FATHER LIAM SAYS: Early
in July Pope Francis flew
to the island of Lampedusa on his first official visit outside Rome. This island is closer to Africa than to
Europe and has long been the first arrival point in Europe for thousands of
African Boat People or illegal economic migrants.
The
first time that the Church in Rome became involved in a Christian community
outside its boundaries took place in the year 95 AD. A letter from the Church in Rome was sent to
the Church of Corinth to deal with questions of Church order. Some priests at Corinth had been unceremoniously removed from office and the Church of Rome intervened on their
behalf. This letter was greatly revered
in the early Church and in some places was even read aloud at the Sunday
Eucharist. Traditionally it has been
attributed to Clement, the fourth Bishop of Rome. It is not known if the Corinthian Church had
asked the Roman Church to intervene in the case of the deposed priests or if
the Roman Church took the initiative itself.
In either case the letter provides firm evidence that Rome believed it
had authority to deal with such matters.
It seems more likely that the Roman Church was asked to intervene. At that time the Apostle John was still alive
yet the appeal was made to Rome thirty years after the martyrdom of Peter
rather than to John. Perhaps this is the
earliest instance in Christian literature in an emerging recognition of Roman
primacy. The tone of Clements’ letter
suggests that a group of charismatic figures succeeded in upsetting the
established order of the Christian community at Corinth by deposing these priests
(or presbyters) and putting themselves in their place. Clement challenges these actions by
condemning jealousy and stressing the need for repentance and the importance of
obedience and humility.
Clements’
letter implies that a Council of Bishops governed the Christian community of
late first-century Rome. Clement may
very well have been the senior Bishop serving the Church of Rome and he may
also have been specially charged with the task of overseeing Rome’s relations
with other Churches. There seems to have
been a small College of Bishops, presided over by Clement. It may put you in
mind of Pope Francis initiative in selecting
nine senior Bishops – outside the Curia – to be his special advisors. It would be totally misleading however to
think that Pope Clement in 95 AD exercised his office in a way resembling the
modern Papacy.
It
is clear that Clement had a strong concern for seeing that the liturgical Rites
are performed according to the order ordained
by God. ‘The high priest is given
his particular duties, the priests are assigned their special place while on
the Levites (Deacons) particular tasks are imposed. The layman (laikos) is bound by the layman’s
code.’
Clements’
letter represents the first time that the term laikos appears in Christian
literature. He uses it to refer to those
who are baptised members of the Church, but (as we might say) do not have an
ordained ministry. It is clear that the
distinction exists in Rome at this time and Clement is pointing it out to the
fractious Corinthian community. For
Clement the structure comes from God and is rooted in the authority of the
Apostles who appointed overseers and ministers to take their place. Clement goes on to say that when these
overseers and ministers die, others should be selected to succeed them. This being so, Clement strongly disagreed
with the way the Church at Corinth had removed its Presbyters from office. His letter seeks to re-establish the
community’s traditional liturgical celebrations. It highlights the Eucharist’s role in the
spiritual growth of the Christian community.
It offers us a sense of the Church’s growing universal
consciousness. The Church at Rome came
to see that whatever befell a single Christian community ultimately affected
the entire body. It intervened in the
affairs of the Church at Corinth because it understood the grave consequences
that divisions on the local level could have for the Church throughout the
world.
Pope
Francis intervention at Lampedusa Island came about at the invitation of the local
parish priest within days of the Pope’s election but the visit was kept very
quiet. He concelebrated Mass with the
local Bishop and the parish priest. No
Cardinals or politicians were invited. Recalling
that more than twenty thousand migrants were thought to have perished in
attempted crossings from Africa to Europe over the last twenty years the Pope
asked: ‘Who is responsible for the blood of these sisters and brothers of
ours? Nobody? That is our answer. It isn’t mine. I don’t have anything to do with it. It must be someone else, but certainly not
me!’ He said the fate of the African
Boat People recalls the parable of the Good Samaritan. People were ready to feel sympathy for the
migrant but not stopping to help. The
culture of comfort, which makes us think only of ourselves, makes us
insensitive to the cries of other people.
The
Pope had flown to Lampedusa from Rome but transferred on arrival to a
coastguard boat and sailed into the harbour as so many migrants had done and
had tried to do. When he arrived in port
Francis stopped to talk to some of the one hundred and sixty Africans from
Eritrea who had landed on the island just hours earlier. Before he alighted from the vessel he threw a
wreath of yellow and white chrysanthemums into the sea in memory of the Boat
People. The Mass was celebrated on an
improvised altar that sat on a Lampedusa fishing boat while the lectern used
for the Scripture readings was made from bits of wood taken from the remains of
some of the rickety boats in which migrants arrive.
