Our Joyful, Welcoming Pope

Pope Francis' Spiritual Teachings
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​I am, or am trying to be, a Pope Francis Christian. I want to be the kind of Christian who is at home welcoming, indeed washing the feet, of others. Where to get started? 

Mary Ann and Frederic Brussat have written a thoughtful review of Pope Francis — A Man of His Word, a documentary directed by Wim Wenders. In their review, reposted from Spirituality and Practice, they highlight the film’s quiet power and deep reverence for Pope Francis’s moral vision. The documentary follows Francis as he speaks directly to the camera—and to us—about compassion, justice, humility, and care for the Earth. The Brussats describe it as a moving portrait of a spiritual leader who walks the talk, offering hope in a time of widespread cynicism. The Brussat's list eighteen spiritual teachings of Pope Francis which I repeat here, followed by a prayer. Thank you to the Brussats and thank you to Pope Francis.

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Pope Francis' Spiritual Teachings

​Mary Ann and Frederic Brussat

1. Practice Simplicity

Early in the documentary, a young girl asks Pope Francis about his decision to live in a two-bedroom apartment rather than the affluent accommodations of the Apostolic Palace. He clearly has a penchant for simplicity, which appeals to the children in the audience.

2. Become a Little Bit Poorer

Saint Francis emphasized poverty as a way of life for himself and his monks. Many Catholic theologians have taught about God's preference for the poor. Pope Francis notes that around 80% of the world's riches are in the hands of less than 20% of the world's seven billion people. He considers this an outrage. He suggests: "We must all consider if we can't become a little poorer. This is something we can all do."

3. Do Not Put Your Hope in Wealth

Pope Francis parts company with those Christians who believe that prosperity is the reward for faith in God. "No one can serve two masters," he says. "We either serve God or we serve money." His views also are very different from many of his predecessors who would be appalled at his view that "As long as the church places its hope on wealth, Jesus is not there." Later, speaking to grassroots organizers, he declares, "We want change in our lives, in our neighborhoods, in our paychecks, in our everyday reality. We say NO! to an economy of exclusion and inequality where money rules instead of serving."

4. Be Aware that Lack of Work Robs Us of Dignity

Speaking to a working class audience in Brazil, Pope Francis holds up work as a noble thing that enables us to imitate God with our hands by creating. When this is taken away from us, it is an assault on our humanity and "the tragedy of our time."

5. Protect the Planet

Pope Francis states: "If you ask me who is the poorest of the poorest of the poor, I would say Mother Earth. We have plundered her. We have abused her." His encyclical on the environment, Ladato Si, laid out the need for and ways to care for the Earth. Giving all of our energy, allegiance and money to progress, productivity, and profits of corporations is a wayward and destructive path. At the United Nations, the Pope laments the growing "culture of waste." Far better is "to live in harmony with the entire creation."

6. Let the Seed of Francis of Assisi Grow in Your Heart

Pope Francis praises his namesake for "a revitalization of the figure of Christ in a completely radical, absolute way" — his love and care for the poor and the sick, his patience with human frailty, his ability to transform others. He calls Francis of Assisi as "an apostle of the ear" who taught others to listen intently to others and then to turn the conversation to dialogue.

7. Wash the Feet of Others

Some of the most moving moments in the documentary involve Pope Francis engaged in the foot-washing ritual. He does this at a migrant detention center in Naples and at a correctional facility in Philadelphia. He tells the prisoners, "Your weariness and your wounds are also the wounds of an entire society." He displays, as Jesus did, his reverence for human beings expressed in both mercy and tenderness.

8. Slow Down and Honor the Sabbath

By putting our vulnerable minds, bodies and souls in sync with the acceleration of modern life, we have too little time for the silence, solace, and beauty of the Sabbath. "We are not machines," says Pope Francis.
One day a week, rest."

9. Make Peace in the Family

Pope Francis speaks often in the film about the importance of family love. Love is the force that heals, repairs, and redeems in the home. Never let the day end without making peace.

10. Respect Women

Pope Francis acknowledges that women have a different way of looking at things than men, and it is "extraordinarily rich!" He wants to see more reciprocity between men and women. "We have to integrate women because a world without the leadership, advice, and vision of women cannot advance."

11. Keep Building Bridges

Pope Francis is upset with the growth of gated communities where people live apart from others, thinking themselves superior. We must build bridges and respect differences as challenges which draw out the best in us. Asked about gays in the church, he says that if someone is seeking God and has good will, who is he to judge him: "We must be brothers to each other."

