I have to admit I have quite a lot of time for this new Pope, His Holiness Pope Francis. Be assured, I come from a very low-church Protestant background, so this is a surprise to many of my friends and colleagues (mind you I also attend the local Anglican church which is very high church – bells and smells the whole caboodle).

So going back to my comment about Pope Francis – I am very impressed by the fact that he has refused to live in the luxurious accommodation that is supposed to come with the job when he is in Vatican City; I am impressed by his recent suggestions that the Palestinian leaders and Israeli leaders get together for peace-talks; and I am impressed with his awareness of global financial and political issues.

He seems to be a very humble Pontiff, yet also very ‘switched on’ to current realities. Recently he has spoken out and questioned the merits of our “free market” global economy. He has highlighted the increasing gap between the rich and the poor and has been heard to comment that, “while the income of a minority is increasing exponentially, that of the majority is crumbling” (London Telegraph, July 2013).

Just a few months after his election he spoke to a group of foreign ambassadors at the Vatican and pointed us back to our tradition in the history of Israel, “the worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly human goal.”

I feel like yelling out “preach it brother” but of course that would be very disrespectful – however I will say that this is a message our lads at Newington both need to hear and inwardly digest. We have just recently hosted the Wontok Conference on Global Poverty. I had the privilege of witnessing twenty of our young men together with another fifty students from Uniting Church and Anglican schools passionately grappling with solutions to this “in our face” issue.

The great lie of materialism is that money, and vocational status, will bring us fulfilment. Yes, of course we all aim to be “comfortable” (Maslow’s levels of survival) – but my hope is that our boys will be focused on far more lasting and worthwhile goals as they seek to equip themselves for life after Newington – and set the “golden calf” aside. My hope is that they will indeed be a part of the change that this world needs, to not just be sustainable, but to be fair to all peoples. Yes a lofty goal but one that our College’s Christian tradition constantly calls for us to commit to.

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?”

(Micah 3)

Rev. David Williams
College Chaplain