Abstract
The pontificate of Pope Francis has undoubtedly generated new hope, enthusiasm, and energy in the Church. It has also generated, in a very public way, much dissent, angst, and hostility, even among high-ranking Church office holders. Many of his critics continue to reduce his theological writings and conclusions to political or ideological ones. Indeed a lot of the literature on Pope Francis, especially in the United States, is still too often framed in purely political, ideological or, disappointingly, personal terms. The timely publication is a response to this reality. It sets out to promote theological understanding of Francis by contextualizing his thoughts within important theological conversations that are rarely heard in the US Catholic Church. The collection of scholarly essays is the fruit of an International Symposium, entitled Discovering Pope Francis: Theological, Philosophical, Cultural and Spiritual Perspectives, which took place in the Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, Milwaukee in October 2018. The book contains eight chapters and also includes two Forewords—one by Pope Francis and one by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.
After an introductory chapter that outlines the case for a theological understanding of Pope Francis’s thought, the volume is divided into three parts—Latin American Roots, European Theology, and, finally, A North American Theology of the People—in order to better understand the range of influences on the thought and vision of Francis. The Latin American roots of Bergoglio’s thought is well fleshed out in Part One with a particularly accessible article by Austen Ivereigh. The author of a highly acclaimed biography of the Pope is well positioned to outline the epochal change that helped shape Bergoglio’s understanding of the importance of mission and the need for the Church to work out of a ‘missionary key.’ The ‘Theology of the People’ and its influence on Bergoglio’s theological and pastoral canvas is clearly unpacked in chapter three by Guzman Carriquiry Lecour, Vice President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. He highlights several fundamental aspects of the People of God present in Pope Francis’s teaching, including; the sensus fidei fidelium, the need for the inculturation of the Gospel and the evangelization of culture, ‘a culture of encounter,’ and, finally, the Church as a poor Church and a Church for the poor. The influence of European theology on Bergoglio is the focus of the four chapters in Part Three. These influences include Gaston Fessard, Romano Guardini, Henri de Lubac, and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Chapter eight adopts a wider lens as it notes the impact of both von Balthasar and Luigi Giussani on the theology of the post-Vatican 11 Popes. In this section the scholars helpfully indicate the influence of von Balthasar et al. on Pope Francis’s thinking and, more decisively, on his theological and pastoral output including Evangelii Gaudium and Gaudete et Exsultate. The final chapter by Peter J. Casarella of Notre Dame offers ‘a reading of the theology of the people from and for the Catholic Church of the United States’ (p. 179). He acknowledges that the process of translating the theology of the people into the context of the US church has been ‘fraught with difficulty.’ The challenge of finding unity in diversity, and the usefulness of the Ignatian phrase ‘union of souls’ in achieving that goal, is clearly set out by Casarella in his long but rewarding essay.
This is a fine volume that locates the pastoral and theological message of Pope Francis within a broad catholic canvas of scholars that include not only, and very obviously, Latin American influences but also, and decisively, 20th-century French- and German-speaking theologians. It argues strongly that Francis’s vision is deeply rooted and engaged with the theological and ecclesial traditions of the Church. A very important contribution towards a balanced and informed assessment of the current and future significance of Pope Francis as he strives to guide the Church in a complex and rapidly changing world.