It's no different for a pope. He has a duty to be the Holy Father, both in name and in deed, to the thousands of seminarians, novitiates, and junior religious studying in Rome.
That's why this anecdote, recounted in a Commonweal interview with Cardinal Kasper, is particularly troubling:
It was reported that Pope Francis asked a young Jesuit what he was working on, and when the man said he was studying fundamental theology, the pope joked, “I can’t imagine anything more boring!”
I have no way of knowing whether this incident really happened, or if the pope was accurately quoted. Secondhand information, of course, is always questionable. But let's assume that it is accurate, since the author felt confident enough to put it in print.
A Holy Father has no grounds for making this sort of comment to one of his sons in the Faith, even in jest. Especially when that son is engaged in studies that will enable him to better propagate said Faith.
If Pope Francis actually said this, he's a bum.
Similar remarks have been attributed to His Holiness in the past. He seems to have, alongside his ostentatious lack of ostentatiousness, acquired a modest sotto voce reputation for snark.
ReplyDeleteThere is, as the author notes, no way to be sure if these stories are true. Perhaps they are being spread by the "enemies of the Pope." That theory tends to founder on the fact that one can scarcely imagine, if the polls and the media are to be believed, that this Pope has any enemies. No matter, the fact that there are seemingly numerous stories recounting the Pope's "attitude" suggests that perhaps there is a grain of truth to them.
In any case, it must be added that the Pope is a human being, and he, like any other man, may have his quirks and failures. That's to be expected. What is, unfortunately, a bit more disturbing is that the Pope's quirks and failures seem to betray - again if the stories are to be believed - an impatience with tradition and, underneath the beatific smile, a certain contempt for those who the Pope affects to love.
It is not hypocrisy, but rather a deeper philosophical failing. It is that vice that Burke was alluding to when he spoke of those who love mankind so much that they hate men.