Pope Francis shows the way

POPE FRANCIS. Sterling example of what it really means to be Christian. AP

When Time magazine announced its survey for its Person of the Year for 2013, our personal take on it was that its outcome was a foregone conclusion: Pope Francis.

In fact, we feared that, if for some ornery or contrary reason he didn’t top the annual search, the publication would never hear the end of it.

Well, logic and obvious “K” have triumphed, Pope Francis is officially “it,” and we can all relax.

The Catholic Church’s supreme pontiff fully deserves the key citation because, in only a few months, he has succeeded in reminding everyone by way of his sterling example what it really means to be Christian—no more pomp and circumstance, no holy fluff and folderol, just the simple love of God and His other creatures.

Quick to love

This is a pope who drives himself, answers the phone, sees Christ in each and every person he meets, and is quick to love but not to pass judgment on “sinners.” It behooves the other princes of the Church to humble themselves as he has, or else face the sad scorn of the multitude.

More relevant to our arts and media purview is Pope Francis’  reminder to priests to use the media creatively as their new pulpit, thus expanding the reach of Christ’s message exponentially.

Not since the bracing decades of Pope John Paul II, another media-savvy and arts-loving pontiff, has such a timely reminder been made, and we hope that the servants and soldiers of the Church will hasten to follow their leader’s example and catch up with the evangelicals in this regard.

It’s even more specifically instructive to note that, in the Philippines, some church leaders have come along just in the nick of time (there are no coincidences when it comes to Heaven’s work on earth) who, like JP2 and Francis are fully aware of the prominent place that the arts and media should play in the New Evangelization.

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) head, Archbishop Socrates Villegas, and his Eminence, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle are creative in their use of media to more vividly and pervasively spread the word of God, and they can be expected to make Pope Francis’ exhortation a vibrant reality for the Catholic Church in the Philippines.

(Villegas is famous for his meaty and witty three-minute sermons, while Tagle has been hosting his own religious talk show on TV for years.)

Big shift

To be sure, the big shift won’t happen overnight, especially since many of our priests are intimidated by media and think they’re too old or clueless to learn how to use it well. But, the dynamic examples set by the Pope, Villegas and Tagle, coupled with many workshops, should have a positive impact real soon.

No more boring 20-minute sermons? No more epistles that are mere paraphrases of the gospel excerpt for the day? Hope springs!