‘Papa rock star’: What do local Catholics think of Pope Francis I

Pope Francis has elicited strong reactions around the world in the nine months since his papacy began. While pundits have recently batted his statements about capitalism around, much more attention has been given to his focus on the world’s poor and his take on the Roman Catholic Church’s role in the modern world.

The new tone strikes some Catholics, like Riverhead resident Shirley Densieski, as a breath of fresh air.

“This Pope is genuinely in love with all people. He doesn’t come to judge, he is here to bond people. Got to love that about him! As a Catholic, I feel that quality has been missing for too long,” she said.

Pope Francis articulated some of his views on the ills of modern Christianity in a widely-reported Oct. 17 homily, published on Vatican Radio.

“The faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology, And ideology does not beckon [people]. In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid. And when a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought… For this reason Jesus said to them: ‘You have taken away the key of knowledge.’ The knowledge of Jesus is transformed into an ideological and also moralistic knowledge, because these close the door with many requirements.”

Sister Margaret Smyth of the North Fork Spanish Apostolate said she has been struck by the excitement she’s heard regarding the new pope, from Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

“In all instances, the people are excited because they feel like what the Pope has been saying is bringing us back to the roots of who we should be,” she said.

Smyth, who works with Spanish-speaking immigrants in the region from her Riverhead office, said the news of the Argentinian’s cardinal’s selection in March was met with “a tremendous sense of pride” in that community. At the Sunday Spanish Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church following the announcement, a man from Argentina enthusiastically cried out that he and the pope were both from that country and both loved soccer. She said many are following Pope Francis’ movements and statements as they make headlines.

Father Larry Duncklee, pastor at St. John’s, said his change of tone may be different from what people are used to, but his message is as old as the Church.

“Basically, the bottom line is that he is not saying anything new. Nothing new. He’s highlighting aspects of the Church’s teaching that previously have not been highlighted, or haven’t been highlighted in our recent memory. So he’s very much stressing social justice, and social justice is a core constitutive element of the Gospels,” Duncklee said.

Social justice had been a tenet championed by the Church during the late 1970s when Duncklee was finishing seminary, with immigration becoming a more prominent issue at that time. He described Francis’ focus on poverty and economic injustice is one that might shake up a community that has traditionally placed a greater emphasis on giving than other forms of assistance.

“In this community here, or many Catholic communities – the Catholic Church is probably the largest group in any particular area – the Catholic people are very generous, very charitable. When it comes to social justice, they don’t move as well as, like, a Methodist church would. It’s just not in their fiber, and it’s also part of it – many of the bishops don’t,” he said.

While classes at St. John’s teaching scripture are well-attended each month, a social justice group has attracted three members so far. Duncklee said that despite a change of pope and direction for the Church, a sea change by the Church’s global following doesn’t happen fast.

“It doesn’t affect their day-to-day life,” Duncklee said of the pope’s statements on congregants. “It doesn’t affect the life of the Church yet. It takes time to filter down. You’re talking at least 10 years of appointing new bishops when the bishops die or retire, and he’ll appoint bishops that are more in his mindset.”

Duncklee used the example of previous popes using the phrase, “Hate the sin; love the sinner.” Pope Francis approaches it differently.

“Francis has said, ‘These people are our brothers and sisters.’ He doesn’t use the word that they’ve sinned. Now, if you’re to ask him— yes, it’s a sin, but he doesn’t bring that out first. He’s saying they’re our brothers and sisters, let’s pray with them, let’s work with them.”

Supervisor Sean Walter is a practicing Catholic and member of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic-based charitable organization. He called Pope Francis’ commitment to the poor and humility “awe-inspiring.” He said someone sent him an article about Rush Limbaugh’s reaction to the pope’s Evangelii Gaudium, in which Pope Francis criticized “idolatry of money” and growth of the income gap between the world’s rich and poor.

Limbaugh said, “This is just pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the pope. There’s no such — ‘unfettered capitalism’? That doesn’t exist anywhere.”

Walter said capitalism only works well as a system if founded on principles like those of the Judeo-Christian faith. He said he interprets the pope’s message not as an indictment of economic success, but a reminder that there is more to success than one’s own satisfaction.

“God wants you to be successful, but it’s what you do with those millions that matters to God,” he said.

Smyth said the message is simply to be conscious of others and to seek to serve their needs as people do their own.

“It’s not being called to be poor, but called to look at how you live and what you do for other people,” she said. “What I do affects what others can do. You can develop a ripple effect. Sometimes you get overwhelmed by how big the problems are, but you take it one step at a time and you find you can do a lot.”

Photo captions, from top: 1. Pope Francis among the people in St. Peter’s Square, May 12. Photo Credit: Edgar Jiménez via Wikimedia Commons 2. Father Larry Duncklee, pastor at St. John the Evangelist Church in Riverhead. RiverheadLOCAL photo by Micah Danney

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