Guest Voice of James Drane: Pope Could Spur Christian Unity

By James F. Drane
Goerie
August 10, 2013

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Pope Francis is a reform-minded pope. He started his papacy with a Vatican Bank reform, and this was certainly needed. Italian authorities recently arrested a priest employee of the Vatican Bank who was already under investigation for money laundering; Monsignor Nunzio Scarano was charged with conspiring to move 20 million euros in cash from Switzerland to Italy for his friends. All of this gave credence to long-circulated rumors that some of the Vatican Bank's clerical accounts were being used for illegal purposes.

The Vatican Bank's purpose was to finance papal projects and religious charities. In fact, however, it has been a focus of scandal for some time. Recent coverage of the Vatican Bank scandal shocked Americans, but in Italy, the news was a source of entertainment. The Italian government stopped doing business with the Vatican Bank some time ago because of the bank's lack of financial transparency.

Pope Francis moved fast to fumigate the Vatican Bank. He appointed a trusted bishop to the top post and created a committee of advisers to report directly to him. He continues to introduce more and more transparency and accountability. The question is, could this be the beginning of an even more extensive church reform?

Moneyval, a bank monitoring agency under the Council of Europe, praised Pope Francis' actions, but it also made clear that the Vatican Bank needed more reforms. Can Pope Francis continue to make the needed reforms?

In Brazil, he asked Catholic bishops to get out of their stuffy sacristies; to reach out to ordinary people and address their needs. Could the pope himself do something similar, i.e., reach out beyond the bank and the borders of the Catholic community to address the needs of all Christian people? When he was head of the Jesuit community and later the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis reached out to form friendships with and to carry out ecumenical projects with Protestant and Jewish leaders. Could he continue to do something similar as pope? If so, changes in the church could be monumental and historical.

Reform of the Vatican Bank is one thing, but great leaders take broader leaps. Banking is not known for its virtue. Cheating appears to be commonplace over the banking world. The Dodd-Frank Act was enacted to scrutinize the U.S. banking industry, but no one believes that this is all that is needed.

The Vatican Bank could be a symbol for the whole Catholic Church. Certain reforms have always been needed, and reform movements always existed within the church. Some popes, for example John XXIII, organized worldwide meetings (Second Vatican Council) and carried out widespread reforms. Reforms were certainly needed in the early 16th century church. Meetings were called at the Council of Trent, and changes were made, but not enough to satisfy reformers or to offset the Protestant Reformation.

Almost 500 years have passed and now the church, which should be an image of the one Jesus and his one message, is fragmented into thousands of different churches. Could the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation provide an occasion for a reform-minded Pope Francis to reach out for widespread reforms and needed reunion?

What if reform-minded Pope Francis invited to the Vatican lead representatives from the major Protestant denominations to form a committee with certain bishops, first for reform of the Vatican Bank and then for broader church reform? Francis could cooperate with them the way he did as a Jesuit leader and the archbishop of Buenos Aires. This broader ecumenical committee would have to include nuns who represent women in the church and the changes that they want. Such a committee would be a giant leap toward healing 500 years of alienation and division.

In Brazil, Pope Francis urged the bishops he met to reach out to ordinary Christians from whom they have been out of touch for centuries. What if Pope Francis did the same with women and leaders of separated Christian communities? This would provide today's separated Christians with influence that the original reformers were denied 500 years ago.

Reformers in the 16th century wanted to have a role in reforming the worldwide church. This role could finally be provided to today's Protestant leaders. They would become members of a papal committee, first for reform of the Vatican Bank, then for broader changes needed in the whole church.

Stand by and keep an eye on things in Rome. Ordinary persons today could become observers of and participants in worldwide and long-delayed changes in the church that could bring all Christians to a needed closer union.