Now, at last, we have a clear idea of what sort of Pope has taken over the Catholic Church.

His Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium the Joy of the Gospel challenges Catholics to reject a life of comfort and move into direct contact with the poor as a matter of great urgency. It tells them that the Church has become lazy, even without realising it. It says that traditional styles of worship are not necessarily suitable for newly evangelised non-Western people, or the modern world in general; and, in a passage that will truly trouble some conservatives, it raises the possibility that non-Christian religions are performing God's work, enriching souls albeit imperfectly. (All the emphases in bold are mine.) Non-Christians, by Gods gracious initiative, when they are faithful to their own consciences, can live justified by the grace of God, and thus be associated to the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ. But due to the sacramental dimension of sanctifying grace, Gods working in them tends to produce signs and rites, sacred expressions which in turn bring others to a communitarian experience of journeying towards God. While these lack the

meaning and efficacy of the sacraments instituted by Christ, they can be channels which the Holy Spirit raises up in order to liberate non-Christians from atheistic immanentism or from purely individual religious experiences. The same Spirit everywhere brings forth various forms of practical wisdom which help people to bear suffering and to live in greater peace and harmony. As Christians, we can also benefit from these treasures built up over many centuries, which can help us better to live our own beliefs. There is so much in this document to unsettle traditional Catholics, capitalists and yes liberals that I'm hard put to single out the most radical paragraph. But I think it's the one above. Catholic conservatives and Francis's friends in the Pentecostal churches will find it difficult to accept, even if it's possible to argue that every word in it has been said by the Church somewhere before. If this isn't a declaration that non-Christians go to heaven (something Rome has never denied but also never emphasised) then I don't know what is. At the heart of the document, though, lies a revelation of papal mission. Francis is saying:

I made it very clear when I was in Buenos Aires what sort of bishop I was, and now I'm telling you that I am still that sort of bishop: Here I repeat for the entire Church what I have often said to the priests and laity of Buenos Aires: 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. I do not want a Church concerned with being at the centre and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures. If something should rightly disturb us and trouble our consciences, it is the fact that so many of our brothers and sisters are living without the strength, light and consolation born of friendship with Jesus Christ, without a community of faith to support them, without meaning and a goal in life. More than by fear of going astray, my hope is that we will be moved by the fear of remaining shut up within structures which give us a false sense of security, within rules which make us harsh judges, within habits which make us feel safe, while at our door people are starving and

Jesus does not tire of saying to us: Give them something to eat (Mk 6:37). We should be afraid of being trapped by "harsh rules" but which rules does Francis have in mind? Not the rule that says women can't be priests: that's set in stone, he says, and I see that the BBC's uncompromisingly liberal David Willey is disappointed by that. Nor will Catholic opposition to abortion be softened. Perhaps there's a clue here: Everyone can share in some way in the life of the Church; everyone can be part of the community, nor should the doors of the sacraments be closed for simply any reason. This is especially true of the sacrament which is itself the door: baptism. The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak. These convictions have pastoral consequences that we are called to consider with prudence and boldness. Boldness? We shall have to see whether that means a more relaxed attitude towards people currently barred from the Eucharist, such as remarried divorcees; it sounds like it to me.

Then there's the question of reforming the Church's structures and here I do sense a departure from the views of Benedict XVI who (rightly, in my opinion) distrusted Bishops' Conferences. Pope Francis wants to devolve power in their direction, and also to redefine his own authority. Since I am called to put into practice what I ask of others, I too must think about a conversion of the papacy. It is my duty, as the Bishop of Rome, to be open to suggestions which can help make the exercise of my ministry more faithful to the meaning which Jesus Christ wished to give it and to the present needs of evangelisation. Pope John Paul II asked for help in finding a way of exercising the primacy which, while in no way renouncing what is essential to its mission, is nonetheless open to a new situation. We have made little progress in this regard. What would that "progress" looks like? This document raises as many questions as it answers, but I'm haunted by Francis's insistence that reality is more important than ideas: This calls for rejecting the various means of masking reality: angelic forms of purity,

dictatorships of relativism, empty rhetoric, objectives more ideal than real, brands of ahistorical fundamentalism, ethical systems bereft of kindness, intellectual discourse bereft of wisdom. These "masks of reality" are both religious and secular: the implication is that Catholicism will move towards flexibility where "rules" get in the way of evangelisation and the Church's mission to the poor. This mission, the Pope makes clear, cannot be dissociated from a rejection of heartless free-market capitalism that familiar target of papal pronouncements, condemned here with extreme clarity. It depends, of course, what you classify as heartless capitalism: the employment of sweatshop labour in developing countries by multinational corporations is unquestionably a scandal, but when Francis hints that the abolition of jobs by technological development is an avoidable evil, you do wonder if he's stumbled into naivety. On the other hand,there's nothing naive in the description of "the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart", an eloquent phrase that stares out at us from the second paragraph of this long document.

Also, the Pope reminds us that technological society has succeeded in multiplying occasions of pleasure, yet has found it very difficult to engender joy a quote from Paul VI, whose teaching authority Francis emphasises again and again in this exhortation. As I say, there is much to trouble traditionalist Catholics in Evangelii Gaudium; perhaps unnecessarily. In a sermon preached this week, Francis said: The temple is the place where the community goes to pray, to praise the Lord, to give thanks, but above all to adore: the Lord is adored in the temple. And this is the most important point. This is also true for liturgical ceremonies: in this liturgical ceremony, what is most important? The songs, the rites, they are all beautiful however, adoration is what is most important: the whole community togetherlook at the altar where the sacrifice is celebrated and adore. The influence of the Pope Emeritus is plain for all to see here; I sometimes wonder if Francis feels closer to Benedict XVI than he does to John Paul II, whose spiritual grandeur and occasional ferocity seems distant from the

spirit of this document. Also, when Francis talks of a Church that is "bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets", I can't help thinking of the street ministries of London parishes whose worship adheres closely to traditions that the Pope questions (but does not repudiate) in this fascinating document. It's not billed as such, of course, but I read Evangelii Gaudium as Francis's manifesto. To repeat, the text raises questions that are not answered, yet it's also strikingly coherent and carefully structured. If we are puzzled by some of the contents, that may the author's intention. The exhortation concludes with a long and slightly flowery prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary describing her as the "wellspring of happiness". That message, together Francis's vigorous defence of popular piety, means that we're not witnessing a shift in the direction of Protestantism. Moreover, the Pope's rejection of feelgood spirituality and fashionable causes such as women's ordination mean that his writing carries none of the aura of the trendy secularising cleric. (There's a nice mention of Rowan Williams but no indication that the

Pope has been influenced by Anglicanism.) Yet surely we're going to see shift away from some of the familiar structures and practices of Catholicism. And talking of which Catholic priests please take note that in paragraph 138 the Pope quite unambiguously says that a sermon "should be brief". (My own heartfelt emphasis.)