Six months after the election of Pope Francis, I was curious to explore the reaction of non-American Catholics. And since my best access to church people outside the U.S. is in France, French Catholics (and even non-Catholics) where my best option.
During two weeks in mid October, I interviewed roughly 20 people. They included one bishop, six priests, four practicing Catholics, five non-practicing Catholics, a Protestant, a few non-observant Muslims (one of whom is a product of Catholic schools), and even a self-professed atheist.
What emerged was a rather complex but remarkably consistent image of a pope who has quite suddenly raised hopes (and also questions) among a wide range of French people. And the periodicals I consulted confirmed the sense that Francis has ushered in a sudden climate change in the Catholic world that is already touching the world at large.
The very first person I interviewed spoke for all that followed by declaring herself perfectly satisfied to see a non-European elected pope. “The only good European choice was another Jesuit, Carlo Maria Martini [former Archbishop of Milan], but it was too late for him [he died in August 2012]. This man seems to have the same kind of open spirit.” She said this even though Martini was famously progressive, not a word usually applied so far to Francis.
The bishop I spoke with declared that, despite the world’s reaction, Francis’ election was no surprise. “After all,” he reminded me, “he finished second in the balloting in 2005.” He also took time, as did many I spoke with, to comment on Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation.
“He had the courage necessary to resign,” said the bishop, who had spent several hours with Benedict in Rome only a year ago. He told me that Benedict had seen the effect of John-Paul II’s staying on too long, had watched the ailing pope lose control of church governance to a curia in bad need of reform. He knew he himself was not a governor by nature, and that the job required too much for him.
The bishop was convinced, moreover, the Benedict’s resignation will become a precedent, so that future popes will routinely retire, thus opening the door to younger candidates.
Many others echoed these views. A non-practicing couple said that Benedict had been “too austere,” and they found Francis “warmer” and especially liked his distaste for ornate institutional formalities. But they wondered if he can do the job needed.
The young Arab I interviewed (Muslim by heritage but Catholic in schooling) was convinced that Benedict could not deal with the multiple crises facing him: scandal, leaks, the Vatican bank, corruption, and rampant careerism at virtually all levels. He thought that Francis’ election came “just in time” since much needs changing. Francis strike him as a “peoples’ pope” with the advantage of third world roots. He noted the symbolic power of the pope washing the feet of prisoners and women, and expressed some confidence that, if Francis alters the tone of Catholic leadership and makes reforms, that will mean real progress even without any doctrinal changes. “The Catholic church moves through history very slowly,” he noted, “step by step.”
One non-practicing woman told me that she has already noticed how popular Francis is among French people. “He has definitely changed the PR image of the Church, for the better.”
Next I interviewed a very devout older woman who began by saying how much she had liked Benedict, and how much she admired a resignation that was “wise, courageous, and well-time--especially compared to John-Paul II.” But she also detected an “immediate shift in tone” when the newly-elected Francis asked the crowd to bless him, when he refused some ceremonial garb, and when he refused to live in the papal apartments. She found his words, such as his comment on homosexuals, to offer a fresh take on Catholic tradition that she considered “a good thing for the Church”--especially beyond Europe.
A group of parish priests just outside Paris had less to say. The consensus was that French people generally saw Francis’ election and performance as “good news”, but they also knew of some “extremists” (mostly traditionalist Catholics) worried about possible changes in liturgy.
An older, practicing couple observed that there had not been a lot of news coverage of Francis in the French media, at least not compared to the coverage that John-Paul II had received. But, they added, “all the news has been good news”--unlike the bad press Benedict had received.
A priest I have known for more than 15 years confirmed that Francis has received consistently good press, even in the non-Christian media. “And they never give us any gifts!” he observed--suggesting that Francis has made a genuinely good impression on secular journalists who are otherwise prone to skepticism in their coverage of the Church.
Right from the start, this priest said, Francis “broke through the screen” like a movie character bursting into the audience, so that people were approaching my priest friend with favorable comments right from day one.
This priest agreed that Benedict's resignation was a reaction to John-Paul II’s long demise. “The last time I saw John-Paul II in Rome,” he told me, “he was long gone.” He regarded the resignation a mark of Benedict’s “honesty and integrity.” He hoped it would become the precedent for future popes but, unlike the bishop I spoke with, he was not sure--and insisted that no one was.
Like some others, he personally agreed that Francis’ manner and priorities echoed the papacy of John XXIII more than anyone else, and for him this was reason to hope that the legacy of Vatican II could be recovered and preserved.
Two evenings later, at a large social gathering, a man approached me to ask what Americans thought of the new pope, and then offered his own view: “I think he’s going to be the bishop of all the poor--and I think that is a good thing!”
On my last day, I spoke with a self-proclaimed “atheist” (later he re-labeled himself “agnostic”) who offered his opinion of the new pope without being asked. Francis, he said, was creating a fresh impression of openness and reform--just like John XXIII had done at Vatican II. Given that this man was not a Christian, and also not old enough to remember John XXIII personally, I took his opinion to reflect a historical awareness rare among most Catholics--and a broad sense of what this new papacy promises.
All in all, The French seem happy and impressed with Francis and relieved to get beyond John-Paul II and Benedict. For them, it feels like a new season of warmth after a long chill. But they are holding their breath—and their judgment—to see what Francis can actually accomplish. Even so, some of them realize that what he has already accomplished—to show the world, by his character and manner and words, the Church’s warm, human, humble face—is a historical achievement all by itself.
Next: what French journalists are saying.
© Bernard F. Swain PhD 2013
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