A language event: My thoughts on Pope Francis

In his book What really Happened at Vatican II John W. O'Malley summarized the Second Vatican Council as a "language event"

O'Malley makes the point that what is said by the Church, and it's leaders, is as important as how it is said.  "The 'what' of speech and the 'how' of speech are inseparable."  The idea is that the attitude that the Church brings to its conversation with the world communicates a huge message.

At points in the history of the Catholic Church we have been hostile, withdrawn from, uncomfortable with, and excessively critical of the world that we live in.  The words and proclamations of the Church have, in the past, been filled with condemnations, criticisms, and condescension.

Again, O'Malley makes the point that the tone of the message at Vatican II was profoundly different.  For the first time in a very long time the Church changed Her way of speaking to the world.

Beautifully the documents of the Second Vatican Council were filled with words like, "brothers/sisters, friendship, cooperation, collaboration, partnership, freedom, dialogue,... servant, evolution,... dignity, holiness, conscience, collegiality,... liberty, equality, fraternity."

The bottom line is that the style of language that is used is, "really the ultimate expression of meaning.  The "what" of speech and the "how" of speech are inseparable."

One of the main points of his book is that there are

"Almost two different versions of Catholicism: from commands to invitations, from laws to ideas, from definition to mystery, from threats to persuasion, from coercion to conscience, from monologue to dialogue, from ruling to serving, from withdrawn to integrated, from vertical to horizontal, from exclusion to inclusion, from hostility to friendship, from rivalry to partnership, from suspicion to trust, from static to ongoing, from passive acceptance to active engagement, from fault-finding to appreciation, from prescription to principled, from behavior modification to inner appropriation."

Throughout much of our history we have been a Church of commands, laws, definitions, threats, coercion, rules, withdrawn, exclusion, hostility, suspicion, static, and fault-finding.  At the Second Vatican Council there was this shift to invitation, ideas, mystery, persuasion, conscience, dialogue, serving, inclusion, friendship, partnership, trust, active engagement, principles, and inner conversion.

One of the realities of the time after the Council is that this shift hadn't fully sank in.  The world continued to change and often we, as a Church, reverted to the pre-Vatican II model of relating to the world.  I don't think that many in the Church would see it this way but I know that many on the fringes of the Church or outside of the Church certainly see it this way.

There is an old latin phrase, "Lex Orandi Lex Credendi Lex Vivendi."  Translated loosely it means, how we pray effects how we believe and how we live.  Please notice, that in recent memory there has been a resurgence of the old latin mass, in the Church.  This was that mass that the Second Vatican Council revised because with a new attitude toward the world we needed a new way to pray.  Much of the symbolism and rites of the old latin mass did express the old attitudes of the pre-Vatican II Church.  The Novus Ordo (the mass after Vatican II) expresses the shift in attitude that the Council had toward the world.  As we have gotten away from the inclusive and open attitude of the Council it makes sense that many have gravitated back toward the mass that predates it.  In this case how we lived and believed began to be express in the old latin mass.  I don't think that this is a good thing at all.

How we pray really does effect what we believe and how we live.  So to see a growing affection for an old form of the mass (that was all-but the opposite of inclusion, participation, active engagement, and inner conversion) seems to show that the shift in attitude of Vatican II has begun to slip back toward the old attitude of hostility, exclusion, and suspicion.  The Church was slowly forgetting the attitude of openness, welcoming, service, inclusion, and friendship that Vatican II had offered the world.

Now we can fast forward to Pope Francis and his recent interviews.  I've listened to a number of commentators speak about what they think the Pope is saying.

I'm of the opinion that his message is profoundly orthodox and Gospel based.  In a fresh way he is getting to the heart of the Gospel and readopting the attitude of the Second Vatican Council.

Jesus was often criticized by those who thought that they were holy and righteous.

The Pharisees saw this and said to [Jesus'] disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need a physical, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words 'I desire mercy, not sacrifices.  I did not come to call the righteous but sinners"(Mt 9:11-13)

It seems to me that Pope Francis has learned the meaning of those words, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice."  Mercy and compassion to sinners, non-believer, homosexuals, the poor as well as others is what he is offering.

This is exactly what Jesus called for.  During Jesus' time "sacrifice" was an obligation of the law.  It was a functional, legal, and  non-personal payment for sin that was allowed only to those who were pure, mainstream, or "holy" people.  The outcast, aliens, and sinners were not allowed because they were ritually impure.  Sacrifice, at Jesus' time, had become an act of self-righteousness for many.

For Jesus to eat and relate to sinners was unacceptable to those who considered themselves to be righteous.  For Pope Francis to speak with and relate to atheists, homosexuals, sinners, the poor, and the outcasts of society is also looked down upon as unacceptable, by some.  It seems, to me, that Pope Francis has learned the meaning of Jesus' words, "It is mercy that I desire, not sacrifice"

All of this is most profoundly expressed in his tone, language, and audience.  Pope Francis has become, in his own way, a new "language event" just as the Second Vatican Council was.

Pope Francis hasn't said anything new nor groundbreaking but how he speaks and to whom he speaks is the ultimate expression of meaning.  Pope Francis has adopted the merciful attitude of Jesus, the faith of a true son of the Church, and the inviting language of the Second Vatican Council and created a refreshing phenomena in the Church today.  And people are paying attention!