Listen to the Pope’s voice

BY GREGORY SOLIK

When the 266th pope and successor of St Peter released his document Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”), the evanescent term “apostolic exhortation” puzzled many people.

The apostolic exhortation was written in response to the most recent meeting of the Synod of Bishops in October 2012. The synod was devoted to the subject of the New Evangelisation, and took place under the auspices of Pope Benedict XVI.

Usually an apostolic exhortation distils and reflects the outcome of the synod’s deliberations, hopefully providing a blueprint for action on the subject under discussion, such as Africae Munus, Pope Benedict’s apostolic exhortation on the second Synod of Bishops on Africa.

With Evangelii Gaudium Pope Francis took a broader focus.

There has been debate about where an apostolic exhortation ranks in the hierarchy of papal documents. Some say that the document is pastoral in nature rather than doctrinal or legal, and that ranks lower than an encyclical or an apostolic constitution. Some argue that it’s more important than this, but less important than that.

This kind of talk misses the point.

A helpful, albeit clumsier way, to understand an apostolic exhortation is to think of it as a special letter from a successor of the apostles who calls out to his people with urgency and joy proclaiming the Good News. Evangelii Gaudium is a call to the People of God—bishops, clergy, consecrated persons and the lay faithful — to point to The Way.

The most defining feature, for me, is the clarity and energy of his message. Pope Francis speaks right to the heart of what it means to be a Christian citizen in the contemporary world, and urges us into action.

Evangelisation, he says, “is to make the kingdom of God present in our world”. This is always a radical task; one that dares to imagine an alternative reality, which is found in the Freedom of God.

Linked to this is a manifestation of that daily conversation; being in solidarity with the least among us, the oppressed, and the marginalised through works of charity, justice and compassion.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who presented the document at a Vatican press conference summarised it as, “an invitation to recover a prophetic and positive vision of reality without ignoring the current challenges” (my emphasis).

The pope’s criticism is plain: “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded by its consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent and covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted consciousness.”

The Pastor Pope challenges all of us, the Church, to shake off our own religious domestication. This is what I find so palpable about his message. He lays down several new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come, by rooting his reflection in spreading the word of God, touching on issues such as urban life, the Church’s missionary transformation, the economy, the homily and its preparation.

Like his namesake from Assisi, Pope Francis elicits a special concern and reverence for the poor. “I can say that the most beautiful and natural expressions of Joy which I have seen in my life were in poor people who had little to hold on to.”

This will surely be the great mark of his leadership.

But even so, I can’t help but ask myself: I am really ready to follow? In truth, it’s not just the words I read that bounce around my head, but the spirit of my own heart.

The Church currently occupies a space that is best described as luminal — in between spaces (past and present, abuse and healing, stale and missionary, disillusionment and revelation) — and Francis is clearly called to lead all Catholics across this threshold.

He reminds us that while each Christian and every community must discern the path that the Lord points out, all of us are asked to obey God’s call to go forth from our own comfort zones, in order to reach all the “peripheries” in need of the light of the Gospel. This entails a “missionary conversion”, which will not leave things as they presently are.

As a young lawyer and writer, that challenges me profoundly.

It is tempting to hold onto all the important quotes, which make Evangelii Gaudium so memorable:

– “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.”;

– “How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?” and a personal favourite;

– “What is called for is an evangelisation capable of shedding light on these new ways of relating to God, to others and to the world around us, and inspiring essential values.”

But despite this, and more, Evangelii Gaudium should not be remembered by its words. Instead, it is the spirit with which this letter is written that is so memorable, so joyful and moving.

In it, I hear the fervour of St Paul to the Romans: “The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air” (8:1-2); or to the Corinthians: “I didn’t try and impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy. I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did — Jesus Crucified” (2:1-2).

Catholic writer Thomas Smith points out that the closing of 1 Peter is perhaps the first “exhortation”: “I’ve written as urgently and accurately as I know how. This is God’s generous truth; embrace it with both arms” (5:12).

Pope Francis reminds us that the Spirit has its source in the heart of the risen Christ. Ultimately he reminds us that in the shadow of Jesus’ death, we are alive.

Through this encounter we are invited to a life so sacred and so full that even in the face of the worst in this life unimaginable abundance is brought about through a right relationship with the Lord.

Forget the words. Instead, open your hearts and get used to the sound of his voice.

Gregory Solik is a writer, chairman of MyVoteCounts, and research coordinator at the civil society group Ndifuna Ukwazi.