I remember back in the later 1990s, with internet resources quickly becoming more accessible and more global, the excitement of finding the Vatican’s website. With my years of theology education still fresh in my mind, but with substantial theological libraries far from me, it was a great relief to find the papal documents ready to hand. Most important was that the major documents of the Second Vatican Council were much easier to search for and always on my desktop. The best resources were the documents issued by Saint Pope John Paul II. I remember how excited I was to be able to find the homily he delivered at the Midnight Mass in St. Peter in 1983 where I was his miter bearer. The voice of John Paul still rang in my ears, but to be able to read the entire homily many years later was a special gift. The Vatican digital resources were especially crucial for my engagement in the years leading up to the great Jubilee of 2000. While I have always had a strong sense of unity with the entire Church through the liturgies we celebrate, quick access to the magnificent teachings of John Paul made it easier than ever to join the world-wide pilgrimage the Holy Father was leading God’s people on toward the New Millennium.  

https://www.vatican.va provides easy access to papal teachings. Ironically today we are most likely to read or hear second and third hand digests and opinions rather than the primary texts or speeches. At most we might hear a quote or two taken out of context in manipulative sound bites to serve some editorial agenda. It’s much easier to fall under the spell of the media gurus who might confirm our prejudicial biases rather than do the hard work to get the full story behind the news. I’ve taken the opportunity to go back to the archives of papal teachings in the late 19^th and early 20^th century and have been amazed at what the popes were writing about as they responded to the rapid changes of the industrial age. Of course one can encounter the developing social teaching of the Church launched in a definitive way with Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIII in 1891. Rereading Pascendi Dominici Gregis by Pius X in 1907 helps me recognize and name the common errors of thinking and feeling which plague modern discourse and tempt us to despair of universal truth. Each document is a valuable snapshot of the Church in a particular historical period striving to preserve the Apostolic Tradition and fulfill the Church’s mission to preach the Good News about God revealed in Jesus Christ.

Turning to the archived texts of Pope Francis’ pontificate, I note the page listing his first apostolic letters. It’s fascinating to see ten letters numbering certain holy people of God among the blesseds and the saints. These ten are only in Latin. These types of letters soon disappear as the process for declaring a person blessed or a saint are set up by decree from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and the proclamations take place during a beatification or canonization Mass rather than an apostolic letter.

Pope Francis’s eleventh apostolic letter is titled On the Jurisdiction of Judicial Authorities of Vatican City State in Criminal Matters. This short document offers a glimpse of the Church’s response to criminal organizations, financial fraud and money laundering, and terrorism. Crime and violence has increasingly become globalized, and the Vatican City State, being a nation of the world, needs to be able to collaborate in the global response to world-wide networks of crime and terror. It’s all a fascinating view into the Church’s mission:  the salvation of souls for our next life and the preservation and promotion of the dignity of the human person as a child of God in this life.

Reading through the archive of other publications, homilies, and teachings of Pope Francis, one recognizes how much attention has been given to reforming the administrative structures and procedures of the Vatican and of the Roman Catholic Church. What has gotten the most headlines has been the work Pope Francis has engaged in through reforming the financial and economic culture of the Church. An apostolic letter from April of 2021 is titled “Regarding Provisions on Transparency in the Management of Public Finances”. The Church has been sorely distressed by scandal and corruption on many levels and in many ways. Transparency and robust structures of accountability are necessary to protect the common spiritual and temporal goods of the faithful. 

The discipline of the examination of conscience before confession often discusses the sin of presumption. One definition of presumption is presuming forgiveness of one’s sin without true sorrow and a firm intention to avoid the sin. Presumption can also be in the form of pride that refuses to take responsibility for one’s sinful actions, even to the point of denying fault. I see much of the reform efforts of Pope Francis and the present leadership of the Church as a response to the sin of presumption that has allowed abuse of power in many forms without true accountability for horrible crimes against human dignity and God’s honor and glory.

Pope Francis’s reorganization of the Roman Curia is often discussed primarily in terms of the persons who held leadership roles. Energetic discussions about the repercussions for this archbishop or that cardinal dominate the stories. People seem to be most interested in who is the one left without a seat in the latest round of musical chairs. I believe there is a lack of appreciation of how important structural change is to any organization which wishes to adapt to changing circumstances or take corrective action. While the term “dicastery” may be quite foreign to us, simply looking at the major reorganization that took place in the Roman Curia to accommodate priorities of mission. I encourage you to look up the profiles of the different dicasteries of the Roman Curia on the Vatican’s web site, particularly that of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life.
 
There have been significant developments during Pope Francis’s pontificate that we have yet to experience locally, but I know will make a great difference. The broadening of the eligibility for true lay ministries in the Church is what I am most looking forward to coming to fruition at a local level. With Spiritus Domini, Pope Francis permitted women to be ministers of acolyte and ministers of lector. With Antiquum Ministerium, the ancient ministry of catechist achieves a special standing in the lives of the faithful. I see these three developments as the Church promoting the vocational invitation of the baptized to fulfill their baptismal promises supported by ecclesial stability. Ministers are recognized as having a special calling to service for the good of the Church. Eventually these ministries will roll out in our own diocese and I know it will be a time of special flourishing of service in the Church.

I’ll conclude with a reference to Pope Francis’s 2013 exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, “The Joy of the Gospel.” Written to summarize the 2012 Synod on evangelization, this document from the first year of his pontificate has been a constant inspiration for me. The title itself is a  good summary of its content. The true sign that we have fully embraced the Good News of our salvation is the joy each of us shows to others: “Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades.” [EG 2]

Pope Francis reminds me constantly to allow the Gospel to renew me, that I must embrace the continual call to conversion. His insistence that greater dedication to the mission of the Church, to preach the Good News of God’s mercy by word, sacrament and charity will bring the joy I so desire. Evangelii Gaudium made it clear that Pope Francis intended to lead the Church on the path of pastoral conversion. For that ecclesial conversion to take place, I must be open to the change of heart that the Lord demands of me.

I am grateful for the leadership that the Holy Father has provided me. I pray that God grant him many happy and holy years.