A review of ‘The church of mercy’ by Pope Francis
Years ago, when I announced the subject for my dissertation at Spurgeon’s College, it had to go to the Academic Board for approval. As an ‘analysis of Paul’s use of Maccabean martyology in Romans’, it was a little on the unusual side. My tutor came to tell me the subject had been approved, but not without first telling me that the staff had “rolled around and slapped their thighs and said it was the kind of thing no Spurgeon’s student should write about”. I wonder what they would think, then, of me reviewing the new Pope’s first book?
My acquaintance with the Roman Catholic church is distant, at best, and much of it forged during a brief stay in Belgium many years ago. In the light of this, I opened the book with no small degree of trepidation. Chapter headings such as ‘Mary:the mother of evangelisation’ did little to allay it. However, what I found more than anything else was a deep and sonorous hymn of praise to the quality of mercy.It plays throughout the book like the deep note of a cello carrying a melody in the background. Occasionally another voice will rise above it:
- Shrill and piercing, like a piccolo: “Jesus is the everlasting today of God”
- Clear and urgent, like a trumpet: “I would prefer a bruised church a thousand times over an ill church”
- Mellow and evocative, like a saxophone: “Only when we are able to share do we become truly rich”
- Haunting, like an oboe’s melancholy note to the pastor’s heart: “Pastors must have the odour of their sheep”
I started reading the book because I wanted to reflect on mercy, and I was not disappointed. How could I be when I read descriptions such as this? “Only someone who has been caressed by the tenderness of mercy is happy and comfortable with the Lord”.
For me, the book’s key surprise was its genuine appreciation of the pastoral ministry and its appreciation for those who exercise it. Read it – especially if you are outside the Roman Catholic church, and expect to be surprised.
Click to order from Darton Longman Todd
