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Pope Francis: a pastor according to the heart of Christ

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 13; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1474225x.2013.792716

1747-0234

Annemarie C. Mayer,

Theology and Canon Law Studies

Abstract Catholic Canon Law stipulates that the Pope is ‘the pastor of the universal Church on earth’. Pope Francis took up the challenge which this statement poses to those exercising the Petrine ministry by asking for prayers that he might be ‘a pastor according to the heart of Christ’. How is a Pope ‘a pastor according to the heart of Christ’? What particular opportunities does the Petrine ministry offer for this? What are the pastoral aspects of the papacy? What does it seem we can expect from Pope Francis in this regard? As this article shows, the task of ‘a pastor according to the heart of Christ’ has an impact on several aspects of the implementation of the Petrine ministry, such as using the Pope’s power in the service of unity, encouraging collegiality in communion as the visible centre of the entire Christian Church in dialogue with other religions, that the world may believe. Keywords: Pope FrancisPetrine ministrypapal powercollegialitychurch unityinter-religious dialogue Ut unum sint Notes 1 CitationPope Francis, ‘Address to the Fraternal Delegates’, March 20, 2013. 5 Can. 331/Codex Iuris Canonici (CIC Citation1983), http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P16.HTM (accessed March 27, 2013). 2 For quite some time no newly elected Pope dared to choose a totally new name. Unless ‘John Paul’ (1978) is regarded as such, one has to go back to ‘Lando’ (913–914). 3 Citation Gaudium et Spes , 1. 4 When praying in San Damiano, Saint Francis heard a voice: ‘Francisce […], vade, repara domum meam, quae, ut cernis, tota destruitur’ (‘Francis, go rebuild my house; as you see, it is all being destroyed’ (II Cel 10). See Thomas de CitationCelano, ‘Vita Secunda Sancti Francisci’, 452. 6 Can. 1752/ CIC Citation1983, http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P70.HTM (accessed March 27, 2013). 7 Can. 333/ CIC Citation1983, http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P16.HTM (accessed March 27, 2013). 9 CitationPope Francis, ‘First Homily at the Inaugural Mass’, March 19, 2013. 8 CitationBergoglio, El verdadero poder. 10 See CitationJohannes Diaconus, Sancti Gregorii Magni, Vita, lib. II,1, 87: ‘primus omnium se in principio epistolarum suarum servum servorum Dei satis humiliter definivit’. 11 CitationBattell, ‘The Petrine Ministry’, 74. 12 To list such articles and internet pages here would mean to promote them. One of the problems discussed there is why the Pope washed the feet of two women during the In Coena Domini mass in the Casal del Marmo prison. 14 Citation Lumen Gentium (LG), 13. 13 The most important historical example is the dispute on grace. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Dominicans and Jesuits had developed contradicting teachings on the relation of grace and human freedom and in bitter disputes had denied each other the true faith. Pope Paul V declared both positions orthodox, despite their contradictions and prohibited all charges of heresy. 15 Can. 333 $2/ CIC 1983, http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P16.HTM (accessed March 27, 2013). 16 Can. 334/ CIC 1983, http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P16.HTM (accessed March 27, 2013). 18 LG, 23 reads: ‘The Roman Pontiff, as the successor of Peter, is the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity of both the bishops and of the faithful. The individual bishops, however, are the visible principle and foundation of unity in their particular churches, fashioned after the model of the universal Church, in and from which churches comes into being the one and only Catholic Church. For this reason the individual bishops represent each his own church, but all of them together and with the Pope represent the entire Church in the bond of peace, love and unity.’ 22 CitationJohn Paul II, Ut unum sint, 95 and 97. 23 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/elezione/index_en.htm(accessed March 27, 2013). 25 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/elezione/index_en.htm (accessed March 27, 2013). 