Anyone who wants to understand the message Pope Francis will bring to the United States should visit the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Detroit. In one classroom is a photograph of the pope sending a dove aloft; in the art room, a picture of a smiling Francis with a lamb draped across his shoulders; in the Spanish-language room, an image of him sporting a sombrero. Alongside these informal snaps is one formal portrait.
The photographs weren’t collected by the staff or students. They were sent by the pope himself, in apology for not being able to include the school in his recent “virtual audience” with people in three American cities ahead of his arrival in Washington on Tuesday. The images offer a clue to his priorities in his approaching visit to the United States.
His selection of photographs — intimate and humorous, direct and personal — suggests his prime emphasis will be upon engaging ordinary people more than the political elite. But that formal portrait is a reminder that behind the avuncular warmth of the smiling pope something more steely lies. He takes a highly critical line on the consumerist society and free-market capitalism that underpins the American economy. And the U.S. political elite can expect to see a glint of that steel.
In one papal document, “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), Francis declared that the “worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money.” Trickle-down economics, he says, simply does not work. The rich are “stealing” if they do not share their wealth with the poor. In his encyclical, “Laudato Si”’ (“Praise Be to You”), he wrote that the West’s throwaway society with its profit-before-all-else economics is destroying the planet.
The pope is getting more vehement, not less. In his most ferocious denunciation of global capitalism before a gathering of community activists in Bolivia in July, Francis condemned the “unfettered pursuit of money.” He concluded: “Let us not be afraid to say it — we want change, real change, structural change. This system is now intolerable.” The hourlong speech, written by Francis himself, called for change no fewer than 30 times — and said it must come from community activists, not great powers or elites.
Afterwards, when asked by a reporter why he appeared to have so little to say to middle class folk who work hard and pay taxes, the pope replied that it was “an error of mine not to think about this.” He acknowledged that he was aware of “criticism from the United States,” adding that “every criticism must be received, studied and dialogue must follow.”
But don’t expect that dialogue to be placatory when he meets with President Obama at the White House, addresses both Houses of Congress, and speaks to the United Nations General Assembly. A top adviser says that Francis’ tone in America will be “friendly but frank.” Though he is committed to what he calls “the culture of encounter,” this first pope from the global South is unswerving in his commitment to “a poor church for the poor.”
As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis saw half the population of Argentina plunged below the poverty line under an austerity program imposed at the behest of Washington economists to resolve a massive debt crisis. Like many Latin Americans, says one Vatican insider, the pope “combines both a sense of respect and a feeling of resentment at the economic and cultural dominance of [Argentina’s] bigger neighbor.”
America’s political leaders should expect some discomforting talk when the pope addresses Congress. He will likely praise the founding ideals of the United States — but point out the ways in which its leaders fall short. He’ll be equally blunt when he addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York on issues ranging from climate change to poverty to war and refugees.
Though it’s hard to predict what the pope will say to American bishops, Francis often reserves his harshest words for the church elite, as he did when he lambasted top church bureaucrats last Christmas, listing 15 “spiritual diseases” from which they suffer, including self-importance, lust for power, and lack of empathy for others. Like their counterparts in Brazil last year, the bishops will at the very least be told to recruit priests who can warm people’s hearts, empower lay people, especially women, and emphasize mercy and forgiveness rather than judgment and condemnation. But the pope who has previously criticized the church for being “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception may upbraid American bishops for putting too much effort into fighting the culture wars and not enough into issues of social justice.
It was notable that during his recent “virtual audience” where he spoke with students in Chicago, homeless people in Los Angeles, and immigrants in McAllen, Texas, near the Mexican border, he called a nun out of the audience and showered her and her fellow nuns with unconditional praise for their work among the poor. Bishops who have in the past criticized American sisters — accusing them of “serious doctrinal problems,” radical feminism and spending more time working against poverty and social injustice than abortion and same sex marriage — will have winced at that.
All this suggests that those in positions of authority in politics and the church should expect a robust challenge from the pope. They will be told they should be putting the interests of the poor and vulnerable above all else. But to those at the bottom Francis will offer a message of comfort, solidarity and hope.
Asked recently if he had a message for Americans, the pope replied that he wanted “to draw close to” the people and their virtues, joys, sadness and problems. It was a message particularly for the poor and disenfranchised. The most memorable moments of his visit, I suspect, will not come from Francis meeting the great and the good but from his encounters with the young, the homeless and the mentally ill, with immigrants, prisoners and perhaps even victims of sex abuse. “All it takes is one good person to restore hope!” the pope wrote in “Laudato Si’.” Perhaps for the United States that one person will be Francis himself.
Paul Vallely is the author of Pope Francis: The Struggle for the Soul of Catholicism.