Exemplary transformational leadership

Pope Francis waves to the crowd as he arrives at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on 26 September – AFP/Getty Images 

The Catholic Church is the oldest organisation known to man. It is over 2,000 years old. The “slum” former Archbishop of Buenos Aires, now its leader, Pope Francis is shaking its very foundation. He has taken on its finances, the scandals and abuses within, its organisation structure, its very purpose for existence, climate change, the United Nations, the global financial system, the global refugee crisis, immigration, capitalism and the purpose of business, the nuclear challenge, basic human rights, the death penalty (“thou shall not kill”), the foundation of the USA and I think above all, the sanctity and celebration of life, marriage and family, the very foundation of any society and civilisation. The test of any nation or civilisation is how it treats the least of its citizens – the poor and marginalised, the vulnerable, its prisoners. Resistance to this change and transformation has begun. Will he succeed? I hope, for the sake of humanity, that he does. His meeting with and embracing of representatives of all religions at Ground Zero was unprecedented.

 

Reason to return “home”

Pope Francis mesmerised nearly all Sri Lankans early this year, Cubans last week and Americans in the last 10 days. This shepherd of the Catholic Church and his relentless focus on the Gospel and the Risen Christ should give every Catholic in Sri Lanka and the world who has left the church to join a fundamentalist evangelical church a very compelling reason to return “home”.

Almost every faith now recognises this extraordinary leader of the Catholic Church as the most respected and admired moral leader on the world stage today. This is exemplary servant leadership. Last week, he shook the very foundation of the Church and the nation itself in Cuba. It is reported that President Raul Castro of Cuba after his first private encounter with Pope Francis in the Vatican told the Pope that he is even thinking of returning to the Catholic Church. Raul Castro must have seen the power of the Gospel in the person and life of Francis. Not mere preaching and words but a life lived. Both Fidel Castro and his brother Raul as children had studied in a Jesuit Catholic School in Cuba! 

 

Impact on the USA

What impact did the Pontiff have on the USA in the last few days? It is reported that no world leader in recent history has had the profound impact on the highly polarised and divided US Congress as Pope Francis. A great leader must be the healer, reconciler and servant in chief! He turned down having lunch with the Congressional leaders to have lunch with the homeless. 

He even challenged America which shamefully has the world’s highest incarceration rate – 25% of the world’s prison population – to abolish the death penalty. Only he could have done this. A great leader always does the right thing no matter what the cost. Not the expedient thing. They always do unto others what they want done unto them.

What also touched the hearts of everyone in the audience, was his remarks on the unprecedented refugee crisis in the world and the highly explosive immigration debate in the USA. One Republican Presidential Candidate even wants to build a wall between Mexico and the USA to prevent immigrants from Latin America and Mexico coming in! 

“I am the son of immigrants; we must not be afraid of the foreigner. Most of you were foreigners once…I am happy to be a guest in this country which was largely built by immigrant families,” the Pope said to the US Congress at the White House. Remember, the Gospel tells us that “there was no room for the infant Jesus in the Inn”. The Lord was a refugee and homeless!

 

Sri Lanka

Why should this matter to Catholics in Sri Lanka and why should the example of Pope Francis make those who have left return to the Church? I would encourage every Catholic, and every Fundamentalist Evangelical Pastor to read the booklet by Pope Francis, ‘Evangelii Gaudiem: The Joy of the Gospel’.

I am told that almost half of the congregation in Fundamentalist Evangelical Churches in Colombo and Sri Lanka are Catholics. There are those who attend both a Catholic Mass and a “praise and worship” service at a Fundamentalist Evangelical Church. Why is this? It is time the Bishops in the Catholic Church and the Priests and Nuns in Sri Lanka wake up to this reality. The senior Bishops knew my late uncle Monsignor Manik Muttukumaru who served in Rome and Sri Lanka well. 

The Catholics have left the Church or are “torn between two lovers” because of deep disappointment with their Priests and Churches. Even among the Evangelical Protestant Churches in Colombo, there are those who drift between churches. Part of the answer lies in the words of the song by the legendary singer and humanitarian Bono of U2, “I still haven’t found what I am looking for”. The other part of the answer lies in the reality that Catholics have found their spiritual and emotional needs filled by the preaching and “fellowship” experience in the Fundamentalist Evangelical Churches.

A very young and very talented preacher in Colombo is now captivating so many “disappointed” Catholics. He is a terrific salesman, has mastered their needs and is meeting them. The services are two to three hours long! Why can’t the Bishops and Priests in the Catholic Church wake up and do the same?

A Catholic Poster in Colombo has these words from Pope Francis to Catholics and Catholic leaders: “Wake up the world! Be witnesses of a different way of doing things, of acting, of living.” The Mission Statement of Pope Francis says: “I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security… we cannot remain shut within structures while at our door people are starving… end the boring preaching… the church must be an agent of evangelisation.”

Catholic Bishops and Priests must remember the words of Julius Caesar: “The fault dear Brutus lies not in our stars but in ourselves.” The fault for this exodus from the Catholic Church lies in the Bishops and Priests.

 

Servant leadership 

Servant leadership demands that the Bishops, Priests and even the Fundamentalist Evangelical Pastors live simply as servants. They must be credible. When the disciples asked Jesus where he lived, he answered: “Come and See… foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Do you know how your Bishop, Priest or Evangelical Pastor lives? Where he lives? What he drives? Can we call our Bishops, Priests and Pastors “Slum” Bishops, Priests and Pastors or Five Star Bishops, Priests and Pastors? Pope Francis uses a small car in the Vatican. In America, it was funny to watch his simple car surrounded by luxurious SUVs and limousines used by the security detail! He came to the White House in a small Fiat!

