No doubt, many Catholics felt an acute sense of discomfort in relation to the papacy of Pope Francis. Therefore, it is understandable that they are eager to move on, as though his papacy was like a bad dream one longs to wake up from. Ironically, however, even what they claim to look for in the new pope betrays the fact that they are still hung up on Pope Francis.
For example, many are repeating the talking point that the new pope needs to restore doctrinal clarity and church unity, after the confusion and division caused by…who else but Pope Francis? But there is a serious flaw with this popular narrative and I am afraid that, without addressing it, we will struggle not only with the new pope but also with the faith itself.
When Amoris Laetitia (Joy of Love) was issued by Pope Francis in 2016, the term “ambiguous” was permanently coined as, supposedly, an entirely appropriate label for his papacy. This was because many believed that holy communion was denied to those in irregular (marital) situations primarily due to the fact, according to church teaching, they were in mortal sin.
Therefore when Pope Francis taught in Amoris Laetitia that the help of the sacraments, including communion, could be offered to those in irregular situations in certain cases, many believed that what the church had clearly taught was now made ambiguous by Pope Francis. But there was one problem: they were wrong about what the church had actually taught.
Even Pope John Paul II who upheld the practice of not allowing communion to those in irregular situations, in the same breath, exhorted the whole church to ensure that “they do not consider themselves as separated from the church.” (Familiaris Consortio, 84) In other words, no, he did not teach that those in irregular situations were in mortal sin, at least not necessarily.
A person can be in an objective situation of grave sin (e.g. being remarried when the first marriage is still valid). But it is possible that their knowledge and/or freedom can be so restricted that their subjective culpability is mitigated to the point of not placing them in mortal sin. And if their desire is to conform evermore to God’s will, then, they can benefit from the help of the sacraments.
The church sets certain standards so as to teach the faithful about the danger of grave sins. After all, no one gets away with a grave sin without consequences. Nevertheless, the church can also shift the emphasis in order to optimise the application of mercy to actual situations of people’s lives, so as to help them toward incrementally better places within God’s economy of salvation.
This is merely one example among many whereby doctrinal clarity was presumed by many when, in reality, there was still ambiguity which needed to be clarified over time by way of doctrinal development.* But, as history has shown, those who cling to the illusory certainty of the past tend to accuse the church of being ambiguous or worse, even to the point of causing schism.
More often than not, during the papacy of Pope Francis, doctrinal clarity was presumed by many who felt an unhealthy amount of certainty about what they thought the church had taught, who therefore blamed the pope for any confusion or division. But what if he was the one who brought the sacred clarity of God’s revelation rather than the seductive clarity of ideologies?
Pope Francis would have been the first to want us to be clear about and united by the joy of the Gospel. But we cannot move on to where we ought to be without first acknowledging what the Holy Father was right about and what we were wrong about. The power of mercy always requires our humility (or the willingness to do self-critique) in order to become truly effective in us.
Pope Francis was exceptional in this regard as a pinnacle-leader. Take, for example, what he said in his recent autobiography: “I feel unworthy. I feel ungrateful, because in the face of so much good that I have received, I have made so many errors, so many mistakes…I consider what is the greatest gift that I desire from the Lord, and have experienced, it is the gift of shame.” (Hope, p.182)
I was already excited about the new pope before finding out who was elected. This was because of the conviction that the Holy Spirit who worked in Pope Francis would continue to bring us surprises of joy. No doubt, Pope Francis prays for us to move on not merely to the next pope but also to the spiritual depth of God’s revelation, and therefore to a long-awaited new springtime.
*Other examples include the issue of salvation for non-Catholics, the relatively new practice of allowing funerals for those who commit suicide, the latest update regarding death penalty in the Catechism of the Catholic Church or the possibility of blessing those in irregular situations. In all these, clarity regarding what the church actually teaches has increased, not decreased.
