At the Lincoln Lectern, Pope Francis Imparts Prophetic Message

(photo: Photo from YouTube)

Pope Francis speaks in a way that encourages dialogue among peoples and nations, addressing issues that have become divided in the common mentality. He proclaims a prophetic politics that transcends reductionist schemes and polarizations, eschewing a fundamentalist interpretation of the Gospel that trumpets certain truths to the exclusion and neglect of others. 

His is not a message intended for a select political group that parcels out the Christian creed in half truths. Rather, he comes among us as the 266th successor of St. Peter, standing in the tradition of St. John XXIII, Blessed Paul VI, St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, teaching the entirety of the Christian Gospel.

And so, his messaging marries freedom of worship and the right to religious liberty to a call to tolerance and respect for the identities and heritages of others. It joins advocacy for the environment to defense of every human life at each stage of development. He applauds the leadership of the bishops while encouraging the faithful activity of women in the Church.

That message doesn’t fit neatly into American ideological categories, which have seeped into the popular religious imagination. Our media-saturated culture prefers the space of one-dimensional ideologies to the time required for dialogue; it relies on pat labels that put people into camps, fearing social friendship lived out in a culture of encounter. Our Republican-Democratic divide makes the complexity of national life digestible for us. We get it when Republicans concentrate on religious liberty and Democrats focus on immigration. It’s easier for us to navigate a world reduced to simplistic schemes and polarized blocs.

But, in his many public addresses in Washington, New York, and now Philadelphia, Pope Francis has registered a different key. Time and again, he has proved he is no American ideologue. Climbing the stairs of the volo papale, he carries his own bag. And so, today, he broke the mold and joined together two seemingly opposite causes. As he did from the floor of the US House of Representatives, he transcended political rancor and ideological divisions, speaking to all of us regardless of our party affiliations. 

Appearing outside Independence Hall, he addressed what the Holy See Press Office identified as a Meeting for Religious Liberty with the Hispanic Community and Other Immigrants. Standing before the “birthplace of the United States of America” where “the freedoms which define this country were first proclaimed,” he raised the curtain on “one of the highlights of my visit.”

From the same lectern President Abraham Lincoln used to deliver his Gettysburg Address, the pope imparted a prophetic message. He said, “We live in a world subject to the ‘globalization of the technocratic paradigm,’ which consciously aims at a one-dimensional uniformity and seeks to eliminate all differences and traditions in a superficial quest for unity.” In the space of this uniformity, he said, “various forms of modern tyranny seek to suppress religious freedom, or try to reduce it to a subculture without right to a voice in the public square, or to use religion as a pretext for hatred and brutality.” Opposed to such spherical or global uniformity, he placed the image of the polyhedron. 

He borrowed that image from his Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium on the ‘Joy of the Gospel.’ There, he said that “our model is not the sphere, which is no greater than its parts, where every point is equidistant from the center, and there are no differences between them.” Instead, he advocated the polyhedron, “which reflects the convergence of all its parts, each of which preserves its distinctiveness.” When both pastoral and political activity image this shape, they find “a place for the poor and their culture, their aspirations and their potential.” Everyone finds a rightful place in this order, “Even people who can be considered dubious on account of their errors have something to offer which must not be overlooked,” the pope argued. For, this structure “is the convergence of peoples who, within the universal order, maintain their own individuality; it is the sum total of persons within a society which pursues the common good, which truly has a place for everyone.”

And so, he promoted our religious traditions, which “remind us that, as human beings, we are called to acknowledge an Other, who reveals our relational identity in the face of every effort to impose a ‘uniformity’ to which the egotism of the powerful, the conformism of the weak, or the ideology of the utopian would seek to impose on us.” 

Addressing the teeming crowds of Hispanics and other immigrants gathered outside “this place which is symbolic of the American way,” he applauded them for their religious traditions that “remind us of the transcendent dimension of human existence and our irreducible freedom in the face of every claim to absolute power.” He pointed to “the history of the last century,” which is etched with the “atrocities perpetrated by systems which claimed to build one or another ‘earthly paradise’ by dominating peoples, subjecting them to apparently indisputable principles and denying them any kind of rights.” And, he urged them to continue to walk the path of their rich traditions that “seek to offer meaning and direction” as they provide “an enduring power to open new horizons, to stimulate thought, to expand the mind and heart.”

These religious persons with their vibrant heritages “remind American democracy of the ideals for which it was founded, and that society is weakened whenever and wherever injustice prevails.” He said that “By contributing your gifts, you will not only find your place here, you will help to renew society from within.” For, they remind everyone of the value of “conversion, reconciliation, concern for the future of society, self-sacrifice in the service of the common good, and compassion for those in need.”

In an address interrupted many times by thunderous applause, he offered a daring articulation of that fundamental right of religious liberty that undergirds our common way of life. He told us, “Do not be discouraged by whatever challenges and hardship you face.” Indeed, “never be ashamed of your traditions. Do not forget the lessons you learned from your elders,” which “enrich the life of this American land.”