As I write this column, we are all very thankful to God that the recent lung surgery, which our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, underwent was successful without any complications. His surgery made concrete something he said less than a week before his surgery, in his opening address on the occasion of the Conference for the 10th Anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical, Amoris Laetitia. It is very possible that the pope knew at the time of his address of his entering the hospital in just a few days.
Pope Leo spoke of fragility and that which families in difficult situations experience and how they must never lose sight of the grace of God in such situations. He said, “Fragility deserves special attention for it can profoundly shape the way people see themselves, their future, and even their relationship with God and with the Church. The experience of fragility raises the question of whether we are able to remain close to one another when life no longer corresponds to what had been hoped for, and whether we can recognize the work of grace, even in situations marked by limits, wounds and apparent failure.” Certainly, the pope was facing the experience of fragility in learning of the nodule on his lung and the upcoming surgery he would face.
While fragility is a necessary part of human existence, it is difficult to acknowledge honestly. Pope Leo gave a splendid example of facing fragility with honesty and candor in making the announcement about the surgery and in facing it with a great deal of peace. Even the pope’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, made reference to this. He said, “We were all struck by his serenity. He spoke very calmly. The Holy Father is a great example in this regard.” The cardinal expressed that, “No one expected it, but there are, as the pope said, God’s surprises.”
Many times, fragility is treated as an illusion because of the unexpected difficulties. To live with fragility can cause us a great deal of fear, anxiety and an inability to move forward. At the same time, to make it an illusion can be a detriment as we deny the reality of what we face and the grace of God that is always present to us within it.
The only one who truly understands and heals our fragile human condition is Christ. He freely took our fragile nature to Himself when He became one of us. It was He, “Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in all appearance, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-9). Christ was born under the poorest of conditions at Bethlehem. He experienced the temptations of the devil. He was scorned and rejected by so many who could not accept Him. He felt real pain, physically and emotionally, and cried real tears as part of the fragility of life. He freely accepted death in order that He might rise from the dead so that we could have life and that He might always be with us in hope, even in the most fragile of situations.
Christ not only accepted fragility, He transformed it and conquered it. Christ did not make fragility go away from us in our weak human nature. However, by his accepting of it, He transformed and conquered it so that it does not have the ultimate power over us in regard to the meaning of life. Because of Christ’s acceptance of the cross, He is there with us whenever we experience fragility within our lives. We are not alone. He is with us and calls us by name, just as He did to the disciples and apostles who did not recognize Him after His Resurrection, even though they were looking directly at Him. Christ gives us life each and every day because He gives us the fullness of the life of His Father. We will ultimately face the final fragility of life in death, but through Christ’s Resurrection we will be raised into the fullness of life, where every tear, sorrow and fragility will be taken away.
In a previous but only other hospitalization within his life, which Pope Leo recounted to Elise Ann Allen for his biography, there is the reality of another fragility in life which the pope faced. In 1985, a short time after arriving in Peru as a missionary, Pope Leo came down with a severe case of typhoid fever, which required his hospitalization. The pope recalled praying to God to let him die rather than continue with the horrible pain of the illness. He recalled that this experience solidified his decision to stay in Peru, having gone through the natural transition of moving to a new part of the world, and then the acceptance of the illness. The fragility of this time in his life ultimately was crucial in what would become the course of his ministry. By trusting in God, who was with him in the fragile circumstances, Pope Leo rose above the fragilities of life and was strengthened through them. He recounted that he said to God, “If this is your sense of humor, Lord, I think you could do a little better.”
Pope Leo gives us a living homily in his words regarding the power of vulnerability in shaping how people view themselves. He is giving us living testimony at the present moment as he continues his hospital stay and his recovery from the surgery. We are extremely blessed by the relatively young and strong American who has become our Holy Father, especially as he witnesses his personal faith before the world in word and action. As he continues his recovery, we continue to fervently pray for him and for the mission which God has entrusted to him as the Vicar of Christ on earth. May his recovery be speedy, complete and a reminder to us that God chooses human beings to carry out his mission, and their human fragility does not get in the way. When accepted with Christ, fragility can become a pillar of healing.
Viva il Papa!
Most Reverend Gerald M. Barbarito
