The Milwaukee Post

8 • Milwaukee Post • August 9, 2013 OPINION Readers Forum The accidental pope The sun was peaking through the top of the stained glass window. He pulled back the blanket, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and perched his body up, steadying himself with both arms. He raised his right hand upward scratching his balding pate and rubbing his eyes. A tiny spider, weaving its small web in the window's corner, caught his squinting left eye. "Ah, little one," he thought, "If only I had the dexterity and the agility to weave so beautifully in my work." There was a gentle knock at the door and a hushed voice inquiring if he were awake. A throat-clearing, gruff recognition would have to suffice this morning. He then prayed briefly and headed to the bathroom to wash up and shave. Another knock at the door and another polite acknowledgement as he sat to put on his shoes; "Hmmm, maybe the red slippers everyone seems to be talking about aren't such a bad idea." Bending his lanky, 76-year-old frame over to tie his worn black shoe he smiled, looking at his feet. Both shoes were perfectly creased with a valley between the top arch and the toes. Shoetrees, he thought once again, are the answer to keep the tips of his shoes from bending upward. He then mused, remembering that he had come to that conclusion 50 years ago and still hadn't gotten around to locating a pair. Too many other important matters had always occupied his days and now this enormous responsibility. As he opened the door to his apartment residence at Casa Santa Marta, he knew he would be greeted by a sea of black robes with red and purple caps, buttons, sashes, and sleeves, and they would tilt their heads down in unison and greet him, "Good Morning, Your Holiness." Pope Francis was up and the fuss that greeted him this day, and every day since the College of Cardinals chose this humble crusader for the poor as its next pope, still took some getting used to. He walked to the chapel in Casa Santa Marta, as he did every day, to say Mass, surrounded by advisers whose names he still had not fully known, and prayed he was able to bear the weight of this gift. In my intellection, this is how I've imagined this simple holy man's first days and months. "I want trouble in the dioceses." These words, spoken by Pope Francis, made it clear that he had taken his mandate for reforming the church more seriously than perhaps many had previously thought. The elixir of his earliest pronouncements quenched the thirst of the many emotionally dehydrated yearning to cast away the anarchistic potions they had been served in the past. In Brazil, speaking to throngs of people, he told Catholics to "Make a mess." He urged them to leave the security of church pews and get out into the streets. The pope, who many are calling the "slum pope," has broken just about every tradition and Vatican protocol. He has cast off excessive security, treks around Rome in a $16,000 Ford Focus, and continues to reside in a modest apartment. On the beaches of Copacabana, some 3 million of the faithful showed up for Mass. The Brazilian government had planned on, perhaps, a million in the Rio de Janeiro shantytown of Varginha. He kissed babies, young people, and the elderly. He told the crowds the church was on their side. "I want to see the Church closer to the people. I want to get rid of clericalism, the mundane, this closing ourselves off within our- Previously we asked: , selves, in our parishes, schools, or structures." So what are we to TODD ROBERT MURPHY make of this accidental pope? The Church has been hemorrhaging membership. Many have mistakenly concluded that the movement of Catholics has been to the rise in non-denominational/evangelical churches; this isn't entirely true. That movement has been a growing part of Christianity. But, that movement is attracting people from all faiths and appreciably from evangelical Protestants. They are driven to the pews not only by a desire to praise God but also often because of a charismatic leader. That's not a bad thing but it's not a new phenomenon. It is not the centuries-old Roman Catholic Church; if you ask a non-practicing Catholic their religion they will most assuredly say, "Catholic." The flame of the Holy Spirit never dies. This new world leader, Pope Francis, the spiritual father of more than billion faithful, is bringing people back to the flock because the Holy Father is addressing issues that have perplexed many Catholics. The harsh tones and statement made about gays and lesbians, women and the church, divorced Catholics, and those who remarry without the church's blessing, have been hard to swallow. We have built edifices that are worthy of worship but have become monuments that pay homage to human egos and not a house one imagines the Lord dwelling in. Many parish priests looked the other way when it came to reconciling their ministering with less-than-perfect Catholics, mostly because none of us have found one. We will know the true goodness of Pope Francis by this presage, the alliance of red-robed, arrogant, covetous, resentful, voracious, indolent, vexed, and materialistic dandies who attempt to reinterpret his words. They have lost their calling and their way. But evil finds its way to one's heart through conspicuous ways that seem unnoticed. The pope has asked the princes of the Church to reject fancy, expensive luxuries. Drive the cars your parishioners drive, eat what they eat, live where they live, work where they work, and most of all pray where they pray. The Doobie Brothers had a couple of songs that seem like they might be on the pope's iPod; "Takin' It to the Streets" is the first one that comes to mind. That's what he told the millions congregated for World Youth Day. The second, "Jesus is Just Alright." He is, and I suppose Jesus is, just all right with women becoming "part of a deeper theology" in the Church as well as gays, lesbians, divorced, and remarried Roman Catholics. If they come to the Lord with goodwill, who are we to judge? Murph Speak Mise le Meas (Special note: Todd Robert Murphy still pays attention but needs a vacation. He'll back Sept 11. You can still write him though at toddrobertmurphy@gmail.com.) Are you encouraged that the Packers and Brett Favre appear to be mending fences? You answered: "Favre is news as last week's paper. Another opportunistic sports star, who had no loyalty, involved in a sexting scandal and joined "the other side." Benedict Arnold II. He made his bed. Move on." – Noah Borkenhagen Franklin "That would be nice if the Packers and Favre can mend their ways. But professional sports is a business and no employee, regardless of who they are, football player or anybody else, has a right to tell the Packers how to run their business." – Don Tuttle Milwaukee Question of the week Will the recent fast food protests spur a higher minimum wage? Call 744-6370, Ext. 15 and leave a brief answer to the Question of the Week along with your full name with spelling, phone number and city. No address is required. Readers may also send an email with a brief answer to: dbutler@conleynet.com. Letters policy Send your letters to: The Milwaukee Post, c/o Dwayne Butler, 3397 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53207, or by e-mail to: dbutler@conleynet.com. We reserve the right to edit letters for style, length and clarity. Letters should be typewritten or printed and include full name, phone number and address. Please keep your letters to no more than 400 words.

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