January 2014

Page 1

The

Fenwick Review Testimonium Perhibere Veritati

January 2014

Volume XXI, Issue 4

The Independent Journal of Opinion at the College of the Holy Cross

Four Myths About Pope Francis Why The Man in Full Should be Read in Full

George Weigel Special Guest Contributor When he was elected bishop of Rome this past March 13, more than a few people wondered just who Jorge Mario Bergoglio was — which was precisely the reaction to the election of Karol Wojtyla as bishop of Rome on October 16, 1978. That night, Wojtyla described himself to his new diocese as having come “from a far country”; nine months ago, Bergoglio told the crowds gathered in the Roman dusk that the cardinals had gone “to the end of the earth” to find a new pope. Wojtyla, taking the name John Paul II, went on to become the most consequential pope in

centuries; Bergoglio, taking the name of the beloved poverello of Assisi, quickly seized the public imagination, reminding the world in the process that the world needs a pastor’s care, and a pastor’s challenge, whether the world admits it or not. Yet many still wonder just who Pope Francis is. To which the answer is: He is a man of many parts. He is a radically converted Christian disciple who has known the mercy of God in his own life and who wants others to know that experience. He is an oldfashioned Jesuit, steeped in the Ignatian idea of spiritual combat, committed to an austere way of life, willing to take risks for the sake of the Gospel. He is a reformer who is calling the Catholic Church to recover the missionary

Also in this Edition:

Fishbowls: Revisited By Chase Padusniak ‘15 ..... page 10-11

zeal of its origins, and who will make structural changes in the Church in service to that evangelical imperative. He is a man of compassion for the “peripheries,” who will not let the world forget what the world often wants to forget about the abuse of power, the instrumentalization of the poor, the cheapening of human life, the personal and social costs of the cult of the autonomous self. Surprising those who have known him longest, and who thus knew his longstanding reticence, he has become a public personality, with an uncanny ability for the caring gesture that embodies that love which, as Saint Paul taught two millennia ago, is the more perfect way. Yet myths about him continue to abound. Four come quickly to mind.

Myth 1: Pope Francis is making a radical break with the pontificates of his two predecessors. On the contrary, Francis is accelerating the evolution of Catholic identity that was at the center of the program of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, in their authoritative interpretation of the Second Vatican Council. In his apostolic letter closing the Great Jubilee of 2000, John Paul II called the Church to leave the shallow waters of institutional maintenance and to go out “into the deep” (Luke 5:5) of what the Polish pope had long styled the “New Evangelization.” Continued on page 6

Grade Inflation

When Everyone Is Super… No One Is By Joe Murphy ‘16 ~ Staff Writer ..... page 9

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January 2014 by The Fenwick Review - Issuu