Fr Desmond de Sousa is an Redemptorist priest who has presented lectures and seminars all over the world. When he was asked to write a magazine, it occurred to him that there were very few books written on popes. “On April 27, 2014, two popes of my times, John XXIII and John Paul II, were canonised and two other popes of my time, Benedict XVI and Francis, were celebrants at the ceremony which was the celebration of an epochal event. Such an event, which can be called ‘The Day of the Four Popes’, has probably never taken place in the past and probably will never take place the future. I realised that each Pope has a unique personality which he stamped on the Catholic Church during his pontificate,” says Fr Desmond, in his Redemptorists home in Porvorim.
While researching for this book, he found that till the 800s or 9th century, majority of the popes were canonised. However, when Pope Pius X was declared a saint in 1954, he was the first pope after Pius V, which is after 242 years, to be declared a saint. “The watershed had to be between Blessed Pope Pius IX, the longest serving Pope of 32 years, and Pope Leo XIII, the oldest Pope at 93. It is the watershed between the Church’s acceptance of the loss of its political power and the beginning of its new relationship with the secular world as a spiritual power. Between the two popes, they reigned for 57 years,” he adds.
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Fr Desmond was the Executive Secretary of the Office of Human Development of the Federation of Asian Bishops and used to visit the Pope once or twice a year, as it was part of his job for 13 years.
In the book, Fr Desmond mentions Pope Paul VI as his favourite pope. He goes on to explain, “Pope Paul VI was the first pope I saw in real life because he came to Bombay when I was a seminarian. But he continues to be my favourite pope as he was a man with a very pastoral heart. When he visited the largest slums in the world, Dharavi in 1964, he broke down as he could not believe that people had to live in these condition. In 1970, when he went to the slums of Tondo, Philippines, he broke down again. He was the first one who moved the Church towards the pope. Every time I go to Rome, I will always go and knee at his grave. The apostle Paul, Paul VI, the founder of the Redemptorists Saint Alphonsus Liguori and Cardinal Suhard of Paris are four of my favourites.”
Speaking about the current Pope, Pope Francis, Fr Desmond says, “After Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI, Pope Francis is my favourite. I feel that with him, we are now getting back to the Church.” Interestingly, Pope Francis and Fr Desmond, both joined the seminary in 1958 though the latter was ordained a priest before Pope Francis, who studied and specialised before ordination.
He says, “There is a lot more on Pope Francis in the book. He has brought the Church back to being among the people. He follows a principle that says ‘Let’s see what we can do about it’. That is very encouraging.”
To conclude, Fr Desmond speaks about his readers, “I am looking mainly at Catholics but also at open minded individuals from different communities who are interested in history and knowing how changes take place in the Church. There are people who study institutions and the Church is the longest standing institution. This books tells you how it survives. It captures the institution of the Church as it changes when the pope changes.”
‘Glimpses Into the Uniqueness of Recent Popes’ will be released during a day-long seminar that is being organised on November 13, 2015 at Hotel Mandovi, Panjim
