Thought for Today
Ecclesiastes 3:4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Jeremiah 48:17 Mourn over him, all you his neighbors, and all who know his name; say, "How the mighty scepter is broken, the glorious staff!"
Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church died Monday, April 21, 2025. Most who read these Thoughts are Protestant Christians. The majority of readers live in eastern Massachusetts. Although the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was initially settled by Pilgrims and Puritans, subsequent European immigrants came from predominantly Catholic nations and areas. The death of the Pope has featured prominently in the news since Monday.
What is the proper reaction of Protestant Christians to the death of a Roman Catholic Pope? For our co-religionists, our siblings in Christ, this is a time to weep, a time to mourn. They have lost a much-beloved spiritual leader. The chief executive of the approximately 1.4 billion Catholics in the world has died. A deliberative process to select a new leader for those 1.4 billion worshipers will soon begin. What is the proper response for the world’s 1.05 billion Protestants?
In the 1st century A.D. there was only a single Christian faith. Different countries and regions did have varying organizational and governing systems. There was a welter of bishops, presbyters, and priests, but only a single Church. “The East-West Schism, also known as the Great Schism or the Schism of 1054, is the break of communion between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church . . . Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida, O.S.B., . . . excommunicated . . . Cerularius, and in response Cerularius excommunicated Humbert and the other legates.” (en.wikipedia.org) Cerularius was the Patriarch of Constantinople. First there was one, then there were two.
On October 31, 1517, a German Catholic priest posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Most credit this date as the birth of Protestantism. First there was one, then two, now . . .
Now, today, there are countless faith traditions within Christendom. So, what is the proper response for all of us who are not Roman Catholic to the death of the much-beloved spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church? None of the fractures in Christendom were amicable. At times in the history of our shared belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the One True God, there have been times of great animosity, even persecution of each other. At other times there have been periods of ecumenism, attempts to find common ground in advancing the Kingdom of God.
I believe Christians everywhere in Christendom should mourn the loss of any Christian of any faith tradition. Irrespective of our differences in how we worship, in how we understand our theology or in how we witness our faith in our daily lives, we are all equally children of the One True God, the Father. Irrespective of all those differences, we all have echoed Peter’s answer to Jesus, "Matthew 16:16 You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Most of us believe and accept Paul’s words “Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”
Some of our brothers-and-sisters-in-the-faith are suffering the loss of a much-beloved spiritual leader. Our scriptures and our shared faith call the rest of us to comfort and console, to mourn ourselves the loss of a child of God. Christendom has lost a champion of the faith, a shepherd to the faithful. While many of us do not agree with everything he believed, said or did, we share with him and with all Christians our faith in Christ and our call to “Luke 10:27 . . . love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."
Stay safe, comfort all who mourn, trust God,
Pastor Ray