Why this atheist is (tentatively) optimistic about Pope Francis
Almost immediately after the longshot election of Pope Francis (née Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio) a week ago, many of his older comments and actions were excavated and exposed for scrutiny. This isn’t altogether a terrible thing, considering that Francis has taken some questionable stances on gay marriage (the devil’s work and a “destructive attack on God’s plan”) and gay adoption (it’s discrimination against children), as well as showing troubling complacency during the mass-killings of left-wing dissidents in the Argentinian Dirty War.
The less-than-clear relationship with Argentinian juntas aside, I’m actually somewhat pleasantly surprised and optimistic about Pope Francis. That Bergoglio decided to take the name of Saint Francis of Asisi, a champion of the poor, fills me with some optimism. There’s a lot to object to in the social policies of the Catholic Church (less so among everyday Catholics, who are actually fairly liberal when it comes to social issues), but that doesn’t mean that the church hasn’t been a largely left-leaning institution when it comes to economic policy—an area that the church can do some real good in.
As I see it, major change on social issues in the Church hierarchy was never going to happen. 1 That’s not to say we shouldn’t ease pressure off the Church to modernize on that front, but it seems somewhat unrealistic to express pessimism that the Pope is acting as any Pope would when it comes to issues like homosexuality. What gives me some hope, though, is the attitude that the new Pope Francis has towards religious tolerance and economic issues, because those were the issues that were open to change for better or worse, not social policies that will likely remain entrenched for the foreseeable future.
The word humble is used a lot to describe this new papacy and it’s hard to argue otherwise (putting the irony of a humble papacy aside). The Atlantic writes on the topic:
[Pope Francis] is celebrated for his humility, and has eschewed worldly possessions. He chose to live in his own small apartment instead of the Cardinal’s (more opulent) residence in Buenos Aires. And he doesn’t take chauffeured limousines, instead traveling around Buenos Aires by bus.
Pope Francis is also the first Jesuit Pope, 2 and it seems that these values have followed him to the Vatican. It’s worth noting that Pope Francis has eschewed some of the more extravagant elements of the papacy—in lieu of the Pope’s traditional jeweled cross, he wore instead his simple insignia, and the infamous red and not-actually-prada shoes have been noticeably absent.
Francis also seems to be promising worker towards interfaith cooperation. The topic is treated in detail in this AP report, but just a snippet for reference:
This dialogue between religions “isn’t just a photo op,” Omar Abboud of the Islamic Center of the Argentine Republic said then. “It’s a genuine and well-reasoned commitment under construction, because we know that we cannot get by without this dialogue.”
Guillermo Borger, president of the Argentine-Israelite Mutual Association, said Bergoglio came often to the association’s headquarters, which was rebuilt on the site of Argentina’s worst terrorist attack, the still-unsolved 1994 bombing that killed 85 people. “We’re sure that given the sensitivity that Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, had here, I really believe that he’ll continue to support us.
It’s not clear whether and how Francis will engage with the nonreligious, or whether he’ll follow Benedict in seeming to blame nonbelievers for many of the world’s troubles. During an early press-conference, however, Francis extended his blessing to non-Catholics as well as nonbelievers. That, and the fact that Francis said he’d like a “church that is poor and for the poor,” gives me a little bit of hope.
This all isn’t to absolve the new pontiff of many of his shortcomings. 3 It’s still too early to see whether all of this talk will really translate into positive policies, and it’s indeed hard to read accounts like this without seriously calling into question Francis’s behavior during the Dirty War. It’s also worth noting and noting often that lofty commitments to the poor might be better served, or at least well-complimented, by supporting female reproductive rights and a more liberal position on condoms. Nonetheless, the new papacy exhibits what, to me at least, seems like a refreshing and sincere focus on social justice.
Francis is far from perfect, but I can’t help but think that he’s much better than what I could have honestly expected. 4
Vlad Chituc 5 is a lab manager and research assistant in a social neuroscience lab at Duke University. As an undergraduate at Yale, he was the president of the campus branch of the Secular Student Alliance, where he tried to be smarter about religion and drink PBR, only occasionally at the same time. He cares about morality and thinks philosophy is important. He is also someone that you can follow on twitter.
Notes:
in the foreseeable future ↩To any readers who, like me five minutes ago, don’t know what that means: Jesuits are members of the Society of Jesus, an order founded in the 16th century by St. Ignatius Loyola. Jesuits take vows of poverty and are known for their scholarship and work for the poor ↩Nor am I suggesting that we ought to ignore them ↩And it of course goes without saying that I’ve been following this only slightly more closely than I do any other major news item that pops up on my Twitter or Facebook feed. If I’ve missed something noteworthy or relevant, don’t hesitate to share ↩has been reading too much David Foster Wallace ↩
