The Pope’s New Year

By Andrew Dalton 

What would happen if headlines across the globe read, “Pontiff strikes ten days off the calendar?”  I wonder.

Well, that’s exactly what Pope Gregory XIII did.  People went to bed on October 4 and woke up the next day on October 15.  Actually, one saint, Theresa of Avila, didn’t wake up. 

She died on what would have been October 5.  But check your calendar for her feast day, and you won’t find it until the ides of October.  Gregory is to blame!

What amazes me is that when the Holy Father bid that the world adjust, the world obeyed.  That’s Papal pull!

But that was 1582.  Is the world still listening to the Holy Father?

If you ever have the grace to visit St. Peter’s basilica in Rome, you’ll enjoy the funerary monument of Pope Gregory XIII.  Not only is Rusconi’s marble masterpiece acclaimed as one of the most artful representations of any of Peter’s successors, it also tells the delightful tale at the origin of our “Gregorian calendar”.

See the central frieze under the Pope’s feet?  To the left beside the papal cathedra, astronomers point to a globe as they explain how the old Julian calendar has fallen out of sync with the stars. 

Catholic scholarship discovered that our timetables were lagging behind by more than a week, and so the Church called Man to live according to Nature.  I read this page of history as a metaphor. 

But before I expound, let me insert the humorous aside.  Pope Gregory originally intended to promulgate his new calendar on October 3, but not everyone considered the new protocol as timely.  Look on the right of Rusconi’s relief:  three Franciscans on bended knee implore the Holy Father to postpone just one more day. “We can’t skip October 4.  It’s St. Francis’ feast day!” 

And so it was.  The benevolent Pontiff indulged the friends of St. Francis, and when the world went to sleep on October 4, ten days passed in a single night.

This episode stands as a monument to the Pope’s spiritual authority over God’s worldwide family and to our filial duty to docile obedience. 

At the helm of the Church, the Pope is called to seek our good by proclaiming the truth “in season and out of season” (2 Tim 2:4). Indeed, sometimes “inconvenient truths” require us to make changes that involve sacrifice and new modes of thinking. 

Who would celebrate a leader who, having discovered the light, let us continue living in the dark?  The Pope’s mission today is unchanged:  reading the signs of the times, he governs for our good.  Obviously, we no longer have a confessional state, and religious pluralism has changed the fabric of society, but we Catholics are still called to heed the shepherd of Christ’s flock.

But the Pope doesn’t really revamp the calendar anymore, does he?  Actually, in a way he does!  Today he summons the world to celebrate New Year’s in October.  That’s right, today is Day One of the Year of the Faith by Papal decree. 

Why, Pope Benedict?

I won’t steal his thunder.  Why don’t you let him tell you?

Just as I love secular news that keeps me informed, I know that if I want to be a good Catholic, I need to be hearing constantly the voice of Christ’s Vicar.  With the internet, that voice is just a click away.

I’d suggest for starters reading his General Audience on Wednesdays.  Soak in his wisdom, catch the fever of his faith, and let his teachings be a lamp unto your feet.