Des Wilson

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

In the nineteen thirties the Pope did not wear a crown, he wore three.

The most interesting thing  is not that he wore three crowns but that he wore any crown at all.

The Catholic Church looked on itself as a monarchy, that was its official view of itself. Easy to understand: in those days monarchy was looked upon  as the most noble form of government although sometimes, even in Julius Caesar’s time,  there were lively discussions and even fights  about whether monarchy was even safe and whether  perhaps  republican  power-sharing might  be better. But monarchy spoke to monarchy and that helped when monarchies were in fashion. 

In the nineteen thirties the pope was carried on a special chair on the shoulders of special people. That and the papal tiara signalled  not only spiritual power but worldly power as well – it was not many decades beforehand   that people including Irish soldiers had  fought a war to help the reigning pope to keep his papal states which Garibaldi wanted to take off him. 

In the nineteen sixties things changed and by now the three crowns are gone  and  the pope is going around in, what is it, a Fiat?   He is also paying at the counter for his breakfast – gone is the convention of royalty not having to carry money;  as he  waves to the crowds he can if he wants to glance at his wrist watch to see what time it is - gone is the convention that royalty don’t have to bother about such things. And the everyday garb of a pope looks remarkably like that of the missionary  priest in North Africa we read about the other day. Gentle small changes.

A pope nowadays behaves in public  more like the  president of a modern republic than a king. People don’t have to bow and scrape, walk away backwards, have to wait until spoken to before saying anything. The difference between a picture of the Pope in the nineteen thirties and one of the Pope now can be quite startling to us Ancients.  Is it simply  a recognition that in the modern world republics rather than monarchies  will appeal to more people?  After all, the word republic is based on the word for people, the word monarch  is based  on the word for just one person ruling them. Republic, public-rule by the people , monarchy mono-rule by one of the people.

That is not to say that the Catholic  church is becoming republican in sentiment ,  governance or religion. That should be surprising, because one of its beliefs is  that all its members are at some time touched by the Holy Spirit of God  and in that case you would think it should be the most active, best equipped democracy – or republic  if we like the word – in the world.

Of course it is changing. The change from a triple-crowned  leader carried in splendour  to a white-clad breakfaster in a respectable Roman hostel is the outward sign of a new and intriguing inward grace. Like all signs it is on the outside telling you what to expect inside.

What is changed inside is hopeful for some , upsetting for others, intriguing for most of us.

When for example an archbishop when pressed on the radio to say whether hell exists or not says, hesitatingly, Well, hell is possible………When an  expert in Theology remarks cautiously that after the death of Jesus Christ his followers then “experienced his presence among them in a new way”… When there appears first a new tolerance and then a new acceptance of people who in the past might have been told they were no longer wanted in the church …. it is clear that the sign outside means the changes inside could be worth having a closer look at.  Real changes  in behaviour ? Real changes in teaching ? Real changes in belief ?  Some say it  means the Pope is giving a new lead;  some say it means the Pope is rapidly catching up with us.

Changes can refresh , irritate, alienate. They may cause conflict and sourness. But it helps our sense of dignity if important institutions, governments, political parties, churches, do not either take us by surprise or take us for granted. If they change their minds or find  a fresh  explanation for   what they believe, do or think others should do or think , let them say so and respect our dignity by telling us the reasons why. One mark of the intellectually self-confident is their willingness to change their minds; a mark of their respect for our dignity is to tell us they are doing it. 

Long ago during the great Catholic revolt now known as the Protestant Reformation  people might go  to church  this Sunday and find the message from the pulpit strangely different from the message last Sunday; even longer ago when the Christians in Ireland took over from the druids a king in Tara named Diarmait Mac Cearbaill ( one of the Ó Neills by the way) performed his pagan rituals in Tara and still presented  land to the Christians to build the Monastery of Clonmacnoise. In Ireland we are reasonably good at understanding even the most startling of changes.

It’s a matter of experience really