A bit on Popes, Francis especially

It is pleasant and right I think to have a blog to God and such as are thoughts in his direction, given that one finds oneself to be in the nature of a "practicing" Christian, and are running other blogs, publishing online, etc. It is right in that one can write to this purpose unencumbered by audience or expectations. It is right, insofar as divulging oneself is right. I see no point in imagining otherwise.

These are heady times, with an outwardly non-conformist, anti-corporate Pope. It is mildly amusing to hear people wonder at the importance of the Pope. The clearest commentary I can give on this point is to suggest that one turn to the title pages of any Catholic Bible, where among this and that you will see a list of the Popes. The first Pope is a gentleman named Peter. That's Simon Peter, the fisherman, the first chosen disciple, the leader of the disciples, martyred in Rome. Hold in mind the Catholic's resolute belief in the practice of the laying on of hands to confer the Holy Spirit, and you have the succession of Popes until the present day. So, we take the Pope only as seriously as we take our Lord's instructions to Peter, that he lead his (the Lord's) flock. Guess how seriously we take that point of instruction. If you guessed, "very," you are right.

So, we Cathlics move with the Pope, we listen and love and pray and heed the Pope. Now, some of us (like me) are quite sure that we are free to disagree with the Pope. After all, the Pope may be chosen, but he is not the Lord. He is a human being, like myself, and he is not entirely free of human influence, in all its varied forms, like myself. So, when the Pope says something we consider contrary to our life in the spirit, we are not - or should not - be afraid to express it.

But  this posting is not a set-up to disagree with Pope Francis. Since the day of his election, I have held strong feelings that he might be special. Very special. It is not for me to say what that could mean, except to say that I hope it is so, for all our sakes.