Pope Francis: A Humble Servant in a World that Insists on Building Empires

By Fr Stan Muyebe – Pope Francis has attracted both admiration and criticism, with some criticising him because he disrupted the foundations of their sense of security, which are their empires.

One of the signs of the times during his pontificate has been the growth in the Western world of movements with aspirations to empire-building, a return to the former glory when Western countries had empires, and the church was an integral part of these empires.

For Pope Francis, beyond the aspirations to empire-building based on nationalism, such as Americanism, there exists a more significant empire, namely the system of unfettered global capitalism that has evolved into an empire, a global imperial design that is not confined to one country or one region.

In his encyclicals  (the Joy of the Gospel, Laudato Si, Fratelli Tutti),  Pope Francis has been strong in his denunciation of both trajectories of empire-building, as they are grounded on worship of wealth, environmental degradation, escalation of wars worldwide, indifference to struggling nations, and disregard for society’s marginalized—all contrary to the values of God’s kingdom. Both trajectories of empire-building have displayed tendencies to absorb everything in their path into their worldview and structures of power. When Pope Francis advocates for the voiceless of the world, he does so with a different vision of new evangelization,  an evangelisation where a sense of being sent on a mission is undertaken against the self-understanding that we are primarily the citizens of the empire of God,  the kingdom of God, and not the citizens of the modern empire.   His chosen name reveals this purpose, as Saint Francis saw himself as a citizen of another empire, the kingdom of God, rather than earthly empires.

Ironically, Pope Francis has in some cases been criticised for compromising church doctrines in favour of the worldview of the empire, and for behaving more like an activist than the defender of the faith, the doctrines and institutions of the Church.  In some cases, this accusation of compromising the Gospel was a result of Pope Francis embracing the prodigal son, and then being caught by the anger of the first son, who sees the offer of mercy as a betrayal of his fidelity.

The tensions between the Church and the empire have always existed in the history of the Church, and will never disappear.   While Pope Francis has not managed to disentangle the church completely from the worldview and the power structures of the empire, he has succeeded in reminding the Church that we need to intensify our prophetic witness to an empire different to the secular empires, the empire of God.    He has reminded the church that this witness needs to take the form of emphasising to the world that we are citizens of the kingdom of God, an empire different from the secular empires.  This is in some way a renewal of evangelisation through ressourcement, going back to the witness of God in the early Church, a church of martyrdom.

While the empire and religious nationalism claim to have divine authority, with their populist leaders considering themselves as “messiahs,” we require citizens of the kingdom who refuse to accept the divine status of Caesar as “Lord,” insisting that the only Lord to whom we pay homage is our Lord Jesus  (1 Corinthians 8:6).  The populist leaders are not the way, the truth and the life.   Only Jesus Christ is  (John 14:6).

Empires will protect their power and interests using wars and assert that their global military dominance is a recipe for world peace, the pax romana. In such a world, we require citizens of the kingdom who reject the notion that military dominance brings true peace, recognising genuine peace comes only from Christ, and it is the kind of peace that the empires cannot offer  (John 14:27).

Empires will seek greatness, to be great again, and they will define this greatness in terms of accumulation—accumulation of wealth, territories, power, and control. In contrast, the citizens of the kingdom will remind the world that true greatness as a country comes from living the values that Jesus preached in the Gospel.  True progress and greatness as a country is measured not only through gross domestic product (GDP), but also in terms of the extent that the country is excelling in living out the fruits of the Holy Spirit— love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control  (Galatians 5:22-23)

Empires will operate under the assumption that the only way to achieve their desired greatness, the most effective way to accumulate wealth, power, and control over the natural resources of other countries, is through violence, domination, and exploitation of weaker regions of the world. It is through ways that will harm the most vulnerable in the world. In such a world we require citizens of the kingdom who refuse to be co-opted into this assumption and are active in living out the parable of the Good Samaritan, binding wounds of those harmed by the greed and violence of the empire, and speaking truth to power on behalf of the voiceless  (Luke 10:25-37).

Empires will perceive their vulnerability as weakness and become brutal during decline. We then need Kingdom citizens who will remind the world to see vulnerability as an opportunity to rediscover a life of total surrender to God.  In this way, those who place their trust while they are in vulnerable situation are blessed: those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are hungry, those who are persecuted for their faith.

Through its wars and economic violence,  the secular empire has generated massive death in the world,  almost giving the impression that it is in control of life and death in the world.  In such a world, we need kingdom citizens who bring Christ as the bread of life into a world that is not coping with grief from the massive deaths, while reminding the empire that the one in charge of life and death is God, and not the empire.   He is the resurrection and the life.   In this resurrection framework, the violence of the empire does not have the last word. The resurrection of Christ is that which has the last word.

It remains to be seen whether the religious orders in the church will perceive these developments as a sign that they need to return to their original identity of living the Gospel as a resistance to the worldview of the empire.

It also remains to be seen whether there will emerge ecclesial movements within the body of Christ that promote the vision of living the Gospel as citizens of the kingdom vis-à-vis the citizens of the empire. Pope Francis has planted the seeds for such a movement, but we may not witness such a movement in our lifetime, though it will eventually emerge.