A prophetic and popular pope, the first ever from Latin America, will visit Washington, New York, and Philadelphia September 22-27. Pope Francis has captured the world’s attention through his warm gestures, simplicity, humility, message of mercy, and clear preference for those on the peripheries. He will go to the White House, Congress, and the United Nations, and he will make other important stops that highlight his vision for the Church—“a poor Church for the poor.” He will visit the homeless in Washington, immigrant children in a Catholic school in Harlem, and prisoners in Philadelphia. The Church, Francis proclaims, “has to go forth to everyone without exception. But to whom should she go first? When we read the Gospel we find a clear indication: not so much to those who are secure and comfortable, but to the poor and the sick, those who are usually despised and overlooked.”
The pope’s visit to the United States matters, and it is up to us to make his vision a reality—creating a Church that is more welcoming, more inclusive, and more merciful. The pope’s mission as the spiritual leader of the global Catholic Church is to set the vision and inspire us to fulfill that vision in our own cultural and religious contexts. He has been articulating a vision that is challenging our Church to reimagine itself in the twenty first century:
- washing the feet of young inmates including a woman and a Muslim,
- questioning the Brazilian bishops “Are we still a Church capable of warming hearts,”
- declaring in his memorable in-flight interview, “Who am I to judge?,”
- calling “couch potato” Christians to engage much more energetically in spreading the Church’s message, not to “take refuge… in a cozy lifestyle,”
- critiquing the global culture in which “money…for the mighty of this earth, is more important than people,”
- prodding his fellow bishops to be “Men who love…poverty, simplicity and austerity of life,”
- and most recently urging all to take moral responsibility for the care of the earth, our common home.
I am certain that Pope Francis’ vision for a renewed and more authentic Church will be reinforced throughout his visit by his prophetic words and actions and that he will inspire the millions of Americans who will hear his words both in person and through every form of media. As committed Catholics and pastoral leaders, it is up to us to carry the momentum of his visit and his new and vibrant vision into our parishes, apostolic organizations, social and educational institutions, and religious congregations transforming them into vibrant centers of Gospel loving and living centered on caring for the least among us.
Sr. Terry Rickard is the Executive Director of RENEW International and a Dominican Sister from Blauvelt, NY.