This is the 10-year revolution Pope Francis has led | Opinion

Revolutions start from below, which is why Pope Francis’ Catholic revolution is so remarkable. But from the moment he appeared on the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square ten years ago on March 13, he revealed that he would not be an ordinary pontiff.  He would take the term literally and build bridges especially with Catholics who were estranged from or neglected by the church.

He called it going out to “the peripheries,” where you find gay and trans people, divorced and remarried people, migrants, homeless individuals and victims of clerical sexual abuse.  He articulated a plan to accompany them and learn from their experiences so Catholics go beyond peoples' comfort zones.  He wants Catholics to become missionaries in the broadest sense of the word.

And, in the process, Pope Francis set out to find a call to mission embrace the holiness for all people articulated in the Second Vatican Council begun 60 years ago. That holiness is not the privilege of the hierarchy or clergy or religious.  In fact, Francis has called out his own cardinals back in his Christmas address to them in 2021:

“The proud, on the other hand, simply repeat, grow rigid and enclose themselves in that repetition, feeling certain about what they know and fearful of anything new because they cannot control it.”

It looked like some Cardinals got coal from Santa as well as from Francis that Christmas.

The high and mighty would be dethroned in Francis’ orbit by broadening his benchmark to include all the baptized.  Thus, his recent reform of the Curia, the Vatican departments, now include about one dozen laywomen and men working alongside the hierarchy and clergy in deliberations — even in the powerful dicastery that vets priests to become bishops.  The second in charge of running the day-to-day operations of the Vatican is now a Catholic nun.

This move, along with his broadening of the use of synodality to make all Catholic stakeholders, has rankled many formerly prominent cardinals removed by Francis and ultra conservatives in the church — especially in the U.S.  Francis is aware of their opposition and simply waves them off, saying that they have the freedom to criticize.  It has not deterred him from moving the church in a new direction.

What he has set in motion comes out of his lived experience as archbishop of Buenos Aires, where he moved out of the luxury palace to live in a simple apartment among the people. He walked the streets with them, said Mass outside in the public squares of their barrios and rode the subway alongside them. After the Jesuits appointed him provincial at the unheard age of 36, which he admitted he handled poorly, Jorge Bergoglio underwent a conversion of sorts. He eschewed the overt political posturing of liberation theologians to empower the people to embrace the Gospel in their daily lives. And he led by example.

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Which is what he does everyday in the Vatican by living in the guest house with the gardeners, cooks and employees, taking his food on the cafeteria line and saying Mass in their chapel. His daily homilies are like a guidepost to renewal and reform in their daily lives.

The first Jesuit pope to take the name of the saint known for his simplicity, love for the poor and care for the environment, Francis has been embraced by the world community. His voice of conscience can cut through the posturing of politicians and his prophetic calls can sting because of his truth-telling when many use double-speak.

His most powerful witness, though, is representing for the Church as the Vicar of Christ on earth. Francis, therefore, reveals to us how Christ would lead and teach were he here today. Jesus Christ was at heart a revolutionary who sought to lead people, especially those disenfranchised from religion, to a deeper love of God in a spirit of compassion and mercy. And Francis leads by example.

The Very Rev. Alexander M. Santora is the pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Grace and St. Joseph, Hoboken, New Jersey.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: This is the 10-year revolution Pope Francis has led