Editorial: Pope Francis’s way

MUCH of what we know about Pope Francis comes from information that filtered in through the international media about the former Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio.

Reports like the following from New York Daily News (nydailynews.com) portrayed a humble and old-fashioned man:

"(He) took the bus to work as cardinal of Buenos Aires, cooked his own meals, refused to live in the church’s magnificent mansion and slept in a simple bed in a modest home heated by a tiny stove...

"Forsaking the pampered life of luxury traditionally enjoyed by Argentina’s red hats, (Cardinal Bergoglio) pursued an ascetic lifestyle devoted to prayer-—and sermons ringing with fierce, unbending moral clarity."

While there’s no way ordinary Filipinos can check the veracity of this description, there is also unanimity in the information contained in the reports and nobody has come out to refute these.

It therefore came as a surprise for listeners of dyLA and of the program “Frankahay Ta” to hear our very own Msgr. Achilles express incredulity over the description of Pope Francis’s lifestyle.

“Di ko motuo ana...Tungod lang kay kamao siya moluto, moluto na siya sa iyang pagkaon.

Mosakay siyag bus…di sab ko motuo ana nga kadaghanan sa higayon mosakay siya og bus.

Duna siyay palasyo, di siya mopuyo didto…Tingali duna lang gyud siyay laing puluy-anan kung mag R and R siya.

“Di ko motuo uy nga ang taga Buenos Aires di maikog nga mopasakay niya og bus, duna na silay awto. Kana sab ang luto, kamao siya moluto pero kung siyay moluto sa iyang pagkaon, di ko motuo ana uy,” Dakay said. (this was from a transcription of his interview posted by dyLA on Facebook yesterday.)

This is actually an interesting response from Dakay, which reminds us of the frog inside a well who insisted that the sky is only as big as the mouth of the structure that contained him.

Dakay seems to be amazed that a cardinal would actually ride a bus, cook his own meals and live in a modest apartment every day while functioning as bishop of a big city.

But that does not mean that what isn’t done in Cebu couldn’t be done in Buenos Aires.

Dakay’s reaction is probably among the reasons why Pope Francis, in his first mass as pontiff, “warned that the Church risked becoming a pitiful non-governmental organization unless it goes through spiritual renewal and focuses on the message of
Jesus Christ.”

That entails, we must add, a rededication to Christ’s ways.