Paul and Francis: Two complementary popes

A lot, probably too much, certainly more than he would have liked, is being said and written in the wake of Pope Francis' death. Let's not forget when asked in an interview by Fr Spadaro at the start of his pontificate who he was, Pope Francis started by saying simply, "I am a sinner." Because he was not perfect, his papacy was not perfect. No papacy is perfect because no pope is perfect. A Vicar, after all, is a stand in.

I think Pope Francis served longer than he expected to and longer than those who selected him expected him to serve. He became pope when he was past retirement age for a bishop. A huge life change at a time of life when he was probably thinking about retirement.

I had an impromptu meeting this morning with my bishop. Towards the end, we were talking about Pope Francis' legacy. I told him that one aspect of the Franciscan papacy that seems to me overlooked is his revitalization, even rehabilitation, of the amazing papal magisterium of Pope Saint Paul VI.

While this is beside the point, for those who know Latin, Pope Paul was likely the last of the great Latin stylists. His Latin is beautiful, poetic, moving.

I still think it significant that Pope Francis was the first pope to be ordained a priest after Vatican II. I imagine as a young priest, Paul VI made a deep impression on him. Pope Francis made no secret of his deep immersion in Paul VI's teaching and his admiration for his predecessor.

For example, Evangelii Gaudium, the charter for Francis' pontificate, took Paul's Evangelii Nuntiandi as its starting point. It's clear that Francis deeply appropriated Paul's encyclical Populorum progresso. I won't go on other than to say it took great courage on the part of Papa Montini to begin the post-conciliar reforms. He suffered as a result. This did not seem lost on Francis.

I even think the way Pope Francis spoke about Humanae Vitae was very much in harmony with Pope Paul's pastoral approach to this delicate matter. An excellent piece over on the outstanding Where Peter Is by Pedro Gabriel is worth reading: "Pope Francis, disciple of Humanae Vitae." Though, in honesty, I can't imagine the mild-mannered Montini using the phrase "breed like rabbits."

Finally, it was Pope Francis who, on 14 October 2018, canonized Pope Paul VI. There is good reason to believe that Pope Francis was ready to canonize Paul as early as 2015. He was prepared to do this using the canonical procedure he invoked to make Pope John XXIII a saint: "equipollent canonization." In the main, this by-passed the need for a second verified miracle attributable to Montini's intercession. But then, a miracle occurred. Verification of it took a few years.

Anyway, I thought that was something worth putting out there. Better than celebrities who met the Pope sharing their experiences. Poor Francis, what would he think? The media is a factory of "content." Egads. We still have the novendiales to get through. The Masses, great! The commentary? Ugh: circus ecclesiasticus.

Because I am in a wistful mood today, despite having way too much to do, our traditio is Palestrina's Tu Es Petrus: