May 21, 2025 “Can I ask you a Catholic question?” Because I work for the Church, it’s not uncommon for someone to start a conversation or message exchange with some version of that phrase. When I saw that text in the preview of a message sent to me by a friend via social media, I got kind of excited. “Absolutely,” I replied. “What you think of the new pope?” he asked. “I have a few friends who are upset with his politics, but I don’t think they’re Catholic. You’re Catholic. What do you think?” The question made me laugh. “I don’t know what your friends are upset about, so I can’t speak to any specific issue, but if people are upset with Pope Leo’s politics, he’s likely being Catholic,” I responded. “Based on the way our political system works now, being Catholic means you don’t fall in line completely with either political party. We’re a little of column A and a little of column B, and at the same time we sometimes disagree with column A, and we sometimes disagree with column B. The term ‘Catholic’ comes from a Greek work that means ‘universal.’ I guess you could say we’re universal in that we land in both political parties and simultaneously disagree with both political parties.” My friend said he thought my answer made sense. I was glad he asked. In a world that seems so divided by political leanings, I sometimes forget that Catholics don’t fit neatly into any camp. Most of us pick a side of the political spectrum. We’re liberal or conservative, Republicans or Democrats. While I try to resist it, I sometimes fall into the habit of vilifying people who didn’t choose “my side.” In essence, I’m getting angry with people who don’t pick “my side” even though I don’t always pick “my side.” This seems kind of absurd. It feels appropriate that the Holy Spirit would get me reflecting on that absurdity because of a conversation about Pope Leo XIV. The new holy father’s motto is “In Illo uno unum,” “In the One, we are one.” We’re called to be one, the Body of Christ. We can’t be a unified body if we’re too busy being mad at each other. I’ll try to keep that in mind moving forward. Even without being asked. |
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