A church for the poor

Holy Week commences. This year there's a brand new pope --the first-ever American pope ("American" in the larger sense) and the first Jesuit.

Curious, then, that he, a Jesuit, chose to take the name of the founder of the Franciscan Order. Or is it?

Right away, with regard to the poor, I thought of St. Francis of Assisi, then I thought of war. Francis loved peace and that is how the name came to me. --Pope Francis, on how he chose his papal name

With the election of Pope Francis, who vows to make the Church a "church for the poor," I'm reminded of why I love it.

In 2005, back in the dark days of the Junior Bush presidency, when the reactionaries in the US House passed HR 4437, a measure that mandated that any organization must check the immigration status of an individual before it could render social or charitable services, Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, spoke out against the bill forcefully. The Cardinal announced that he would order the clergy and laity of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to ignore the bill if it were to become law.

Cardinal Mahony quoted scripture when he wrote to Junior Bush, protesting the bill:

"Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me."
Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'
And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen. I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'" (Matthew 25: 31-46)

Subsequently, HR 4437 died an ignominious death in the US Senate. I'll always remember that act of courage and defiance by Cardinal Mahoney.

And so I'm encouraged and hopeful with the election of Pope Francis. His career has shown him to be a champion of the poor, unwilling to ignore the injustice of the current global economic structure.

In 2002, he said this regarding the economic crisis that struck his homeland of Argentina: "Let's not tolerate the sad spectacle of those who no longer know how to lie and contradict themselves to hold onto their privileges, their rapaciousness, and their ill-earned wealth." Take that, neo-feudalists!

Pope Francis reportedly has resisted the comforts afforded a man of his position. He cooks his own meals and rides public transportation.

Yesterday, on his first Palm Sunday as Pope, Francis greeted the crowd in St. Peter's Square, shaking hands and dispensing blessings.

"Don't let yourselves be robbed of hope! Don't let yourselves be robbed of hope!" he exhorted to the crowd of 250,000.

A champion for the poor! Pope Francis!