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The world's greatest advocate of the poor dare not renounce his or his Church's own wealth and power
By Robert Mickens | Vatican City
"How I would like a poor Church, for the poor!"
Who could forget when Pope Francis made this astonishing exclamation back in March 2013, just three days after his election to the papacy?
And there is no doubt that, during these past eight-and-a-half years, the pope who chose to name himself after the Poverello -- the Poor Man of Assisi -- has done more than any of his modern-day predecessors on the Chair of Peter to advocate for the dignity, rights and needs of the world's poor and to give them a voice in the Church.
He has done this in exemplary fashion through his words and, more importantly, by his deeds.
Just this Friday the pope was in St. Francis' famous hometown in Umbria to usher in the Fifth World Day of the Poor, an annual commemoration he established for the worldwide Church in 2016 at the end of the Year of Mercy.
Catholics around the globe now celebrate the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time as the day of remembering the poor.
It is an important initiative that still needs to fully take root in our worshiping communities and apostolates.
Preferential option for the poor
That was back in 1968 before Francis was even ordained to the presbyterate. And while the Church at large, including the Vatican, has embraced this as a slogan, the current pope takes a backseat to none in actually putting it into practice.
That has been a hallmark of his entire ministry as priest and bishop, including as Bishop of Rome.
But what about his longing for a poor Church, an institution and faith community that also becomes poor?
So far, this stated desire has only been little more than a catchphrase. Francis has done nothing to make it an actual reality.
And most Catholics would probably revolt if he tried.
The scriptures use the Hebrew word anawim to describe the poor, the meek and the downtrodden.
"The anawim are the underdogs, the people who lack social, political and economic power, the people who are not in the position to control their own circumstances, who cannot pull strings," notes the English Dominican scholar Simon Tugwell (The Beatitudes, London 1980).
These are hardly features of the papacy, the Vatican or the Roman Catholic Church at large.
The Church -- at various levels and in all these components -- has influence. It has access. It has power. This is an essential element of its worldly wealth.
Poor people and poor faith communities do not.
What would a "poor Church" even look like?
A Church that lacks social power
Social power is "the ability to set standards, create norms and values that are deemed legitimate and desirable, without resorting to coercion or payment", according to the Dutch political scientist Peter van Ham (Social Power in International Politics, New York 2010).
But the Holy See has used coercion (the threat of eternal punishment) and payment (the various Vatican Bank scandals known and unknown) to further its social power.
One could argue -- as the Gospels actually do! -- that the Church would, in fact, increase its social power in a much more credible and honest way if it were to freely renounce it.
As the Prayer of St. Francis says, summarizing one of the great paradoxes of Christianity (and all true religion), "it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life".
The rich young man in the Gospel goes away saddened and deeply troubled when Jesus tells him that before he can become a disciple he must sell all he has and give it to the poor.
Jesus admits that is a hard teaching and that few can accept it. That's probably why Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa of Calcutta are among those few who did so most credibly.
The Vatican (and the institutional Church at large), on the other hand, has not even tried.
Instead, it has found it too easy and greatly beneficial to rely on the power it has consolidated over the centuries.
A Church that lacks political power
The Holy See has shown no interest at all in giving up its access to the world's great powers.
Even Pope Francis would argue that being able to hang out with the movers and shakers offers the Church a magnificent opportunity to advocate for those, like the poor, who are shut out from such power.
That may be true, but it is not following in the footsteps of Jesus, who tells us that the first will be last. However, we don't really believe that.
The Good News is too challenging in this regard, even for a pope who tries to embrace and convey the Gospel sine glossa.
In a Church bereft of political power, there would be no Holy See -- at least not one that has its current sui generis status as a non-State (technically) international legal person.
A politically poor Church would not have papal embassies in all the world's major capitals and international organizations, such as the United Nations. And, likewise, no country in the world would send an ambassador to an NGO, which is what the Holy See would become.
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini SJ once noted that the Vatican's diplomatic apparatus had become "bloated" and was "taking up too much of the Church's energy".
"The Church's task is witness to the Word of God," he said in a 2009 interview with the Rome-daily La Repubblica. "Everything else is secondary."
A Church lacking in economic power
Judging by what he's said and done up to now, Pope Francis would probably be pleased if he could help the Church -- especially the Vatican -- wean itself from its thirst for economic power, even a desire to just be comfortable economically.
He's the one who repeated numerous times during his first year in office that St. Peter never had a bank account.
And the pope would probably close down the Vatican Bank (Institute for the Works of Religion-IOR) if he could do so without sacrificing his own life and the even-greater reforms he's trying to bring about in the Church.
The territorial sovereignty that Vatican City State currently enjoys, which is an essential component to protecting the papacy's economic power, would also be on the chopping block.
And what to say about the Holy See's massive real estate portfolio, extensive stock and business investments, and the extensive art collection? Not exactly something one associates with being poor.
Simplicity is not the same as being poor
Francis has inspired many people, and infuriated many others, by opting to live in such a simple manner that almost mocks the more regal lifestyles and accommodations of his modern-day predecessors.
But his way of life is not poor. It is marked by simplicity, which is not a bad thing at all. In fact, it is quite admirable.
Still, the pope has an institutional power that he dare not relinquish. Such power is denied the poor, and presumably it would be denied a poor Church.
Many very good and saintly spiritual leaders -- including our current pope -- preach that Christians must let go, that they must not grasp. But like most of us, they are also afraid to let go.
It does not matter. Because at some point, and probably not of its own volition, the Church will likely see its social, political and economic power slip away. In fact, this has already begun to happen.
Whatever Pope Francis decides to do, this is bottom line: until the Roman Church finally relinquishes -- or is stripped of -- what remains of its access to wealth and power, it will not a be a poor Church.
It will not be a prophetic Church. It will not be an evangelical Church.
And, in the end, it will not be a credible Church.
Follow me on Twitter @robinrome
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