Holy Father’s open secret: This is what’s in my pocket

When a man empties his pockets in front of a crowd, it is usually a statement: I have nothing to hide. That is what happened at the Safaricom Stadium Kasarani as Pope Francis emptied his pockets to inspire thousands of youth who had turned up to see that life, with prayer, was fulfilling.

For a man whose job is to spiritually lead an estimated 1.2 billion Catholics around the world to heaven, you would expect say a state-of-the-art smartphone or some other gadget to help make his work easier. Any other man would have keys, perhaps a phone, and a wallet.

But for Pope Francis, there was no wallet, no keys and no gadget. But well, he does not have money in his pocket or keys or a phone because he has this huge team of aides that handles all his business. He is President of the Holy See after all. But everyone says he is a simple man.

In his simplicity, he put his right hand into his pocket and fished out a rosary and some leather-bound album of the Way of the Cross – a series of pictures showing the journey of Jesus after his betrayal all the way to the cross. “I am going to tell you a secret. I am going to tell you something in confidence. In my pocket, I always carry two things: A rosary to pray with, which to some of you might seem odd,” he waved the rosary to the crowd and smiled as they cheered.

Full of gratitude

He continued: “And this: this is the history of God’s failure - the Way of the Cross. With these two things I do the best that I can, and thanks to these two things, I never lose hope!”

That was a testament to his humility.

He may be the spiritual leader of all the Catholics in the world, but as he stared at the 60,000-seat stadium, and then at the skies that had these pregnant grey clouds that threatened to rain, he was glad that the young people had turned up in large numbers to honour his date.

The Pontiff was full of gratitude: “I thank you from the bottom of my heart, first, because you came here, and secondly because you allowed me to speak to you in my mother tongue. I am so grateful that you said so many rosaries for me. Please pray for me because I need those prayers too. I count on these prayers.”

That statement made to thousands of young people whose representatives had complained of corruption, tribalism, drug abuse, radicalisation, and family breakdown was a signal that they too had the capacity to get God’s favour shined in their lives and in the lives of others. The Pope summarised it with a call for compassion for the poor, because such, was infectious and fulfilling.