Pope Francis turns peacemaker

When Pope John Paul II arrived at the airport in Havana in 1998 for a first-ever papal visit, he said: “May Cuba, with all its magnificent potential, open itself up to the world, and may the world open itself up to Cuba.”

Sixteen years later, a new Pope — himself no stranger to repressive dictatorship, having lived through Argentina’s Dirty War — has helped breathe new life into those aspirations by prodding the United States and Cuba into normalising diplomatic relations.

The agreement between the two old antagonists effectively ends one of the last battles of the Cold War. It also highlights what could prove to be the most historically consequential aspect of Pope Francis’ papacy: His commitment to the work of healing old wounds — within his flock, with other churches and governments, and among bitter enemies. It may be the most ambitious peacemaking agenda any Pope has undertaken.

Pope Francis’ active role in brokering the US-Cuba detente was not his only foray into peacemaking this year. When he visited South Korea in August, the Vatican convinced Chinese officials to allow the papal plane to fly over Chinese airspace, a first. While over China, the Pope sent a goodwill message to President Xi Jinping and the Chinese people. The ultimate goal: Restoring Vatican ties to China, where Catholics have long been forced to worship underground or in churches run by the government.

In April, after a visit to the Middle East, Pope Francis invited the Israeli and Palestinian Presidents to the Vatican for a prayer session. Both accepted and while no breakthrough resulted (and none was expected), the gesture reflected Pope Francis’ willingness to become personally involved in peacemaking efforts. It was the first time the Vatican had hosted such a gathering with Middle East leaders.

The chief purpose of his Middle East trip was a meeting with the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church marking the 50th anniversary of a meeting that ended hostilities between the two churches, which split in 1054.

Relations have steadily improved in recent decades and Pope Francis has said he wants to restore the churches into communion with each other, a message he repeated last month while attending an Orthodox service with Patriarch Bartholomew I in Istanbul. If he succeeds, it would be a monumental achievement for Christian unity.

EMBRACING THOSE IN NEED OF HEALING

Other Popes have cautiously waded into these conflicts. Pope Francis has been diving in. And that is especially true of his approach to healing the divisions within the Catholic Church itself.

In October, when Pope Francis convened a major conference on family life, he thrust into the centre of it questions about how the church can build stronger bonds with those who have felt abandoned, including gays and lesbians and remarried couples. He warned the bishops against hostile rigidity in their thinking and all but invited them to challenge the church’s status quo, evoking the same spirit that inspired so many changes at the Second Vatican Council.

Some were unhappy about the new openness, but the talks achieved what Pope Francis wanted: Forcing the cardinals to approach issues from a pastoral perspective, centred on the church’s obligation to embrace those most in need of healing.

“The church is called to waste no time in seeking to bind up open wounds,” he said afterwards, “and to rekindle hope in so many people who have lost hope.”

Pope Francis’ efforts to bind up old wounds is taking many forms. Not all will succeed and there is always the possibility that new wounds may open as a result; critics have been quick to suggest a possible schism between the church’s liberal and conservative wings. But we are learning that his papacy is best understood by reading the prayer of the saint whose name he took, which begins: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”

That plea seems to be getting heard. BLOOMBERG

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Francis Barry writes editorials on politics and domestic policy. He previously served as director of public affairs and chief speechwriter for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.