The Catholic Charities panel on the message of Pope Francis, from left, Father Larry Snyder, Archbishop Anthony Apuron, Kathy Brown and Jerry Rauckhorst. (HCH photo | Patrick Downes)
A high-ranking Catholic Charities panel, in a presentation Feb. 20 at the Catholic Charities Hawaii campus in Honolulu, described the charismatic leadership of Pope Francis as a strong affirmation of the church’s ministry to the poor and an unprecedented opportunity for evangelization.
The president of Catholic Charities USA Father Larry Snyder; Archbishop of Guam Anthony Apuron; Kathy Brown, Catholic Charities USA’s senior director of mission and Catholic identity; and Jerry Rauckhorst, president of Catholic Charities Hawaii, discussed the present papacy before an audience of about 60 at the Catholics Charities USA Partners in Excellence conference at Catholic Charities Hawaii’s headquarters.
Drawing on direct quotes from Pope Francis and the observations of journalists and social commentators, the panel drew a portrait of an intriguing and electrifying pontificate that, in less than a year, has transformed the world’s view of the pope and the Vatican’s image of itself.
“Each pope brings his own style,” Father Snyder said, opening the discussion.
Using labels that emerged from the second Vatican Council, he identified Pope Francis as a “Kingdom Catholic,” one who sees the church as a pilgrim people, open to the world and justice-oriented, rather than a “Communion Catholic,” like Pope Benedict XVI, who was more dedicated to the church’s inner life and more wary of the world.
Father Snyder said that politicians of different persuasions, as well as politically-leaning church leaders, have tried to use the pope’s words to their advantage, but “he is not a politician.”
“He is a prophet,” he said. “He transcends politics.”
The priest also refuted those who claim the pope’s words are often taken out of context when they find the plain meaning to be troublesome.
“He is a very clear communicator,” Father Snyder said. “He says what he means to say. He speaks his heart and mind.”
Archbishop Apuron said that Pope Francis calls for a church that identifies with the poor.
That can only happen, he said, “if bishops, priests, religious and laity leave the comfort of their homes, convents and residences and minister to the poor.”
“We need to see the suffering of our brothers and sisters,” he said.
“Pope Francis has lived poverty,” the archbishop said. “We have to live it first in order to understand the people who live in poverty.”
The pope said that to know the poor is to “understand Jesus,” Archbishop Apuron said.
He said Pope Francis wants priests to literally and figuratively “unlock the doors of the church,” to be “more compassionate and merciful as our God is merciful.”
Brown drew from a variety of sources to demonstrate how the new pope’s popularity has surged past that of world leaders and entertainers in what has been called a “Francis tsunami.”
And it’s not just a Catholic thing, she said.
“He is impacting us in the church and people in society of all persuasions,” Brown said.
“He has also had a tremendous impact on the culture of Rome,” she said, where ecclesiastical opulence now looks kitschy next to Pope Francis’ plain white cassock.
“Simple is now chic,” she said.
“The pope has given us a new framework,” she said, “of a church of the poor, for the poor — a poor church.”
“The poor are to be the center of the church,” Brown said.
Brown listed three “emerging pillars” of this papacy, the first being “leadership as service,” where pastors are to be shepherds who “smell of their sheep” rather than privileged princes.
The second is the “social gospel.”
“He is very robustly prolife,” Brown says, with a scope that is inclusively anti-abortion, anti-poverty and anti-war.
The third pillar is “mercy as the core Christian message.”
Brown said the pope’s popularity offers the church a golden moment for evangelization.
“We have a massive missionary opportunity,” she said. “We must not let this opportunity pass.”
Initiating conversations
Rauckhorst, in his comments, echoed that thought.
“I have never had so many people in the community come up to me” to talk about a church leader, he said. “He has resonated with Catholics, non-Catholics, non-Christians.”
“Those conversations are so energizing,” he said.
He said that Pope Francis’ words and example are “a real validation of the work of Catholic Charities Hawaii in the community.”
“Pope Francis takes it to a new level of inspiration for me,” Rauckhorst said.
He said the work of Catholic Charities is not a one-way ministry.
“The alignment with the poor, that identification with the poor is not about what we can give them,” he said, “but what we can get, gain and learn from them.”
“It’s what they bring to us, what they call us to be,” he said.
Rauckhorst closed with a quote by Pope Francis, “The church cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the search for justice.”
In the question and answer session following the presentations, Archbishop Apuron said that the pope’s human authority comes from his actions.
“The pope is honestly leading by example,” he said. He “takes dogma down to earth and walks it with the people.”
“He will continue to be pastoral, to meet the people, to uplift them and bring them to a deeper spiritual experience,” the archbishop said.
Father Snyder predicted that, in the coming year, Pope Francis will begin to see changes in the structure of the Curia, the church’s central bureaucracy.
“We already see a change of mindset,” he said, to that of service.
Brown forecasted a change in the kind of bishops the pope will appoint.
“We are going to see a return of bishops with more pastoral experiences,” she said.
Father Snyder suggested the pope may be challenged in trying to reconcile the pastoral needs of the church’s more liberal northern hemisphere and its more conservative southern hemisphere.
“We are in for a very interesting ride,” he said.
The Feb. 19-21 conference was the eighth of 10 regional meetings across the country over the past year hosted by Father Snyder and five of Catholic Charities USA’s top leaders covering topics of professional development and Catholic identity.
Attending the Hawaii meeting were about 20 representatives from the U.S. Pacific island territories of American Samoa, Guam, Saipan and the Marshall Islands, and 75 employees of Catholic Charities Hawaii.
The conference included an optional one-day pilgrimage to Kalaupapa.
