Who Am I to Judge?

I guess because I am Catholic, pretty obvious about it, and because it is a normal thing to talk about these days, I often get asked by Catholics and non-Catholics alike, “What do you think of the new pope?” My first thought is: “How the heck would I know? Never met the guy.” But the answer that I end-up giving is, “Let’s wait and see.” With Pope Francis, some liked him, some didn’t. It will probably be the same with this pope too. 

It is said that the pope is chosen by the Holy Spirit and that the cardinals are just the vehicle. I heard a commentator recently quip, tongue in cheek, “Well, if the Holy Spirit is picking the popes, he hasn’t done a particularly good job since we’ve had some lousy popes.” Yes. Over the two thousand years since the Catholic Church began, that is true. And since the Church is an organization, and a very, very large one made-up of human beings, it is natural, at least in my mind, that we have some good leaders and some bad ones and that we end-up doing some really good things as a church and some really dumb things. All organizations run by humans do. It doesn’t change the faith. Faith is in our hearts. Not in a building or an organization.

But the best default I have on new popes is based on a lesson Monsignor DiNardo taught me when I left the Diocese of Pittsburgh. I was worried I hadn’t done enough or that we hadn’t done, as a Diocese, some of the things as best we could, on me admittedly, and he said to me, “You know, Dave, the Church has been around 2,000 years and it will be around for at least another 2,000.”  

That is a great perspective on the Catholic Church, the difference between faith and religion, and the electing of a new pope. I pray for Leo XIV, pray for the soul of Pope Francis and pray for the Church. And as for a new pope, who am I to judge?  

Show A Little Faith

PS-Thanks, Larry, for the lesson.