By JULIAN BATO

Clad in white and smiling, an old man squeezes himself with three teenagers inside the frame of a smartphone’s camera, a click and a flash sending the photograph into the world of social media.

Seconds later, cyberspace was abuzz with talk of the first ever “papal selfie.” For the old man in the immaculate robes was no other than Christ’s vicar, the leader of millions of Catholics across the globe—Pope Francis I.

Construction

Before he became known as Francis I, Jose Mario Bergoglio was a chemical technician until he decided to enter the Jesuit order. As a priest, he became known for his simple lifestyle—a humble cleric who lived in a modest apartment and cooked his own meals. In the weeks leading to his election as Pope, the media emphasized his concern for the poor and the disenfranchised. As Pope, Francis I broke traditions and sympathized with homosexuals and atheists. Pope Francis I holds a certain appeal. The media calls it revolutionary.

In his Mythologies, Roland Barthes discussed how hegemonic institutions such as the Church create myths that conceive an image of their present ideologies.

For instance, in the time of Pope John Paul II, globalization began to permeate the world’s consciousness. Therefore, a pope that travels was imperative as it was important for the Church to make its presence felt.

Because of the perceived decline of the youth’s religious participation, the Vatican also made the pope a role model for the youth by initiating World Youth Day, making him write poetry, and having films about him made. Together, the church and the media created a pop cult youth icon, reigniting the world’s interest in the papacy.

Getting closer to home, Pedro Calungsod is another example. To create a politico-religious icon—to subsume people under the logic of colonialism and Catholicism—it was necessary for the Church to raise into sainthood even those who are from the ranks of the masses.

Calungsod was unknown in his diocese until his endorsement for beatification. The Church used the martyr formula to make Calungsod the quintessential saint. His sainthood was seen to spark holiness and faith revival in the country. 

The Church used a similar formula for Bergoglio. The Holy See recognizes a decline of faithful for the past decades. In 2008 alone, the Week reported that almost 400,000 people left the Church. Even in the Philippines, Catholic groups like C4RG (Catholics for Reproductive Health) continue to support laws that the Church is strongly against.

To revitalize membership, the Church needed Pope Francis to invite and keep the masses in the fold. It is no wonder then that the pope breaks into pop culture by taking “selfies,” phoning ordinary people, and being seen while doing activities his flock go through every day. The media is always quick to brand these actions as fresh, new and revolutionary.

Contradictions

Eyebrows were raised when the Vatican recently readmitted liberation theology, a movement which aims to apply the teachings of Christ in the struggle against the world’s social injustices. Under his guidance, the Pope’s desire to reform the Catholic Church as a “poor church for the poor” becomes concrete. Though he does not label himself as a liberation theologian, he believes in the uplift of the poor and the oppressed.

However, while the Supreme Pontiff showed sympathy to the LGBT community, saying they should not be judged or marginalized, the Pope maintained that homosexuals should not act upon their sexuality because it is a sin. He also opposed gay marriage, shutting down any chance for the gay faithful to pursue family life.

Moreover, while the pope recognizes the significance of women in the Catholic community by referencing the Virgin Mary as even more important than the apostles, he kept the doors closed on women who aspire to preach the word of God.

To add to the contradictions, Bergoglio was the leader of the inquisition of progressive revolutionaries during the Argentine Dirty War. Even with the Church condemning worldwide violence such as Syria, the papacy clearly has to go beyond washing feet, kowtowing to royalties, and sending letters to political figures to effect social change.

Deconstruction

Religion and politics have never been two distinct things for the Church. As a monolithic institution, the Church needed to preserve its power and influence. And in the realm of religious power play, every player must exhaust its means to do so. The papacy then needs to be reinvented to stall the Church’s perceived decline.

Like it had done to almost every pontiff, the church yet again has to create a myth out of Pope Francis. To reinforce the status quo, he must integrate pop culture with religious stimulus as a form of motivation. Commonplace cultural images like committing fashion faux pas and riding public transportation are married to political agendas. The façade would appear normal, modern, and revolutionary and it is imperative to look like so.

The pope’s attempts to usher the papacy beyond the usual boundaries and limitations of the Church, however, must not be dismissed as insincere. But to do so, Pope Francis I must face the challenge of being brave enough to continue opposing even the traditions of the church, for it takes persistence to bolster social change in an institution that has always been conservative. For now, the Pope is forced to limit his efforts to the shallow joys of selfies and symbolic acts.

The pope surely is commendable in his efforts to usher in a new era of Catholicism. But to truly achieve this goal, the Pope must go beyond words and symbolic acts and push for progressive actions which will birth a new social order. ●

Published in print in the Collegian’s September 13, 2013 issue, with the headline “Pontifex Viva!”