12. If We Want Security, Let Us Give Security

Speaking before the U.S. Congress about the refugee crisis, Pope Francis urges people to see the thousands trying to find a better life as persons and to listen to their stories. He tells the assembled politicians to remember the Golden Rule and "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. "If we want life, let us give life. If we want opportunities, let us provide these opportunities."

13. Stop the Arms Trade

In his speech to Congress the Pope also questions why deadly weapons are sold to people who plan to inflict suffering on others. A true peacemaker, he calls for an end to the arms trade which makes "money drenched in blood."

14. Accept Muslims as Your Brothers and Sisters

In one of the black-and-white sequences, we learn how Saint Francis traveled to Egypt during the Crusades to dialogue with the Sultan. In visits to Ground Zero and the Holy Land, Pope Francis continues this mission. "There are people who say that the God of Muslims is not the same as ours. We are children of Abraham! Nobody can deny that! Therefore we are brothers, if we like it or not. We are brothers!"

15. See with Your Heart

God sees with his heart, not his eyes, and we are called to do the same. "God's love," says the Pope, "is the same for each and every person. No matter what your religion, even for an atheist, it's the same love."

16. Build a Future without Excluding

Pope Francis challenges us to overcome "the culture of waste" where we throw away not only junk but the poor, the sick, the lost, and the lonely. He calls for "education in fraternity towards a real solidarity."

17. Be Tender

Pope Francis is sure that if we try a little tenderness every day, the world will slowly become as one. "Tenderness is not weakness. It is strength! Tenderness makes us use our eyes to see the other, our ears to hear the other, to listen to the cries of the children, the poor, those who are afraid of the future. To also listen to the silent cry of our common home, our sick and polluted Earth." This is something we can all do together.

18. Have Hope, Express Beauty, Smile, and Have a Sense of Humor
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In the final close-up interview, Pope Francis summarizes what he believes will help us move into the future, despite the fears, dreads, and disappointments all around us. With a twinkle in his eyes, he admits that every day after his morning prayers, he recites Saint Thomas More's "Prayer for Good Humor." Here's how it goes:
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"Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest.
Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it.
Grant me a simple soul that knows to treasure all that is good
and that doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil,
but rather finds the means to put things back in their place.
Give me a soul that knows not boredom, grumblings, sighs and laments,
nor excess of stress, because of that obstructing thing called “I.”
Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor.
Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke to discover in life a bit of joy,
and to be able to share it with others."

A More Genuine Christianity
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Gratitude to Pope Francis

Like many others, I’m deeply grateful to Pope Francis for showing me what a genuine Christianity can look like: respect for immigrants, refugees, and all who are marginalized; care for the Earth; a willingness to listen—even to those who disagree with me; respect for people of all faiths and none; a vision of politics rooted in compassion rather than power; a rejection of an economy where greed rules and money is the measure of all things; an affirmation of simple living, free from materialism and self-glorification—and so much more.

It’s true—even as I am, or want to be, a Pope Francis Christian, I’m also a United Methodist Christian and a process theologian. But being a Pope Francis Christian is more important to me than either of those identities. He represents, more than anyone else I know, what it really means to follow Jesus. And at the end of the day, that’s what I want: to follow Jesus.

I know there are many people in the world who also want to follow Jesus—Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and otherwise. Some don’t identify as Christian; they are Muslim or Jewish or Hindu or Buddhist. And some do not identify with any religion at all. Still, in their humility, simplicity, and compassion, they share in the journey of Jesus without ever using his name.

I think Jesus would understand that. And so would Pope Francis. They both knew that the inner spirit—and the way of living that flows from it—is what truly matters. Yes, it helps deeply to be part of a community that nourishes that spirit. That’s why church can be so important. But it is the inner spirit and the way of living that is to be nourished, and Pope Francis symbolized that for me and for many others.

My professor, John Cobb, was also a Pope Francis Christian. He was particularly moved by Laudato Si', Pope Francis’s encyclical on care for our common home. It spoke deeply to John’s ecological commitments and his conviction that faith must be lived in solidarity with the Earth and all its creatures. In many ways, Laudato Si' bridged Catholic and process thought—both calling us to a life of relational responsibility, humility, and hope.

I write this on the day Pope Francis died. He is now in heaven. But his inspiration lives on. I will always be, or try to be, a Pope Francis Christian. 

​- Jay McDaniel