Political Purposed Cross

The Boston Globe recently published an article entitled: “Pope faults political use of Christianity.”  The Pope addressed populist leaders.  He spoke in Slovakia.  He might as well have spoken in America.  I include a portion of the article here.

(begin) Pope Francis to populist leaders: Do not use the cross for political purposes: Pope Francis speaks during a meeting with the Roma community in the Lunik IX neighborhood in Kosice, Slovakia, Sept. 14, 2021.

“Let us not reduce the cross to an object of devotion, much less to a political symbol, to a sign of religious and social status,” Pope Francis said in an inspiring homily in eastern Slovakia on his third day in the country, challenging the tepid religiosity of many and the use of the cross for political purposes by populist leaders in Europe and elsewhere.

“The cross demands instead a limpid testimony. For the cross is not a flag to wave but the pure source of a new way of living. That of the Gospel, that of the Beatitudes,” the pope told his audience of 30,000 Greek Catholics gathered on a sunny day at the Mestska sports square outside the city of Presov, at the foot of the Tatra mountains, though his message was intended for the whole nation and beyond.

Francis had traveled here early in the morning, flying almost 200 miles from Bratislava to preside at the Byzantine Divine Liturgy on Sept. 14, the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross. In honor of the feast day, the pope and the other bishops present wore red vestments. The liturgy was enriched by singing, chanting and music that created an almost mystical atmosphere.

Last Sunday, in Budapest, the pope had focused his message on the centrality of the cross in Christian life and community. He did so again today in Slovakia, where 73 percent of the six million inhabitants are Catholic, with most being Roman Catholic and a minority of about 250,000 Greek Catholics.

The pope’s message on the meaning of the cross resonated with the Greek Catholic community, whose members suffered harsh persecution and were prohibited to exist under Czechoslovakia’s Communist rule from 1948 to 1989. Today they cheered, waved yellow and white scarves (the colors of the Vatican), and chanted “Honor to Jesus Christ!” when Pope Francis arrived and drove among them in his popemobile before the eucharistic celebration.

The pope began his homily by quoting St. Paul, “We proclaim Christ crucified,” a sign of “the power of God and the wisdom of God,” and said the apostle “does not hide the fact that, in terms of human wisdom, the cross appears as a ‘scandal’ and ‘foolishness.’”

“In the eyes of the world, the cross represents failure,” the pope said, “the latest proof that the course of events in our world does not change: The good are cast aside, and the wicked prevail and prosper.”

He reminded Slovak believers that they, too, can fall into the temptation of seeing the cross as a failure. “How often do we long for a Christianity of winners, a triumphalist Christianity that is important and influential, that receives glory and honor? Yet a Christianity without a cross is a worldly Christianity and shows itself to be sterile.”

He reminded them that the apostle John, who stood at the foot of the cross and whose Gospel account of the crucifixion was read before he spoke, “saw that despite appearances, Jesus is not a loser but God, who willingly offers himself for every man and woman.”

Francis continued: “Jesus could have saved his life, he could have kept his distance from the misery and brutality of human history. Instead, he chose to enter into that history, to immerse himself in it…so that no one on Earth should ever be so desperate as not to be able to find him, even there, in the midst of anguish, darkness, abandonment, the scandal of his or her own misery and mistakes. There, to the very place we think God cannot be present, there he came. And now, with him, we are no longer alone, ever.”

Francis told those present, and those watching on national television, “Crucifixes are found all around us: on necks, in homes, in cars, in pockets.” But, he asked, “What good is this, unless we stop to look at the crucified Jesus and open our hearts to him…and we weep before the God wounded for love of us?”

“Let us not reduce the cross to an object of devotion, much less to a political symbol, to a sign of religious and social status,” the pope said. “If we fix our gaze on Jesus, his face comes to be reflected on our own: His features become ours, the love of Christ wins us over and transforms us.”

“Let us not reduce the cross to an object of devotion, much less to a political symbol, to a sign of religious and social status.” (end)

In America, Christianity continues to be put to political use.  Rather, we should, as Pope Francis insists, decide that His features must become ours, and the love of Christ must win us over and transform us without regard to politics that can warp our views on everything from social justice to love and mercy.  The Body of Christ must not continue to divide itself and splinter based on political views manipulated by the media and populist leaders.

Deacon David Pierce