by Johnny Zokovitch
Lost perhaps in the torrent of news that rushes past us each day is an interesting encounter that Pope Leo had on his apostolic visit through Spain in June. In his stop in Barcelona, the Holy Father had a dialogue with three young people, each of whom drew on their own very personal experiences to raise questions for him to consider and respond to. The questions touched on the emptiness of a culture concerned with image and productivity, struggles with depression and mental illness, and an experience of domestic violence and its repercussions.
What struck me was both the content and manner in which the pope responded.
In my travels around the United States over the past few decades, I have worshiped at many Catholic churches and consistently come across a style of preaching that is best described as spiritual self-help. The homilies delivered by these priests (it’s almost always priests, with the occasional deacon – but, of course, all men) run the gamut from being utterly atrocious to quite beautiful and moving. What they all have in common though is that the words are aimed at the individual, focusing on the personal journey of the self. The advice doled out, for instance, can be quite terrible – praying the rosary will rid you of your addiction to porn. Or quite meaningful – God created you and loves you just as you are. Regardless of the melody (or lack thereof), the song of the self, though, remains the same.
What was refreshing in Pope Leo’s response to the young people in Barcelona was that his dialogue with them situated their personal stories in the larger social and historical realities which both shape and impact their lives. What he offered was his understanding that their intensely personal experiences didn’t exist in a vacuum but were situated in the broader contexts of culture, economics, politics and history. In other words, his preaching responded to their particular reality by employing social analysis to make sense of the deep struggles each had undergone.
The first young person lamented that one grew up learning that “the only goal in life is to be productive, succeed and maintain our image,” and that despite pursuing those things, all he had found was an “immense emptiness.”
After referencing how humans had a restlessness which keeps us searching, and the need to go inward and delve deeper, Pope Leo pivoted to this:
“In our societies, the idolatry of profit and performance, the drive to always produce and win, as well as the cult of self-image, are nothing more than anesthetics designed to numb our conscience and mold it to a certain vision of society. When people learn to pause and value what is important, appreciate time in a new way and reflect on their own lives while allowing themselves to be enlightened by the Gospel, they also develop a critical perspective on a social system that does not put people first and creates situations of injustice and existential poverty at various levels.”
The second question came from a young teacher who had attempted suicide because of mental illness. She tenderly asked the pope, “Where can we see God when the darkness is absolute and we cannot take it anymore?”
While incorporating Jesus’ suffering in addressing how God is close to us even when we cannot feel that presence and also warning against spiritualizing pain as “God’s will,” Pope Leo again widened the lens.
“In your question, you first referred to depression as a ‘silent illness.’ It is important to recognize how mental health is increasingly threatened in the context of societies that consider themselves advanced. This is a sign that there is something deeply wrong with a certain notion of progress that subjects people to pressures, expectations and tensions that compromise healthy balances. For this reason, we need a healthcare system that prioritizes this invisible and widespread malaise, which also affects young people.”
And the third question came from a young woman who had watched her father attempt to kill her mother, and how her mother then spiraled into addiction and she ended up in social services, living in a juvenile detention center before a profound religious conversion. She shared with the Holy Father that she was struggling to forgive her father and that she knew this stood in the way of her own reconciliation with God.
Pope Leo spoke kindly to her of forgiveness as a process and a journey, but he also used his answer to address domestic violence and its “anthropological and cultural roots,” calling for a society where justice, peace and fraternity may reign.
“If violence exists, if selfishness prevails, if even love among family members turns into hatred, we must question the dynamics of our society, the culture of individualism and the temptation of violence — but not God.”
Good preaching, it seems to me, can blend the personal and the social dimensions of our existence; the gospels certainly portray Jesus as both affecting the needs of individuals he encounters as well as critiquing the social systems that underpin their suffering and marginalization.
Our priests today would do well to acquaint themselves with the tool of social analysis that both Pope Leo and Jesus engage so well.
Johnny Zokovitch is the former executive director of Pax Christi USA. He currently serves on the board of the Pax Christi International Fund for Peace and is in pastoral leadership at St. Cronan Catholic Church in St. Louis. Read more from Johnny at https://johnnyzokovitch.substack.com/ and sign up there to receive his articles directly to your email inbox.
Thanks for making the connection between the personal and the social.
Thanks, Johnny, for your consistently fine writing!
Johnny, thank you for your reflection on Pope Leo’s intercourse with the young people. I was aware of his visit to Spain, Barcelona, however, not the details that you addressed. I agree with you, we have a terrible need for how the gospel is preached. Let us pray for our spiritual advisers that they follow the advice of their current leader.