Last September, I wrote about statements made by Pope Francis that were being misinterpreted by the secular media as a de-emphasis of some serious moral evils like abortion, contraception and homosexual activity. I quoted the insightful analysis by George Weigel who said:
“The moral law is important, and there should be no doubt that Francis believes and professes all that the Catholic Church believes and professes to be true about the moral life, the life that leads to happiness and beatitude. But he also understands that men and women are far more likely to embrace those moral truths—about the inalienable right to life from conception to natural death; about human sexuality and how it should be lived—when they have first embraced Jesus Christ as Lord.”
On the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis’ papacy, I have read several articles that further illuminate the Pope’s pastoral approach and firm commitment to the Church’s moral teachings. One of those articles, written by Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com explains how Pope Francis has been an uncompromising yet compassionate pro-life leader during his first year in the papacy. The article cites several powerful pro-life statements and actions by the pope.
Another article, written by Father Roger Landry, a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, is entitled “Ten Central Themes of Pope Francis’ Magisterium (Until Now).” The article can be downloaded from Father Landry’s website, www.CatholicPreaching.com (search for the title).
Father Landry’s article provides the best insight into Pope Francis’ magisterium that I have read to date. Not surprising, the first theme of Pope Francis’ magisterium is his primary focus on the proclamation of the saving love of God. Pope Francis put it this way in his exhortation on the “Joy of the Gospel”: “Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.”
Pope Francis has said repeatedly that evangelism must begin with this first proclamation, the proclamation of salvation. “There is nothing more solid, deep and sure than this proclamation. Then you have to do catechesis. Then you can draw even a moral consequence. But the proclamation of the saving love of God comes before moral and religious imperatives,” he said in his September 19, 2013 interview with La Civilta Cattolica.
As I mentioned in my previous column, Pope Francis’ approach resonates with my personal experience during 23 years of doing pro-life work. It also conforms to the powerful teaching of soon-to-be Saint Pope John Paul in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”).
John Paul says that the deepest root of the culture of death is the “eclipse of the sense of God and of man, typical of a social and cultural climate dominated by secularism.” He went on to say that “when the sense of God is lost, there is also a tendency to lose the sense of man, of his dignity and his life…”
In other words, if we don’t know God, who made us, it will be very difficult for us to know and fully respect the sacred dignity and meaning of human life made in His image and likeness. This, in turn, results in various violations of the dignity of human life.
Hence, Blessed John Paul said bringing about a new culture of human life “involves above all proclaiming the core of the Gospel. It is the proclamation of a living God who is close to us, who calls us to profound communion with himself and awakens in us the certain hope of eternal life… It is the proclamation that Jesus has a unique relationship with every person, which enables us to see in every human face the face of Christ.”
So Pope Francis is living and teaching this approach by stressing that conversion starts with “proclaiming Jesus Christ… that Jesus Christ is God, became man to save us, lived in the world like any one of us, suffered, died, was buried and rose… [This] provokes astonishment, and brings one to contemplation and to faith… After the encounter with Jesus comes reflection,… where one can deduce the principles of religious and moral behavior” (from 2010 interview with Sergio Rubin).
