Pope Schmope? NOPE!

Jess: You may have deduced by now (good grief, I hope) that neither Wes nor I is Roman Catholic. Therefore, it might seem silly for us to be talking about the new Pope. Yet here we are. 

As a Protestant, the Pope usually doesn't really come into my realm of thinking. But there is something to be said about what the Pope stands for beyond Roman Catholicism. The Pope, for all intents and purposes, is the face of Christianity to much of the world. There are many people who do not understand the various denominations and strands of Christian thought. What they know is that the guy in the funny hat is the leader of the Christians. So what Pope Francis I says and does speaks volumes about the rest of us, at least as far as much of the world is concerned. 

I for one am excited to see where the Pope will take the Roman Catholic church over the next months and years. There are many issues surrounding this denomination, as with the rest of the Christian church. There are scandals, issues of modernity, the fact that a pope emeritus exists for the first time in 600 years, and much more with which Pope Francis will have to struggle. And the whole world will be watching him, many assuming that he IS Christianity.

I am also fascinated by the fact that Pope Francis is the first of many things. He is the first Jesuit, which is definitely an interesting piece of Roman Catholicism. He is the first non-European pope since back in the day when many came from Africa. He is the first Latin American pope, and the first to have the name Francis. I am most interested to see how his Argentinian roots affect his papacy. Latin America is a very different place from the United States or Europe, and I would hope that this would have a profound affect on Pope Francis' concerns--especially for the poor of the world. The fact that he chose the name Francis, after Francis of Assisi, who had great concern for the poor, bodes well. Since caring for the poor is a great part of being Christian, I believe this should be a concern of all Christians, especially our leaders. I was interested to find out that, as a cardinal, he did not live in the special residence usually reserved for men of that status. 

This is definitely a new point in Roman Catholic church, as well as throughout all of Christianity. I am interested to see what happens with Pope Francis leading the world's Roman Catholics, and I pray for his ministry, as well as all of our brothers and sisters throughout the world.

Wes: When I was growing up, my dad called the bishop of our conference the Pope-on-a-Rope. Although this was never a funny-ha-ha kind of joke, it always brought a smile to my face. It also in some way helped ingrain the importance of church leaders into my young mind. Even though I am United Methodist, we, like our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, have our own church leaders. None of them are as elevated by the denomination as the pope is, but we do have them, and they play an important role.

You see, the church is larger than just my local congregation.

Having ecclesial leaders in positions over more than just the individual congregation was one way that I first began to realize this and wrap my mind around the interconnectedness (I thought I was making up a word there, but I was wrong) of God’s church.

Ok. So we have our bishops and they have bishops, cardinals, and a pope. Why should I care about who they put in what positions? Honestly, it’s a fair question, especially in our day and age when—as globally connected as we are—much of the world is compartmentalized and cordoned off from everyone else based on status or membership in different organizations. Why should I as a United Methodist pastor give any attention whatsoever to who is the pope? Well, Jess makes a great point: the pope is the Christianity for much of the world, so we should care who wears the hat. But there’s another reason we should care as well. Whether I am United Methodist (hey, I am) or Lutheran or Southern Baptist or Roman Catholic or a part of any other Christian denomination, I am a Christian. The Body of Christ is far-reaching enough so as to encompass people of faith of myriad denominations as long as those people proclaim the Gospel and place their faith in Jesus as the Christ.

You see, the church is larger than just my specific denomination.

The church includes my current congregations of Crosswicks UMC and Ellisdale UMC. It includes my home congregation of University UMC. It includes Jessica’s current congregation of St. Bartholomew’s Lutheran Church as well as her home congregation of Rejoice Lutheran Church. It includes the congregations of the AME, American Baptist, and LCMS churches that are all about a mile from our house. And it includes the Roman Catholic Church—which, by the way, was a Christian movement LONG before the Methodists and Lutherans were ever on the scene.

We should care about the new pope—as we should have cared about the previous one—because he is a leader of the church, just like Jessica and myself (although on a much grander scale). We should care because God works through the Body of Christ to bring about the Kingdom of God, and this will absolutely include God working through our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters and their new leader in faith. We should all be anxiously waiting to see what great things come out of this office in the coming months and years, and we should join our sister denomination in celebrating God’s continuing work in their midst.

On a much different note, I feel obligated to tell you that, to my disappointment, I learned from Jessica that Argentinians do not eat Mexican food. Contrary to popular belief (or just North American belief—which included me for a long time), not everyone south of the U.S. border enjoys chips and salsa and tacos. If you, like me, were hoping that this new pope would mean more Mexican food restaurants popping up all over the world, you’ll probably be sorely disappointed…

Well, that’s it for now! Be well, our friends, and you stay classy, World Wide Web!

-jess and wes