Have Faith

Have Faith

   Admittedly, I'm not much of a church-goer, although I find many religions fascinating and have recently read two books by ordained members of churches.  Perhaps there are simply too many choices and the lines so closely drawn in religious matters that other than broad jumps, say from Buddhist to Islam to Christianity, people search sometimes simply, sometimes at length-- for what suits their needs and makes them feel comfortable.  So it was interesting to suddenly see an article on Pope Benedict appear in The Atlantic and a few months later, an article on Pope Francis appear in Fortune.  Like many, 'I've found the Vatican often shrouded in mystery and controversy, the world's smallest nation still adding ever-increasing millions to its circle.

   "The Church is tired," the Jesuit Carlo Maria Martini said in one of his last interviews (in the vote that elected Pope Benedict, Martini was one vote ahead of Pope Francis and later gave all of his votes TO Pope Francis).  "Our culture has aged, our churches and monasteries are big and empty, the Church bureaucracy is bloated, our rites and vestments are pompous...Prosperity drags us down.  The Church," he told a fellow Jesuit (and quoted in The Atlantic) "is 200 years behind the times."

   When Pope Benedict resigned, the Argentine Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio aka Pope Francis (he became the first Pope to take the name of Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the poor) changed much in the Vatican.  Firing entire boards (the Vatican has nearly $1 billion in stocks and bonds alone yet money was largely handled within the Church), Pope Francis has brought in big outsiders...Deloitte & Touche, KPMG, McKinsey & Co., the former British governor of Hong Kong, etc.  As he addressed a recent meeting of seven top financiers, Fortune reported that "Francis declared that sound financial management was a pillar of his greatest mission: aiding the poor and underprivileged."

   A Pope of the people, as some followers have named him.  Even Fortune named him #1 (number ONE) on its list of World's Greatest Leaders earlier this year, saying, (his) "upbeat, quotable approach and emphasis on charity over doctrine have quickly made him perhaps the most talked-about and admired person on the planet."  Indeed, when my wife and I heard him speak at the packed Vatican Square, we saw people transfixed, laughing when he laughed, and easily captivated by his lyrical, almost grandfatherly way of speaking everyday talk.  His strength as a leader of the people comes primarily from his words and actions...big donors and companies get no special treatment.  As the author of the coming biography of Pope Francis, The Great Reformer, Austen Ivereigh told Fortune, "he has five or six sources of information on every subject...it's impossible to hoodwink him."

   To handle pensions (Vatican employees receive 80% of their salary after 40 years, in addition to lower rents on many of its 2000 apartments in Rome), its 95,000 elementary schools and its 2800 dioceses, and its revenue from its museums and investments is no easy task and Pope Francis leaves much of that to his new team of experts.  But as Fortune concluded, "to serve his higher calling as a pope of the people, Francis knows, he must continue to keep one eye on the bottom line."

   These two articles displayed the contrast so evident in today's world, that despite lots of income, one's values can remain steadfast.  Ralph Nader, now 80, commented on Silicon Valley (he did invest in Cisco, selling at a small profit).  Again to Fortune in an earlier interview about Silicon Valley he said, "They're allowed to make mistakes.  However, they're increasingly trivializing technology. And you see it with one trivial app after another."  The interviewer references the app, Snapchat, and Nader continues, "You send messages and they disappear in seconds.  In the meantime, 5 million people are dying from diarrhea and dirty water and the economy's going to hell for 80% of the people."
 
   In business or religion, people will gravitate to a natural leader, one who they can relate to, one who they believe is sincere and won't waver.  And many business leaders are getting the message (and yes, many aren't).  Without consumers or customers or believers, one's company or religion begins a steady slide no matter how established.  And today, lines as fine as distinguishing faith from belief are blurring the picture.

   People seem to have enough to make decisions about and seem to want to believe in something, even if it's only the local mechanic or a handsome date.  Perhaps, as with Pope Francis, one can juggle several balls at once, without compromising principles, a fresh approach...at the very least, it's worth a try.