Did JD Vance go through a damascene conversion after visiting Pope Francis?
The Pope is dead; long live the Pope!
The original version of this expression is normally used by royalists to mourn the death of a king or queen while in the same breath celebrating the accession of the new one, thereby ensuring the life of the monarchy in perpetuity. This proclamation signifies that kings and queens will come and go but the throne will stand forever.
Perhaps in the case of the dearly departed Roman Catholic pontiff we should say, 'Jorge Mario Gergoglio is dead; long live Pope Francis!'.
The pope was many things to many people. He was the 'People's Pope', while to others he was an 'intellectual', a 'progressive', 'radical', 'warrior', 'leftist' or 'liberation theologist' and so on and so forth. For me, he was a genuine human being who preached Ubuntu without using the Southern African word.
The pontiff didn't just live the philosophy of Ubuntu – 'humanity to others' – he espoused it more and more in the twilight of his life. And there's still a lot of work to be done in this regard around the world.
Pope Francis tried to preach ubuntu indirectly to US President Donald Trump and his leadership as he began wreaking havoc in the Land of the Free and around the world at the beginning of the year. The pontiff wrote to his bishops condemning the massive deportation and ill treatment of migrants, referencing the Catholic concept of ordo amoris – the order of love.
Francis wrote that "it is only by affirming the infinite dignity of all that our own identity as persons and as communities reaches its maturity". He stated that 'love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups'. He argued that the 'true ordo amoris' that needs to be promoted widely is that exemplified by the parable of the Good Samaritan, a love that 'builds a fraternity open to all, without exception'.
US Vice President JD Vance, who paid a very puzzling visit to the Vatican just before the pope's passing, has a very different view about this love principle:
'You love your family, and then you love your neighbour, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country. And then after that, you can focus and prioritise the rest of the world.'
They say good things come to those who wait, but I don't think it's advisable for any migrant or citizen of the 'rest of the world' nations like South Africa, China, Lesotho and so on, to wait for the Trump administration's love. But perhaps, a damascene conversion happened when Vance visited Rome.
To honour Pope Francis, let's all Make the Order of Love Fashionable Again!
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