracles” (it is never
the saint but God who does the miracles at the saints’ intercessions, Catholics
constantly are compelled insist to their dismay), the faithful freely share
their experiences of having recourse to saints’ intercessions and obtaining
answers from heaven, miraculous or non-miraculous. Why does this not detract
from the following of Jesus Christ? The answer appears so simple and yet so
profound to me. The saints, papal or not, reflect to us the many aspects of
Jesus Christ and it is to Jesus Christ that they lead their devotees despite
appearances.
Three, four
popes in one day to me speak of the diversity in unity that is very real in the
Body of Christ that the Church is. The Pauline vision is nowhere more
pronounced than in the diverse personalities, emphases and orientations of
these four past and present Supreme Shepherds of the Roman Catholic Church. The
kindly, well-humored “Good Pope John XXIII”, initially dismissed as a
short-term transition pope and yet proving himself a revolutionary by convoking
Vatican II already amazes any student of history. Place him side by side with
the intellectual contemplative yet hugely charismatic Pope John Paul II who
both fervently followed up Vatican II reforms and strongly clarified
parameters, who traveled more than any pope in history, wrote more encyclicals,
canonized more saints, helped bring down communist regimes in Eastern Europe,
chastised dictators as well as radical clergy, remained silent when vilified as
an arch-conservative and yet loudly denounced injustices and violations of
human rights around the globe. It is extremely difficult to not be in awe of
these two saints. In addition, who would not be hard put to explain the
obviously un-similar personalities of the mild-mannered intellectual,
progressive conservative Pope Benedict XVI who courageously and humbly stepped
down from the papal throne so as to make way to a down-to-earth pastor named
Pope Francis whose vaunted humility and discomfort with the trappings of power
is now attracting immense attention and the opportunity to personalize the New
Evangelization in the age of Facebook and Twitter? And yet who would ever doubt
the unity these Supreme Pastors exhibit in proclaiming Christ and his Kingdom
in season and out of season within the orthodoxy and dynamism of the Catholic
faith?
The specter of
four popes in one day is not about four spiritual leaders grabbing the
spotlight in an ephemeral way. It is about the past and present of Christianity
converging and continuing to shed light on humanity from the faith of the Apostle
Peter.
And the faith of
the Apostle Peter is about Jesus Christ who is “the Alpha and the Omega, the
First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Rev 22:13).
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