MPs give pope a tardy but honest obituary

Parliament is sitting again after a three week hiatus. It's pretty normal that when MPs return after a break there is a backlog of things for them to deal with. This week was no exception, with incoming reports, petitions, bills, urgent debate requests - even the resignation of an MP.

Numerous events that might have deserved a motion from the House missed out. The event that won their attention was the recent death of Pope Francis, so the first business from the House was a motion on this from the prime minister.

"That this House express its deep sadness on the recent death of His Holiness Pope Francis and express its sincere condolences to the Holy See and to Roman Catholics in New Zealand and around the world, who are feeling a profound sense of loss and sorrow at this time."

Motions but not moving

The speeches in these motions are inevitably read from prepared notes. They are usually a tedious recitation of dry facts, and either congratulations or condolences. They are presumably written by a junior party staffer, and bulked out with details that sound like they were cribbed from Wikipedia.

For example, while the prime minister personally attended the pope's funeral, no mention was made of that in his speech. There were no stories or impressions, no personal reflection or insights, just loosely segued biographical data.

"A man who described himself as from the end of the world, Francis was the first Pope from the Southern Hemisphere, with his second-to-last pastoral visit to our neighbourhood in Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and Singapore. He was also a moderniser, a man who wanted the Church to bend down to every person regardless of their beliefs or condition."

This approach is not unusual, however. For instance, when MPs speak on a motion in the aftermath of a sporting victory the speeches are usually so similar as to be interchangeable. Motions on Olympic success are so unnecessarily dire it is fortunate they are only quadrennial.

Unusual honesty

Three speeches in there was a sudden break in normal transmission, when Francisco Hernandez rose to speak for the Greens. Hernandez is of Filipino heritage and as his heritage and first name hint, he is Catholic. After an initial expression of his faith and grief, Hernandez deviated into new territory.

"The Holy Father was a man who was a sinner, a prophet, and a peacemaker. Let me begin with an acknowledgement of the pope's sins and failings.

"Perhaps it is fitting that some of his first words after elevation to the chair of St Peter were, "I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon with mercy." I want to acknowledge the sexual abuse survivors, particularly those who suffered at the hands of the Catholic Church. While progress was made during Pope Francis' reign, there was not enough and it was compromised by the blind spots that the pope had. I also want to acknowledge the Rainbow community, particularly Rainbow people of my Catholic faith. The Church hasn't always been the kindest place for you, and while the pope went the furthest in affirming your human dignity, dining with trans, gay, and lesbian prisoners, calling the criminalisation of homosexuality an injustice and funding abuse shelters for trans people, the Church is still fundamentally a conservative institution with millennia of doctrine to evolve."

While that might seem unusually critical for a parliamentary obituary, Hernandez is actually a fan of much of the late pope's work. The document that he took his parliamentary oath on was written by Pope Francis.

"The pope's ministry has been likened to that of a prophet by others, like the Archbishop of Louisville, and like the prophets of old, he was a man utterly unafraid to call out the injustices of a broken global system that throws away the most poor and marginalised. About one year ago, I was sworn in on Laudato Si', the papal encyclical on care for our common home. In the papal encyclical, he calls for the end of the throwaway culture that throws away lives, that throws away the unwanted, and that throws away the waste, the refuse, of modern society. Pope Francis stressed that the human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together."

Hernandez was followed by two other MPs from a Catholic heritage; Nicole McKee for ACT and Casey Costello for New Zealand First - both from the conservative side of the chamber. Interestingly, and possibly entirely coincidentally, both gave significant attention to the conservative Pope John Paul II, in a motion focussed on Pope Francis.

For New Zealand First, and wearing a small crucifix for the occasion, Casey Costello ended her speech with something else unusual.

"In closing, in honour of Pope Francis and the Catholic Church I wish to say: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen."

This is the only recitation of a Hail Mary I can find in Hansard, though not all of Parliament's record of speeches is easily searched in digital form. I suspect that Parliament's debating chamber is more used to "Hail Mary" used as a metaphorical adjective, or a sports reference, than as a prayer.

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