Papa Francesco

Pope Francis spent six glorious days in the United States this past week and as a citizen I want to thank him for shoving Donald Trump off the airwaves. For a brief lovely time we had a pleasant diversion from all the gloom and doom. We saw a person who actually believes in the core teaching of Jesus; love, hope and forgiveness.

This Pope has raised a lot of eyebrows, particularly among conservative Catholics. It's not just about his insistence that everyone must be made to feel welcome in the Church, it's his reminders of the Church's centuries old teaching on social justice. If you want to shut down religious conversation with your conservative Catholic friends just say those two magical words, "social justice". Trust me you will get a very quick, "well maybe we shouldn't go there." Pardone, pardone but I do want to go there, I don't of course because it would be discourteous. These small "g" God devotees don't like to linger on issues of what they owe their fellow man other than a prayer, which is of course economically practical. Sure, throw the poor a dollar or two but don't get carried away with healthcare and education. Everyone will rise according to their God given abilities. Just turn it all over to the Lord and he'll take care of you, just don't forward his check to your landlord cause it will bounce.

I was raised in the Catholic Church and went to a Catholic school for a time. There are few rituals of man more beautiful than the Mass. Even as an atheist I enjoyed watching the Pope celebrate this ancient rite. When I was 18 I seriously considered the Priesthood even though my views of religion and deities were already becoming pretty firm. For those interested in detail I'm about to impart some, the rest of you might want to skip ahead. Thirty-two years ago the steps toward looking into the Priesthood went something like this and I bet it hasn't changed. You begin by meeting with your Dioceses Vocation Director. His first question is do you want to be a Diocese Priest or a Religious Priest. If you say Religious you are sent on your way and told to figure out which order you're interested in and then contact them. A Diocese Priest is what is commonly referred to as your Parrish Priest. A Diocese Priest takes a direct oath to the Bishop he will serve and does not take an oath of poverty. A Religious Priest joins an order and is educated by them and is ordained within the order, they can be assigned to Parrishes but remain committed to their order and they do take an oath of poverty.

Being me I responded I would have to be a Diocese Priest because I've never been very religious. That joke just laid there like a steaming pile. The process was first I had to get past the Vocation Director, that might take one hour and one visit or five years and hundreds of visits. After that you are sent to a psychiatrist to make certain you don't think you're Jesus, then to a nun who will talk to you about your prayer life, then to a married couple to talk about church and the family and then back to the Vocation Director. At anytime anyone of those people listed can say no and you're done. If everyone says yes and you survive your final conversation with the Vocation Director you are sent to meet with the Bishop. If he doesn't like you  you're out but if he does, you kiss his ring and off to seminary you go. When you're done you come back to your sponsoring Bishop and take your place at his side, somewhat like a Jedi. The Church is not good at recruiting but very good at discouraging, of course that's by design but at that time they were quite desperate, even an atheist would have made a fine addition.

About right now you're probably wondering where the hell  is this missive going? Patience grasshopper. In my early thirties I met with the Jesuits and explored the possibility of joining them. Jesuits are philosophers and challengers, within the order they sometimes referred to themselves as the Popes Marines. They go to the dark nasty places on our planet where others dare not tread. Pope Francis is a Jesuit. The only Jesuit ever elected Pope. He took a non Jesuit name. His relationship with the Order was strained long before he became Pope. Challenge and daring philosophy, pushing the boundaries of everyone's comfort level. My kind of guy.