Pope Francis: a leader for believers and atheists alike

Somewhere in Rome, my name is on a list
of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. I'd
like to think it's done with ink quills on
parchment by a scrivener, but it's
probably kept on an Excel sheet. Baptized
in the Roman Catholic church, I'm still
counted among its members, though I
left the flock decades ago. Once you're
in, il capo says you're in for life.
So the pope inflates the number of his
followers. But that doesn't diminish his
position as the most powerful man on
Earth. He can't press a button and launch
a nuke, but with unfettered authority to
speak to and for a global audience that
influences politics in dozens of countries,
the Fisherman's Ring is the one ring of
power. If anyone has a bully pulpit, surely
it's him.
I've often been frustrated to see such
power squandered on paeans to peace
(has shaming a dictator ever worked?),
sermons that coddle when they should
challenge, and cover-ups of repugnant
acts. Time and again we see that power
corrupts, and when the perpetrators are
acolytes of Christ, it's a disgrace in the
truest sense of the word.
I'd never felt that I'd missed out by
being an atheist, but one thing I could
use is an occasional nudge away from
narcissism. It's easy to lapse into self-
absorption when convinced there's no
master plan or purpose for life, let alone
afterlife.
And I've certainly enjoyed the ride; I
direct all my efforts at making the world a
better place – for myself. I don't give
enough to charity or volunteer as much as
I could, and my sense of duty rarely
extends beyond my social circle. Someone
with sufficient moral stature could push
those buttons, switch on the dusty
machinery of my Catholic guilt, and
improve my behavior and thus better the
lives of others. That someone might be
the new pope.
Pope Francis has been impressive from
the start. The white smoke had barely
cleared before he began to signal his
priorities. He mingled with the crowd in
St Peter's instead of lording over them
from above, and he rejected the opulent
house . He washed the feet of women and
prisoners on Holy Thursday. He opened
an inquiry into the abuse scandal that he
says won't flinch, and he even had a kind
word for atheists, calling us allies to
"defend the dignity of man", fellow
seekers of truth, goodness and beauty.
Amen.
This pope is a rebel with a cause: to
alleviate the suffering of the other 1%,
those at the lowest rung of society. It's a
mission somehow radical and
conservative at the same time. Giving the
poor a better lot in life, a foundational
principle of Christian faiths, has been
drowned out by the din of the culture
wars. It brings to mind that quote
attributed to Gandhi:
"I like your Christ; I do not like
your Christians. Your Christians
are so unlike your Christ."
With a reformist pope, things are
changing and already, the humbuggery
about "family values" has given way to a
real issue. Francis is focusing on poverty,
which, like death and taxes, is a scourge
that will always be with us. But when
more people worldwide have cell phones
than toilets
– leaving 2.5 billion people without
sanitation – and we who consider iPhones
a vital bodily organ can only give a callous,
"Eh, whaddaya gonna do?" – it's a sign
we've lost our moral compass. We should
be ashamed, doubly so: of the terrible
fact and of our resignation to it. By being
complacent, we're being complicit, and
Pope Francis knows this.
Consider a recent kerfuffle over a statue
of a homeless Jesus , which was rejected
by the dioceses of New York and Toronto.
The sculpture is of a hooded figure asleep
on a park bench, his identity only
revealed by the stigmata on his bare feet.
Maybe the cardinals considered it too
uncomfortable a reminder of their own
languishing homeless – which I imagine
was exactly the point. Francis should put
that thing in St Peter's Square.
Francis should be less preoccupied with
ancient texts and more concerned with
improving the present, especially for the
world's marginalized peoples. I want a
pope who gets things done, when no one
else can, for people no one else helps. I
want Pope Batman. "Let us never forget
that authentic power is service," Francis
said in his inaugural mass, urging action
for "the poorest, the weakest, the least
important".
How refreshing. Too often, religious
devotion is measured by obedience to
doctrine – is foregoing a burger during
Lent really a sacrifice? – when it should be
about outcomes. Bertrand Russell put it
well:
"The whole conception of 'sin' is
one which I find very puzzling,
doubtless owing to my sinful
nature. If sin consisted in
causing needless suffering, I
could understand; but on the
contrary, 'sin' often consists in
avoiding needless suffering."
Euthanasia for the terminally ill,
contraception, premarital sex, divorce,
abortion, same-sex marriage – all could
alleviate suffering, create happiness, or
both. All sins, according to the Vatican.
It might be unrealistic to expect Francis
to change any official policies, but it's
tempting to ponder. The last pope was in
the Hitler Youth as a kid; the current one
had a girlfriend. That bodes a bit better
for the future of a more tolerant, modern
Vatican. On a topic like gay marriage,
Francis could silence legions who cloak
their bigotry in church-going finery. True
believers evolve when they see their
leaders have the courage to do it first.
Richard Nixon opened communist China
to the West. Bill Clinton reformed
welfare. Bob Dylan "went electric",
shocking his fringe-jacketed disciples. Plug
in, Francis! Your Newport Folk Festival
moment awaits.
I still feel that dogmatic faith
anaesthetizes the intellectual curiosity
that makes us human, and that it retards
progress on both personal and societal
levels. I'll never bow down in fealty to a
book or a statue or a pope, even this one.
But if Francis continues to lead by
example, not by fiat, he can show
Catholics, Christians and non-believers
alike that faith can deserve respect and
even make a difference. If not, he'll blow
his chance to speak with such conviction
that even heathen might hear him. And
that would truly be a sin.