26 Ibid. 17 LG, 22 19 That means that in principle a bishop possesses all rights to exercise his pastoral ministry. They need not first be conceded by the Holy See; he has these rights in as far as they are not reserved to the Holy See. 20 See LG, 27: ‘Bishops, as vicars and ambassadors of Christ, govern the particular churches entrusted to them.’ 21 See also the definition of a diocese in, Christus Dominus, 11. 24 Can. 331/ CIC Citation1983. 28 John Paul II, Ut unum sint, 96. 27 See Paul VI, Address to the (then) Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, April 28, 1967: ‘Le Pape, Nous le savons bien, est sans doute l'obstacle le plus grave sur la route de l'œcuménisme.’ 29 Ibid., 95. 30 Ibid., 94. What Pope John Paul II exactly meant by this task of ‘keeping watch’ is further explained in detail in the same paragraph: ‘With the power and the authority without which such an office would be illusory, the Bishop of Rome must ensure the communion of all the Churches. For this reason, he is the first servant of unity. This primacy is exercised on various levels, including vigilance over the handing down of the Word, the celebration of the Liturgy and the Sacraments, the Church's mission, discipline and the Christian life. It is the responsibility of the Successor of Peter to recall the requirements of the common good of the Church, should anyone be tempted to overlook it in the pursuit of personal interests. He has the duty to admonish, to caution and to declare at times that this or that opinion being circulated is irreconcilable with the unity of faith. When circumstances require it, he speaks in the name of all the Pastors in communion with him.’ 31 Ibid. 37 LG, 22. 32 The Pope is preserved from the possibility of error ‘when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church’; see CitationFirst Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church ‘Pastor Aeternus’, 4th Session, July 1870, chapter 4, para 9. 33 CitationKasper, ‘Introduction to the Theme and Catholic Hermeneutics of the Dogmas of the First Vatican Council’, 13. 34 CitationKasper, ‘Petrine Ministry and Synodality’, 305. 35 See CitationDenzinger and Hünermann, Enchiridion symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum, no. 3112–3117. 36 CitationDuffy, Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes, 230. 38 CitationRahner, ‘Kommentar zum III. Kapitel, Artikel 18–27’, 228: ‘Einer solchen Argumentation ist schlicht zu erwidern: ja, er “kann” es, aber wird es nicht tun’. 41 Ibid., no. 57, p. 31–2. 42 Ibid., no. 56, p. 31. 43 Ibid. after no. 57, p. 32, italics in the original. 39 CitationSchmemann, ‘The Idea of Primacy in Orthodox Ecclesiology’, 163. 40 Citation The Church: Towards a Common Vision , no. 55, p. 31. 44 Regarding seats the Director of the House for the Diffusion of Islam, Sheik Mohsen Ali relates a personal anecdote about Cardinal Bergoglio: ‘In Suipacha Street, at the headquarters of the Argentine Episcopacy, his humility drew my attention. I went there with Sheik Abdul Karim Paz. There was a small wicker chair and some soft armchairs. He took the little chair for himself and left us the comfortable armchairs’. http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/126369/pope-francis-a-friend-of-the-islamic-community (accessed March 27, 2013). 45 CitationDemacopoulos, ‘The Extraordinary Historical Significance of His All-Holiness’ Presence at Pope Francis' Installation as Bishop of Rome'. 47 Pope Francis, ‘Address to the Fraternal Delegates’, March 20, 2013. 46 CitationJohn XXIII, Gaudet Mater Ecclesia, 8: ‘At Ecclesia Catholica officii sui esse ducit sedulam conferre operam ad magnum complendum mysterium illius unitatis, quam Christus Iesus, imminente sacrificio suo, a Caelesti Patre flagrantissimis rogavit precibus.’ See also Acta Apostolicae Sedis 54 (1962), 793. 48 CitationBergoglio and Skorka, Sobre el Cielo y la Tierra, XIV. 49 Pope Francis, ‘Address to the Fraternal Delegates’, March 20, 2013. 51 Pope Francis, ‘Address to the Fraternal Delegates’, March 20, 2013. 50 Citation Nostra Aetate , 3. 52 Ibid, for all quotations in this paragraph. 56 Bergoglio and Skorka, Sobre el Cielo y la Tierra, 33. 57 Ibid., 229s. 58 Ibid., 230. 53 Ibid. 54 Battell, ‘The Petrine Ministry’, 74. 55 On Good Friday the former president of the Evangelische Kirche in Germany, Wolfgang Huber, criticised the media's focusing too much on the Pope: http://www.heute.de/Ex-EKD-Chef-Huber-kritisiert-Papst-Fixierung-der-Medien-27233504.html (accessed March 30, 2013). 59 CitationJohn Paul II, ‘Peter Strengthens His Brothers in Faith’.