The bishop must be an ‘administrator of God,’ not of goods, of power, “humble, meek, servant, not prince.” Only in this way can we put order in the Church which “ has never been born perfectly in order,” Pope Francis said at Mass this morning at Casa Santa Marta, inspired by the passage from Paul’s letter to Titus.

Fervor and disorder are the two words used by Francis to recount how the Church was born, also remembering the “admirable things” accomplished. “There is always confusion – he said – the power of the Spirit, chaos, yet we must not be afraid,” because in reality “it is a beautiful sign.” Jorge Mario Bergoglio assures us that “the Church was never born all organized, all in place, without problems, without confusion, never. She was always born that way.” And the confusion, “this disorder, must be fixed. It’s true, because things must be put in order; let’s think, for example, of the first Council of Jerusalem: there was the struggle between the Judaizing and the non-Judaizing… Let’s think about it well: they do the Council and fix things.”

For this reason – continued the Pope – Paul left Titus in Crete to put things in order, reminding him that “faith comes first.” At the same time, he provides some criteria and instructions on the figure of the bishop “as administrator of God.” “The definition he gives is “administrator of God,” not of goods, of power, of lobbies, no: of God. He always has to correct himself and ask himself, “Am I an administrator of God or am I a business-man?” The bishop is the administrator of God. So he is called to be ”blameless: this is the same word that God asked Abraham: “Walk in my presence and be blameless.” It is the founding word of a leader.”