THE CATALYST

The technical definition of a catalyst is "a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change."  An example of a biological catalyst is the enzyme, lipase, which breaks down fat so it can be absorbed by the small intestine.  Without lipase and many other enzymes (all enzymes are catalysts) life--at least as we know it--would not be possible.  The figurative definition of a catalyst is a person who precipitates an event, especially someone without a vested interest in the result.  Extending this meaning of the word, I would define a "moral catalyst" as a person who indeed has a vested interest in an event he or she is bringing about; what separates the moral catalyst from the business-as-usual variety is that the former is motivated by a will to profit humanity, while the latter is motivated by a will to profit themselves.

Pope Francis, who had a major role in ending the misguided United States embargo of Cuba and in reestablishing full diplomatic relations after fifty-three years of relentless hostility, is perhaps the most outstanding contemporary example of  this phenomenon.  The troubled capitalism of the United States and the moribund communism of Cuba certainly were ready to react together and produce a positive result; without the "moral catalystism" of the pope, however. there was a good chance that that long overdue inevitable reaction would have occurred later, perhaps much later.

Regarding the role played by the pontiff in bringing about this major change in policy, a senior official was quoted as saying, "You cannot overestimate the importance of this pope."

Barack Obama had been exploring the possibility of reestablishing diplomatic ties between the two countries for months.  He visited the Vatican some months back and discussed the matter with the papal Secretary of State, Cardinal Parolin, an expert diplomat who is familiar with Latin American politics.

X and Y were coming together.  Just what did Pope Catalyst do?

In the summer of 2014, the pope wrote to Raúl Castro and Barack Obama, offering his help to "initiate a new phase" in the relationship between Cuba and the United States.  Meetings were held at both the Vatican and Canada, two countries that have had good relations with Cuba.  A major impasse involved the exchange of political prisoners.  The Vatican played a crucial role in resolving this and other issues.

Without catalyst P, X would have remained on the far left and Y would have remained on the far right.  Now, to the delight of humanitarians everywhere, both sides came together, reacted together and precipitated together a very positive result.

I have always been critical of the Catholic Church for being on many occasions more interested in protecting the institution rather than standing up for what the institution stands for.  The most egregious example of this in recent times is the horrible scandal of many bishops who kept silent after they found out about the sexual predators in their midst.  They were more interested in protecting the Church rather than in protecting the innocent members of the Church.  Another example is the pact with Hitler, negotiated by the Nazis and  Cardinal Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius X11;  the terms of this agreement required German Catholics to stop all opposition to Hitler, in return for the promise that Church property would not be confiscated.  (This, the first pact any political group made with Hitler, and, coming from the Vatican, helped legitimize Hitler's savage regime.)

Pope Francis's  behavior was in stark contrast.  He was primarily interested in doing good rather than in covering up for others in order to appear good.  Sure there was self-interest involved, but self-interest of a very noble kind.  He wanted to increase the diplomatic reputation of the Vatican--in order to better be able to do more good in the future.

What a change in tone from his predecessors!  The Catholic Church, led by very conservative bishops appointed by previous popes, had been in moral decline.  One got the impression that the unholy trinity of being anti-gay, anti-contraception and anti-abortion was replacing, well, the Holy Trinity, or at least the trinity of faith, hope and charity.

I doubt that he will make all changes that decency demands. Organized religions are by nature conservative; it will take a long time for the Church to realize that its opposition to, say, gay marriage is a violation of the law of all religions and of all legitimate forms of humanism, namely the commandment, interpreted as arising from without or within, to love one's neighbor as oneself.

"Who am I to judge?" said Pope Francis.  The pope has decided to walk two moons in another's moccasins rather mooning about in Benedict's crimson shoes.  Christ's vicar consistently imitating Christ--we haven't seen that since the brief reign of Pope John XXlll.  It is a good sign for the future.

Will a moral catalyst at the head of the Church be able to reverse the dour Catholicism of the bishops? The mitred Rubios and Cruzes in his midst will do their best to make progress difficult--but whoever said that walking in the footsteps of a sage would be easy?  At least we can say this: a moral catalyst like the pope--and there are many others--is, thank God! among us, precipitating actions for the benefit of all.