Missio’s National Director in England and Wales, Fr Anthony Chantry (pictured above with the late Holy Father) pays tribute to Pope Francis, the ‘missionary Pope’:
I was twenty years old when I took up the call to become a Mill Hill Missionary priest. Back then my ideas about the nature and character of mission had a certain understandable naivety about them. While I never doubted Jesus Christ’s clear command to proclaim the coming of God’s Kingdom and to make disciples of all the nations, my understanding has matured with time.
It has been formed by fifty years of missionary experience and inspired by a long line of inspirational people. However, in recent years, it is Pope Francis who had the greatest influence upon me as someone who dreamt of a Church permanently in a state of mission.
Soon after he was elected, Pope Francis issued Evangelii Gaudium (the Joy of the Gospel). It proved to be not just an essential guide to the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world, but it also set out his agenda for the Church that he followed faithfully all through his pontificate.
In that great pastoral message, he echoed the words of Pope Benedict XVI, who reminded us that being a Christian is an encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction (cf Deus Caritas Est).
Pope Francis taught us that our witness to the Gospel is based upon a relationship with the Risen Christ and there can be no true evangelisation without the explicit proclamation of Jesus Christ; that the Gospel is the most beautiful message that this world can offer and must not be buried under a pile of excuses.
At our Missio meetings with him in Rome, the Pope often reminded us that we are not an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) but responsible for supporting and nurturing the missionary spirit among the People of God. The Church is not here to solve all economic, social, and political problems, but its prophetic role challenges evil where it is found and must witness to the love of God that sets us free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness.
Pope Francis taught us that evangelisation is first and foremost about preaching the Gospel to those who do not know Christ. Everyone has the right to receive the Gospel, especially the poor and the sick, and those who are usually despised and overlooked. They are the privileged recipients of the Gospel.
The joy of the Gospel comes from the God who revealed his immense love in the crucified and risen Christ. With his endearing sense of humour, Pope Francis reminded us that in proclaiming this we must never look as if we have just come back from a funeral! We must communicate the joy of knowing Jesus Christ, for this is what will attract people to him.
The Holy Father regularly spoke of ‘reaching out’ as the principal verb of evangelisation, a Church prepared to be bruised, hurting and dirty because it is out ‘on the streets of humanity’.
His vision of the Church of the future, and his passion for mission, have been forged in the furnace of pastoral experience, with a respect for Tradition and Sacred Scripture, and deeply rooted in his personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
His intense devotion to Mary, Queen of the Missions, helped him to bear radiant witness to the joy of the Gospel through faithful service and humility, ardent faith, love of the poor and an openness to all.
In my own personal meetings with him in Rome I was impressed by his stamina, his wisdom and his tranquil spirit that sprang from his profound relationship with the Risen Christ.
Whenever he spoke to me personally, he focused only on me and gave me his full attention, as he does with everyone. Few of us can achieve this with the same sincerity that was a hallmark of his ministry.
When I gave him a Red Box as the longstanding symbol of the commitment to mission of Catholics in England and Wales, he smiled and said he hoped we would fill it with prayers as well as money. I assured him we do!
For my part, I believe the Church is immensely richer in missionary zeal because of his teachings and witness, and I give thanks for the inspirational figure he was for me; a gentle, challenging shepherd who had the ‘smell of the sheep’ about him.
Fr Anthony Chantry MHM
National Director
Missio England & Wales