On Humility

I know I have talked about this before, but the new Pope continues to give me hope. After years of turning the back on the world the Catholic church, headed by the new Pope seems to open up to discussion. Most exciting of all, however, is that Francis is has shown the world that it is possible to hold a position of power while maintaining a humble attitude. In certain situations the Pope is seen as infallible – still Francis in an interview called himself naïve and worried that he’d been rash in the past. Instead of commanding people to follow him, he invited them to join him. When asked about gay priests he answered with a question of his own – “who am I to judge?” When did we last hear something like that from the leader of a church that in the past decades been so judgmental? Impressively, Pope Francis doesn’t only talk – his words are followed up by action – choosing simple dress over regal costumes, a Ford focus over a limousine and modest quarters over the presidential suit. Don’t get me wrong – I am not converting to the Catholic Church. I just think that Pope Francis is exactly the kind of world leader we need just now. We need more humble people in positions of power and more humility all over. The last couple of weeks we have seen lots of the opposite. In the USA the politicians held the country and the whole world hostage refusing to listen to the other side. In Sweden the process of electing a new Archbishop got really ugly – one sides accusing the other side of marginalizing Christ. In a whole range of scenarios it seems we are getting more polarized – unable to agree on anything – which is bad news for everyone. Because to solve the problems we are facing we need to be able to work together – inside the Church and outside the Church. That is why Pope Francis makes me optimistic – I just hope that others will follow his example. Maybe we should all begin by looking at ourselves – praying for the Holy Spirit to bestow us the gift of humility.