Habemus changeam?
On March 13, after two days of deliberation, the Rome papal conclave released white smoke
from the Sistine Chapel, signaling the election of a new pope. The words “habemus papam” were
pronounced with an air of hope for transformation, and since he assumed office, Francis, the
elected Supreme Pontiff and first Latin American Bishop of Rome, has astonished Catholics,
observers from all religious affiliations and non-believers alike.
Last week, in a conversation with the flamboyant and controversial AC Milan star Mario Balotelli,
Pope Francis joked about his own reputation as a “rule-breaker,” referring to the headaches he
has given to Vatican personnel regarding his challenging of certain rules of protocol. The
Supreme Pontiff chose to live in a less spacious apartment in the papal guest house and gave
up the armored “Popemobile,” arguing that such strict protection creates a barrier between a
bishop and his people.
The Pope’s decisions do not appear to be a strategy applied strictly to attract more liberal youths
to the faith or to create a good reputation as a pope. When Francis was elected Cardinal in 2001,
he encouraged his followers not to travel to Rome to celebrate with him, but rather to donate the
funds they would have used for the trip to the poor. If being a “rule-breaker” implies raising funds
for the less fortunate and challenging the Church’s status quo, it appears that vocation for
challenging the norms should be a requirement for ordination. Who’s with me?
Three weeks ago, on his flight back from World Youth Day, where the Pope’s final mass on
Copacabana Beach gathered 3 million spectators (that is almost 15 times the number of people
that attended the 1950 Brazil-Uruguay soccer football finale, the most crowded in history), Pope
Francis surprised the world by saying that if a gay person has good will and is looking for the
Lord, he has no right to judge them. Feel free to contrast these positive remarks with his
predecessor Benedict XVI’s comments that homosexuals should give up their “tendencies” and
look for a “correct way of living.”
Although Pope Francis had said homosexuality is a sin before his revolutionary statement, his
words do mark a shift from the position held by the Catholic Church for a long period of time. In
short, the Pope said that being gay and having faith are not mutually exclusive and that
homosexuals are welcome into the Vatican-based faith. Such a “tendency,” as the Pope refers
to it, should not result in marginalization of LGBTQ members of society, which Francis explicitly
stated during his speech. Words can only do so much, but they can have a great impact in the
attitude of many believers.
But white robes, just like people, are seldom pristine and flaw-free. At the same press
conference held on the flight back from Brazil, the Pope made a conclusive observation about
the future of women in the Church, which various news outlets buried under the Pope’s
declaration on homosexuals and photoshopped images of the Bishop of Romehim holding
rainbow flags.
In a confusing account of the “theology of womanhood,” Francis affirmed that while women
should be not be restricted to motherhood and charity, the door for ordination of women is
definitively closed. It appears that the Church does not know with certainty what role women
“should” be allowed to play in the practical matters of the Catholic faith, an assumption the Pope
supported in his speech.
Yet, amidst the confusion, the Pope said that women in the Church are more important than
bishops and priests, just as Virgin Mary was more important than the Apostles. But if that’s true,
why does the all-male higher authority of the Church have the final word on whether women can
be ordained? Why can’t women be entrusted with delivering a sermon or baptizing newborns
and converts? For a Pope who seemed very comfortable with including LGBTQ members in the
Church, he did not show the same ease when dealing with the possibility of women being
leaders in the faith.
In spite of the unclear definition of the “theology of womanhood,” the Argentinian Pontiff
emanates an air of modernity. This has been well received by many members of the faith who
had perceived the Church was having a hard time keeping up with the forward idiosyncrasy of
21st century Catholics.
Yet, six months after his election, it is uncertain whether Pope Francis’ words will result in
concrete transformations within the Catholic Church that will allow us to cheerfully claim
“habemus changeam!”