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Monday Morning Greetings 2025 #21 – The Pope and Reincarnation

May 19th, 2025

I was intrigued by the papal conclave. I was happy the new pope looked and acted saintly, a pastor to the poor and not just a prince of the church. I also looked at it through the lens of my own tradition. I had a few insights.

 

A reporter asked his older brother, also a devout Catholic, about the pope’s youth:

 

“He always wanted to be a priest from the earliest age. Even at five years old he would get my mother’s ironing board and have us cover it with a white cloth. He would call the rest of the family, and he would imitate the Eucharist by handing out the small Necco wafers that my mother provided him. Many of our neighbors seeing his saintliness would joke that he would one day be the pope.”

 

The reporter followed up his first question by asking if the pope was like this from birth:

 

“No, I think maybe he just picked up something from my parents who were devout Catholics.”

 

I thought my tradition explains such phenomenon much more clearly through the concept of reincarnation.

 

“The unsuccessful yogī, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.” Bhagavad-gītā 6.41

 

It seems that his desire to be a priest was the result of a pious past life, or many such lives. In other words, he was just continuing his spiritual evolution in this life from a past life. Therefore the transmigration of the soul is the best explanation for why a child without prompting develops such a strong desire to be a priest from the earliest age and never wavers in that commitment. In that sense, I am proud of the insights of my own tradition.

 

Everything concerning the conclave intrigued me. I watched as about thirty young seminarians (priests in training) were glued to their seats after seeing the white smoke bellowing from the chimney of the Vatican awaiting the announcement of who the new pope would be. When his name was finally announced, and they realized that the pope would be American, I was shocked and amused by their reaction.

 

Like young “middle Americans” at a MAGA rally they wildly pumped their fists in the air again and again and in a type of euphoria shouted for some time:

 

“USA! USA! USA!”

 

Strange! I couldn’t understand how a limited nationalistic expression came from their hearts after such deep theological training.

 

“One who identifies his self as the inert body composed of mucus, bile and air, who assumes his wife and family are permanently his own, who thinks an earthen image or the land of his birth is worshipable, or who sees a place of pilgrimage as merely the water there, but who never identifies himself with, feels kinship with, worships or even visits those who are wise in spiritual truth — such a person is no better than a cow or an ass.” Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.84.13 [emphasis mine]

 

Two seminarians in Rome were interviewed after Pope Francis died. They were impressed:

 

“He told us not to give up playing sports and our taste in music.”

 

There was a controversy about the new pope. Was he a Chicago Cubs fan or a Chicago White Sox Fan? He was for the Sox! In the same regard, it was mentioned that Pope Francis was a lifelong and passionate fan of soccer, particularly his hometown team, San Lorenzo de Almagro. He was even a card-carrying member of the club.

 

I don’t get it. Shouldn’t the pope or an ācārya, especially as renunciates, exemplify a higher level of transcendence? I like my tradition’s definition of pure devotion:

 

Bhakti, or devotional service, means engaging all our senses in the service of the Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all the senses. When the spirit soul renders service unto the Supreme, there are two side effects. One is freed from all material designations, and one’s senses are purified simply by being employed in the service of the Lord.” From Nārada-pañcarātra quoted in Bhakti-rasāmta-sindhu 1.1.12 [emphasis mine]

 

My tradition is bhakti. Although, I may see the universality of religion, what I attempt to show here is that I trust the tenets and metaphysics of my tradition over others. That’s natural for any adherent of a tradition. But what I also want to make clear is that if one has allegiance to a tradition, that doesn’t mean one is more spiritually elevated than an adherent of another faith, even if one feels that other faith is philosophically less comprehensive. Substance is more important than allegiance. One must do the work of the tradition, not just belong to it.

 

When I visit Colombia, I am in awe of the depth with which the general populace accepts Jesus. I often don’t see that degree of piety in my own tradition, which was transplanted in the west.

 

By cable car and hiking I visited Monserrate, a sacred place and shrine 10,000 feet above sea level in Bogota. When I ascended the steps and reached the shrine I was huffing and puffing. I was therefore shocked when I saw people up there who were much older and very frail. When I entered the church, I saw so many ordinary people deep in prayer at the various shrines within the church, almost in trance. As I sat in one of the beautiful shrines in my brownish tinted robes with a matching hoodie, one old lady came up to me to offer respects and seek my blessings. She mistook me for a priest! I humbly indicated with my hands that I wasn’t a Catholic priest, but I still put both hands up in the air to give her blessings. She smiled reflecting a humility and devotion of heart that I can only pray to obtain in this life.

 

I was surprised that some of the things expressed during the conclave seemingly lacked the depth of philosophy of my tradition, including the explanatory power of reincarnation. I was also left, however, with an admiration for the depth of their tradition and the power of the Catholic Church to inspire love for Jesus.

 

I wish the new pope well and pray that his mission to spread love of God succeeds. My deep personal prayer is that I develop in substance the ideals of the profound spiritual tradition gifted to me by our divine master.

 

Śrīla Prabhupāda ki jaya!

 

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