What do we look for when we look at Pope Francis?

Culture wars victories, Catholic reform, a glimpse of Jesus -- three things we look for when we look at Pope Francis.

(RNS1-JULY 28) Pope Francis on July 28, 2014, asked forgiveness for Catholics who had persecuted and denounced pentecostalists and other evangelicals. For use with RNS-POPE-EVANGEL transmitted July 28, 2014. Creative Commons image by Catholic Church England and Wales
(RNS1-JULY 28) Pope Francis on July 28, 2014, asked forgiveness for Catholics who had persecuted and denounced pentecostalists and other evangelicals. For use with RNS-POPE-EVANGEL transmitted July 28, 2014. Creative Commons image by Catholic Church England and Wales

(RNS1-JULY 28) Pope Francis on July 28, 2014, asked forgiveness for Catholics who had persecuted and denounced pentecostalists and other evangelicals. For use with RNS-POPE-EVANGEL transmitted July 28, 2014. Creative Commons image by Catholic Church England and Wales

Pope Francis is sure to disappoint some people when he makes his hugely anticipated visit to the United States this week. That’s because so many are looking to him — for so many different things.

I have been following the American religious scene for almost three decades, and I cannot recall seeing anything like the media frenzy around the upcoming visit of the Roman Catholic pontiff.


I mean, really: he is on the cover of People magazine, looking jolly in a papal kind of way. What a happy smile he sports there!

An army of journalists is salivating, covering every detail worth mentioning and many not worth mentioning.

His visit is going to be be a huge political event in Washington. An estimated 15,000 have been invited to the intimate White House greeting ceremony Wednesday morning. (I was one of them, but due to teaching obligations I am sending my wife Jeanie, a loyal Catholic thrilled to have the opportunity to see the pope.) Meanwhile the politicians and pundits are staking out their ground in advance of whatever the pope has to say.

For a supposedly post-Christian, and for a long time anti-Catholic, country, we are going crazy for Pope Francis. What is everyone looking for when they look so hard at this pope? What do they see? What do they hope to see? Maybe these three things:

1) Culture wars victories

It is not hard to discern from media that culture warriors are hoping that Pope Francis will offer confirmation of their beliefs and a few slap downs of the other side. Progressives hope for some further papal blessing on their stances on climate change and economic injustice, and maybe a few happy surprises on other issues. Conservatives hope for some shout outs against abortion and same-sex marriage. This is true both for Washington politics and Catholic politics, both torn by culture wars divisions. This stuff gets so old. But it never goes away.

2) Catholic reformation

The Roman Catholic Church is an anomalous institution in the modern world. It is simultaneously the most visible link we have to ancient Rome, the spiritual home to a billion people, a religion ruled by an all-male priestly hierarchy, a tiny nation whose leader is a head of state, and the most visible centralized expression of Christianity in the world. All of this is dazzlingly exotic and interesting. Many are interested in what direction this pope is taking this church. Many are hoping he is leading some kind of internal Catholic reformation, whether spiritual, doctrinal, or organizational. Some are terrified that he might in fact be doing so.

3) A glimpse of holiness and of Jesus

As a minister, I learned a long time ago that people we encounter often hope that ordained clergy can offer them a glimpse of God and of holiness. That’s one reason why the moral failures of ministers hurt so much — because people hope for so much better from us. In our desperately superficial, ugly, and ungodly world, people still look for the good, the true, and the beautiful — maybe especially from ministers, if they haven’t already abandoned that hope.


Even if Pope Francis had shown himself to be a totally mediocre spiritual leader there would be people this week looking for holiness and godliness from him. It is the office as much as the man that draws such hopes, at least initially.

But in his brief tenure, this pope has indeed offered some evidences of something better. In the simplicity of his lifestyle, the concern he exhibits for the marginalized, and his teachings about a church that serves and loves, he offers some of us hopeful glimpses of holiness, and of the Jesus we meet in the Gospels.

What do we look for when we look at Pope Francis? Perhaps far too much. Perhaps the wrong things. But this hope for a glimpse of Jesus from the man who represents Him more than any other on the planet…I hope that’s not too much to ask. It’s the main thing I’ll be looking for, anyway.

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