Families are in crisis. Marriages are in trouble. Husbands and wives are not fulfilling each other’s emotional, spiritual and physical needs. There is a severe crisis in the hearts and souls of so many men, women and children. Catholics hunger for the word of God. At the World Conference on Families in Philadelphia in the USA, Pope Francis threw away his prepared speech and spoke from the heart.

He said: “Husbands and wives will fight and quarrel. But never let the day end without making peace. God is love, he said, and every challenge, however painful, can be overcome by love. Love is about celebration. Love is joy. Love is moving forward.” Do Catholics need a Fundamentalist Evangelical Pastor to tell them this?

Bishops and Priests must have the same zeal and fire for the Lord as the Fundamentalist preachers, match their preaching and focus on teaching the real and total Gospel and not “a feel good and prosperity” gospel to bring Catholics back to the Church. Emotional and spiritual needs must be met. Young people must be fully engaged in the church. Problems must be addressed. So many people with serious problems within themselves and at home go from service to service, Bible study to Bible study without solving them. They wait for a miracle when the hard and painful work must be done by them.

 

The Gospel is all about behaviour 

The Gospel is not about what God can do for a person but what the Lord demands from every follower: “If any man (or woman) follows me, he (she) must take up his/her cross and follow me.” It is not a feel Good or prosperity gospel. So many people, Catholics, fundamentalists and even people of other faiths run to a ‘Miracle Night,’ a ‘prayer and healing service’ or to St. Anthony’s Church in Kochikade, looking for a miracle! 

The Gospel is all about behaviour. How does your spouse see you? How is your behaviour at home? How is your tongue at home? How do the people in your workplace see you? There are so many people who are deeply religious but spiritually dead. What are you? They say they are “born again” but what does this really mean? I have never got a clear answer. The Christian faith is all about doing and behaviour. 

Again, how do those closest to you in your family see you? Your co-workers? An authentic encounter with the Lord creates a new person that others see. A person who is not self-righteous, judgmental or proud. A person who lives to serve and is forgiving. “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. But he who does the will of my Father in Heaven.” And what is his will? That we love and forgive one another, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, give refuge to the homeless. Blessed Mother Teresa was one such person.

 

The Mass must be a celebration

I love my Evangelical Protestant brothers. But nothing can replace the Holy Mass. It is entirely Biblical. The masses that I have attended in Australia, Malaysia and in California have been real celebrations. In Colombo, they are mournful and the preaching boring. Even the Pope has said this in his mission statement! 

The Mass must be a celebration that people want to come to not because of an obligation but because they enjoy it and are spiritually fed. My question to my evangelical Protestant and Fundamentalist friends is, “What is your problem with the Mass? Why don’t you encourage the Catholics who come to you to go to Mass?”

Bishops and Priests and Nuns, wake up! To get your people back and not lose a single one again to the next Fundamentalist Evangelical Preacher, however good looking, who comes to town, you must do the following (a good looking Priest can also help to keep the women in the church!):

nPreach the Bible and the Word of God, not some version of it

nHelp each member of your flock to grow in their relationship with the Lord and serve others

nMake people feel engaged and that they belong; have fellowship regularly

nMeet the emotional and spiritual needs of every member immediately

nCreate a vibrant church

nMake the Mass a real celebration – there must be an emotional connection

nFully engage the youth. Develop an army of volunteers to help young people

nPreach a powerful and meaningful message/sermon that really touches the hearts (people are more emotional human beings than rational human beings)

nLet the people see that you spend more time with the poor and disenfranchised and not with the rich and powerful. Always be accessible to every member of your church.

Watching the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli sing the Our Father with the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra for Pope Francis in Philadelphia last week, I kept wondering why anybody would leave the Catholic Church with all its rich tradition and history of over 2,000 years. Again, the answer lies at the feet of every Bishop and Priest and even the nuns…

 

Catholics, come home to the Church

To my fellow Catholics who have left their Church or are drifting and “torn between two lovers”, go back to the Catholic Church and demand from the Priest and Bishop that your spiritual needs be met. Demand to learn about the Lord and the Word of God. Don’t be afraid to shake up the Bishops and Priests with love. Knock on their doors. They have taken a vow to serve you. Pope Francis is behind you. Tell them that they can be interrupted like the Lord was so many times. “Do not be afraid.”

Some of his greatest miracles resulted from interruptions. The Master rebuked the disciples when they tried to stop even one single person from approaching him. His special love, like Pope Francis, was for the little children. “Let the children come to me for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” We saw this with Pope Francis in Sri Lanka, Cuba and now the USA.

Are we in the “Last Days”? I don’t know. If we are, we have been warned that in the last days there will be false prophets who appear as angels of light and deceive even the elect. They will even do mighty things in the name of God, heal and cast out demons. We are also told that we will not be able to tell the difference between a real servant of God and a “false prophet”. My fellow Catholics, just be aware.

We are living in very confusing, exciting and challenging times. Catholics, come home to the Church where you belong with all its flaws but with a very rich tradition and history. Challenge your Bishops and Priests. Wake them up! Pope Francis wants you to.

(The writer is Author of ‘What it Means to be a Christian – a guide for Catholics and Evangelical Protestants’ and ‘How To Make a Marriage, Family and Relationship Last – a guide for intended and married couples’. The books are available at the Catholic Bookstore and Odel Book Shop. He can be reached via [email protected].)