Pope Francisco and South American bloodfests

Many loved Benedict. I'm afraid I was biased from the outset as Cardinal Ratzinger refused to acknowledge the spiritual genius of Anthony de Mello. Anyone who could not discern a true Christian should be viewed with deep suspicion. I am ignorant of the great encylicals he may have penned or of the wonderful speeches he made that so entranced the local clergy but the one thing I found abominable was that at great expense, loss of valuable time and resources, a new Catholic order of the mass was issued around the world. The purpose? I've no idea. But the inclusion of the word 'consubstantial' was hardly a move toward moving the liturgy of the word closer to the populace. In addition the lovely rite of greeting others around you with "peace be with you" was transmogrified (how do you like that?) into "peace be with your spirit". WTF?

Heresy surely as the body and mind are an intrinsic part of us? That's what separated Catholics from some of the followers of Abraham and Ishmael; that body and soul were one and as such redeemed wholly when resurrected; the complete package of me and all my bits that go into making me who I uniquely am, all shiny and new and sparkly (hopefully with new knees). So what's with the only blessing the spirit as though the body's unclean? News, hello? Of course it's unclean- that's the whole point of the crucifixion and resurrection. We'll never be good enough. That's why it's good news- not mediocre news- it's no longer a meritocracy because we simply can't reach perfection (thank God! pardon the pun...). That's what grace is for...

And worse- "I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed" (isn't that beautiful? I always liked it) became: "I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." Not only wanky but again with the separating... God heals bodies as well as souls- hello? So I'm stuck with the gout?

This entire fruitless exercise while children are dying all over the world and priests are committing atrocities and being protected by the boy's club of bishops (the bishopric(k) aptly).

My mother, as an Argentinian, would have been thrilled to learn of the new pope. She would also have approved of his vocal support of the Malvinas returning to their rightful 'owners', the Argentinas.

So far so good.

We couldn' t have abided yet another European when the reality of the Western church is that it's drowning in the humiliation of raping and pillaging priests, adulterous bishops and catastrophically dropping congregations and seminarian entrants. The African, South American and Asian countries however, for whatever reason (poverty being the major one I should hazard a guess), are relatively thriving. My personal hope for a black pope (perhaps racist, but a statement that should nonetheless be made, taking Christ away from the lily white hands where he does not soley belong despite 2000 years of propaganda) have been shattered for another few years.

But at least there's hope in the choice of someone from a long line of martyrs and dissidents. The Catholic presence in Latin America has been a controversial one since the first Conquistador set his fine leather boot upon the virginal sands of Venezuala in 1498 (and don't you believe it was Columbus himself- he'd have sent a sacrificial lamb out in case the locals were a tad feisty with the old poisoned arrows before leaping forth and seizing the lands for Spain and for Isabella. Oh and Ferdinand.) And once the notorious Pizzaro brothers and those that followed were through with the place, by hook or by crook it was 80% Catholic.

South America has a long and sordid history and is a place renowned as the birthplace of Liberation Theology which purportely is a political branch achieving its aims through violence (at least that's the critics' version).

In an introduction to Jesuit Priest Javier Giraldo's 1996 book, The Politics of Genocide, Noam Chomsky said:

It is necessary to impose silence and spread fear in countries like Colombia, where the top three percent of the landed elite own over 70% of arable land while 57% of the poorest farmers subsist on under 3% -- a country where 40% of the population live in "absolute poverty," unable to satisfy basic subsistence needs . . . and 18% live in "absolute misery," unable to meet nutritional needs.

It is little wonder that young priests, working with the poor become impassioned advocates of those to whom they minister. No wonder some in desperation may have turned to violent means- not condoned mind, but understood. And little wonder government agents seek to silence those who have such influence over the populace. If these collared men are willing to die for the cause of their flock, it makes a strong case for shutting them up before the masses rebel. Just ask Marie Antoinette... And the message sent to the population has been brutal and as visually nauseating as a Tarantino blood fest. Marie's death was a clean and pretty one in comparison.

The most famous martyr,Oscar Romero, archbishop of San Salvador was gunned down on March 24 1980. He, like many of his brethren, had long been outspoken against harsh regimes aligned with western forces (with vested interests in investment ventures). The end result was always a wealthy government becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer. As good Catholic priests, they were compelled to speak out. Archbishop Romero said "we must be the voice of the voiceless". And his powerful words and deeds live on.

83 priests (93 if you include religious other than priests) have been murdered throughout the region (but mainly in Colombia) since 1984, 16 since 2009.

So, in a nutshell, this is the continent from which our new pope hails. Already there are rumours and accusations against him, as there always will be. I don't know if it matters- of course it matters to the relatives of Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics, two Jesuit priests who were kidnapped by navy troops in Buenos Aires in 1976 and held and tortured for five months (as reported this morning by Jonathan Watts and Uki Goni in Buenos Aires for The Guardian.

The then Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires is accused of not going to the aid of these men but instead, remaining silent. It makes me fearful of the silence of the church of these last decades with the child abuse cases. Is this the same? Is he just another of the cowardly ilk? Or are the charges unfounded? Were there extenuating circumstances of which we're unaware? Was he protecting someone else- their families perhaps? I guess we'll never know. What we can only know is that we must speak as we find. So he is now on probation as the world watches and many Catholics hold their breath.

Gemma Simmonds CJ, writing in Thinking Faith on March 13 said that within the Catholic tradition, authority is seen primarily in terms of service and that she hoped that this time around the new pope would come from the religious, ie. a Jesuit or Franciscan or Dominican- who'd been raised in the religious life and not some academic. Well, she got her wish. True, he's a Jesuit, renowned for their interest in education; it was purportedly a Jesuit who said, "Give me the boy until he's 7 and I'll give you the man." But already my heart leapt in hope when he refused to travel in the Merc, opting for the mini van and still sporting his old wooden cross.

He took the name of Francis- one of my favourite's - a rich man's son who renounced all to go live in a cave and work exhaustively with the poor; a man who asked his brethren on his deathbed, to take him naked out into the garden so he may die with the dignity of nature enveloping him. All good, physical, basic stuff.

I always remember Annaud's treatment of Eco's scene in the Name of the Rose when the Benedictines debate with the Franciscans about whether Jesus owned his own clothes or not. The juxtaposition of the finely robed Benedictines bejewelled with sparkling gems and immaculate gold threaded vestments and opposite them the Franciscan embassy; bare headed, shoed in scuffed sandals and robed in rough brown homespun tied with a rope.

It's all right there. This is what the Church has become; a monstrosity and abomination against everything Christ stood for. He worked tirelessly til his death, ministering, healing, preaching; he bent to wash the feet of his disciples- the son of God caressing his mates' bunions and tinea. With love. With humility. Not with finery of any kind. And certainly not amassing great wealth while one child on this planet remains hungry or abused or lost or frightened.

There's a lot riding on this pope for me. Who knows? Maybe he'll even manage to get me back to Church, but only if we finally have someone who truly cleans house with a big broom. Someone who is honest and has integrity. And courage to face down the system. A man of the people, for the people.

Alguien que se ocupa del pequeño y pobre. Es usted, Padre Franscisco?