Expert to tell Utahns how Pope Francis is ‘rebranding’ Catholicism

In March 2013, Catholics got a hint of what the future might bring when their newly elected pope chose the name "Francis."

St. Francis, the new pontiff's namesake, got a divine message to "build up my house, for it is nearly falling down."

Now, nearly two years after being chosen Holy Father to 1.2. billion Catholics, Pope Francis already has taken steps to chart a new direction for the world's largest Christian faith, says the Rev. Thomas Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University and former editor of America, a national Jesuit weekly magazine. "I call it 'rebranding' the church."

Reese, a senior analyst for the National Catholic Reporter, will present this year's Aquinas Lecture, titled "Pope Francis and the Reform of the Church," on Sunday at the St. Catherine of Siena Newman Center near the University of Utah.

According to Reese, every institution — whether it be a church, school, business or government — must implement three changes to bring about meaningful reform:

• Alter the group's culture.

• Put reformers into key positions.

• Revise policies and procedures.

For the Catholic Church, changing the culture is "extremely important," Reese said, and Francis clearly knows that.

"I see him trying to do that by attacking clericalism and by modeling for us what it means to be a good bishop, priest, good Christian," the priest said. To this pope, it means being "compassionate, loving and concerned for the poor."

Francis wants bishops who are close to the people, pastors "who smell like their sheep," Reese said, "not bishops who act like princes."

The pontiff, Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2013, hopes Catholics see their church "more like a loving mother who loves to hug you, rather than a nagging parent who wants to scold you," the priest said. "This is the impact of globalization. His is a Third World vision."

Francis has made pointed changes in Vatican offices, Reese said, replacing some conservative cardinals with men who share his vision.

The former Argentine archbishop also is moving most slowly on revising policies and procedures, he said. "He has made some significant changes in the Vatican's financial organizations, and it looks like the office of the laity might be given more prominence in the future."

Reese said the popular pontiff has not altered doctrine, just reordered emphasis and priorities.

"He talks less about rules and regulations, saying, 'We don't need to obsess over abortion and birth control,' " the analyst said, "and more about the poor, justice, peace and the protection of the environment."

One group the pope has yet to connect with are Catholic feminists.

"He's male, Latin American, celibate, has no wife or daughter and his experience is really with poor women, not educated professionals," Reese said. "He's heard from mothers who worry that their daughters might be kidnapped and trafficked [in the sex trade]. That's certainly a women's issue but not directly affecting First World educated women."

Still, by not speaking so much about abortion, gay rights and abortion, the priest said, Francis has forced observers — and the faithful — to realize that the church "stands for other moral issues, too."

pstack@sltrib.com

Twitter: @religiongal