A medal with an illustrious past

This week I was in Windsor, Ontario, the guest of Assumption University, which awarded me the Faith and Culture Gold Medal for 2013. Father Tom Rosica, founder and head of the Salt + Light Television network, presented the medal and introduced a lecture I gave on the Vatican and modern communication.

The first thing to say is that the more I learned about this award and its past recipients, the more I was humbled by joining their company. Established in 1941 to highlight the accomplishments of lay Christians, the medal has been conferred on Jacques Maritain, Dorothy Day, Marshal McLuhan, Barbara Ward, Jean Vanier, Henry Ford II and Malcolm Muggeridge, among many others.

In the “it’s a small world” department, I also learned that over the years the medal was designed and executed by a series of five artists, including, in the 1940s, Carlos Cotton, who lived a stone’s throw from my wife’s childhood home in Collegeville, Minnesota.

The medal depicts a hand and a mustard plant, symbolizing human cooperation expected by God for the coming of the Kingdom. (The parable of the mustard seed from the Gospel of Matthew: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’”)

The event in Windsor drew a huge crowd, perhaps reflecting the widespread interest in all things Vatican with the election of the new pope. In my talk, I outlined why I think the Vatican is at a communications crossroads today, and why I see hopeful signs that the pontificate of Pope Francis could nudge it toward greater transparency and effectiveness.

In my book, “The Vatican Diaries,” I delve into the backstage story behind several of the Vatican’s communications miscues and missteps in recent years. One of the underlying causes has been the Vatican’s proprietary approach to information – it still believes, for example, that low-level officials of the Secretariat of State can take off-the-cuff comments by a pope and “tweak” (i.e., rewrite) them for the official record.

As a Vatican official once told me: “There is no ‘official’ text until it appears in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.” That’s the Vatican’s version of the Congressional Record, and it often comes out months or even years after the fact – so much for news cycles.

With Pope Francis at the helm, I see a new attitude from the top – communication that is simpler, more direct and less officious – and I’m hopeful it will carry over into all the Roman Curia offices.

For years, Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, has been fighting for more transparency in communications, winning some battles and losing others. During the recent papal resignation and conclave, he asked Father Rosica to join him in Rome to help deal with the 5,000 journalists who descended on the Vatican. They made an impressive team.

‘We live in a world … where money worship reigns’

According to an Italian bishop, Pope Francis intends to issue an encyclical on poverty and social justice, titled “Beati Pauperes” (“Blessed Are the Poor.”)

The theme is certainly on the new pope’s mind. From today’s papal talk to the Pontifical Council for Migrants:

“In a world where there is so much talk about rights, it seems that the only thing that has rights is money. Dear brothers and sisters, we live in a world where money commands. We live in a world, in a culture, where money worship reigns.”

Bishop Luigi Martella of Molfetta wrote on his website about his recent meeting with Pope Francis, in which the pope spoke about concluding an encyclical begun by his predecessor and issuing one of his own:

“At the end, he wanted to share a secret, almost a revelation: Benedict XVI is finishing writing the encyclical on faith that will be signed by Pope Francis. Afterward, the pope himself intends to prepare his first encyclical, on the theme of the poor: Beati pauperes! Poverty, the pope explained, not understood in an ideological or political sense, but in an evangelical sense.”

Speaking to diplomats in March, Pope Francis said that fighting poverty, “both material and spiritual,” was a key challenge for the international community.

Bishop Martella said Pope Francis also told him that while he was concerned about Pope Benedict’s physical health when the two men met at Castel Gandolfo in March, “today he is doing much better.”

UPDATE: The Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, later said it was not true that Pope Benedict is still working on his unfinished encyclical on faith — apparently the spokesman did not want to leave the impression of a tag-team document in the works, or of an ex-pope still working as a pope. It looks like Francis will simply complete what Benedict started.

‘The Lord has redeemed all of us … even the atheists’

One of the hallmarks of Pope Francis’ still-young pontificate is its emphasis on non-exclusivity. He seems convinced that the church, in what it says and does to promote the Gospel, must broaden its appeal and expand its dialogue with others.

At this morning’s morning Mass in the Vatican guest house, the pope elaborated on that theme, saying that “doing good” is a principle that provides a meeting ground between Christians and non-Christians – even atheists.

“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class!” the pope said.

His words should challenge all Catholics, but especially those who want to use identity politics to rule out cooperation and communication with those who do not share the church’s beliefs.

Pope Francis began his reflection with the Gospel account of Christ’s disciples trying to stop a man from outside their group from doing good. Vatican Radio reports on what the pope went on to say:

“They complain … ‘If he is not one of us, he cannot do good. If he is not of our party, he cannot do good.’ And Jesus corrects them: ‘Do not hinder him, he says, let him do good.’”

The disciples, Pope Francis explained, “were a little intolerant,” closed off by the idea of possessing the truth, convinced that “those who do not have the truth, cannot do good.”

“This was wrong . . . Jesus broadens the horizon. The root of this possibility of doing good – that we all have – is in creation.”

“The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this person is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can. He must. Not can: must! Because he has this commandment within him.”

“Instead, this ‘closing off’ that imagines that those outside, everyone, cannot do good is a wall that leads to war and also to what some people throughout history have conceived of: killing in the name of God. That we can kill in the name of God. And that, simply, is blasphemy. To say that you can kill in the name of God is blasphemy.”

“The Lord has created us in His image and likeness, and has given us this commandment in the depths of our heart: do good and do not do evil”:

“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”

“Doing good” the pope said, is not a matter of faith. “It is a duty, it is an identity card that our Father has given to all of us, because He has made us in His image and likeness. And He does good, always.”