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King Baudouin |
(Third Sunday of Lent (C): This homily was given on March 23, 2025 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Exodus 3:1-15; Psalm 103:1-11; 1 Cor 6:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Third Sunday of Lent 2025]
When
it comes to secular leaders in the world today, I would say there are far too
many Pilates, and far too few Baudouins. We heard a bit about Pontius Pilate in
our gospel reading today from Luke, chapter 13.
There Jesus speaks about a horrid event that had recently taken place.
Apparently Pilate had some Galileans murdered, and then mixed their blood with
the blood of the animals they were offering in sacrifice. Now, as grotesque as that may sound, it was
actually rather typical of Pilate’s behavior as procurator. Josephus, the Jewish historian of the time,
tells us that Pilate also had some Samaritans murdered on Mt. Gerazim when they
were engaged in a religious service. On
another occasion, he killed a number of Jews who voiced their disapproval when
he stole money from the Temple treasury to build an aqueduct in Jerusalem.
Although the gospel writers “soften” their portrayal
of him on Good Friday, it’s clear from the historical record that Pontius
Pilate was a man consumed with power. He
greatly enjoyed flaunting his authority in the face of others. He even did it with our Lord during the
Passion, when he said to him, “Don’t you
know that I have the power to release you and the power to crucify you?”
It’s also clear from Scripture that Pilate was a
skeptic. When Jesus said to him, “For this I was born and for this I came
into the world, to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth hears my voice,” the procurator
immediately responded, “Truth, what is
that?”
Pilate was also a moral weakling. For lack of a better term, he was a spineless
wimp! He knew Jesus was innocent, but he
didn’t have the guts to acquit him and let him go. And so he ended up becoming the poster-boy
for all those men and women throughout history who have said “I am personally
opposed, but . . .” In the Gospel of Matthew we read, “Pilate called for water and washed his hands in front of the crowd,
declaring, ‘I am innocent of the blood of this just man. The responsibility is yours.” Let me now modify that line for you ever so
slightly: “Pilate called for water and
washed his hands in front of the crowd, declaring, ‘I am personally opposed to
the death of Jesus of Nazareth, but . . . he will be crucified anyway.’”
At
the beginning of my homily I said that when it comes to secular leaders in our
world today, there are far too many Pilates.
They’re in every country—in every level of leadership (it’s not just
those at the top!). These are people who
are consumed with power, who deny the existence of objective truth, and who
refuse to do anything to combat the moral evils of our time. Like Pilate they say, “I am personally
opposed, but …” “I am personally opposed
to this or that moral evil, but I’m not going to do anything to change things
for the better.”
What
the world needs today—what the world needs in every country and in every generation—is
a lot more “Baudouins”.
What’s
a Baudouin?
A
Baudouin is not a what, a Baudouin is a “Who.”
King
Baudouin was the ruler of Belgium. He
ruled the Belgian people for 42 years—from 1951-1993, except for 36 hours in
April of 1990 (more about that in a minute).
I
must admit that I had never heard of him, until a parishioner shared an article
about him with me a couple of weeks ago.
The article, from the National Catholic Register, focused on the fact
that this past December the Vatican opened the beatification process for
him. That means that at some point in
the future, Baudouin might become a canonized former king, like St. Louis of
France and St. Stephen of Hungary.
From
what I’ve read about him recently it’s become clear to me that in King Baudouin’s
mind his faith was more important than his kingship was. Far more important! His faith influenced everything in his life. He never said, “I am a Catholic, but …” His faith influenced the way he treated
people; his faith influenced the way he ruled; his faith influenced the things
he supported as king and also the things he rejected.
In 1995,
two years after his death, Pope John Paul II said, “[King
Baudouin] was a great guardian of the rights of the human conscience, ready to
defend the divine commandments, and especially the Fifth Commandment: ‘Thou
shalt not kill,’ especially with regard to the protection of the life of unborn
children.”
That
last point is a reference to what happened in 1990. At that time the Belgian Parliament passed a bill
which legalized abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy. It was the duty of the king to sign a bill
like that into law. But King Baudouin
refused to do so. He remained true to his beliefs concerning the sanctity of
human life. About his decision not to
sign he wrote: “I know by acting in this way I have not chosen an easy path and
that I risk not being understood by many of my fellow citizens. To those who
may be shocked by my decision, I ask them: Is it right that I am the only
Belgian citizen to be forced to act against his conscience in such a crucial
area? Is the freedom of conscience sacred for everyone except for the king?”
As
a consequence of his refusal to sign, King Baudouin was declared unfit to reign
by the government, and he was removed (willingly) from office. Thus they were able to pass the law without
his signature.
But
his abdication of the kingship didn’t last very long. Because of his incredible popularity,
Baudouin was reinstated as king just 36 hours later, and in that capacity he
faithfully served his people until his death from a massive heart attack in
1993.
I’ll
end my homily today by repeating what I said at the beginning: When it comes to
secular leaders in the world today, there are far too many Pilates, and far too
few Baudouins. And, sadly, I think that
has led some people to become cynical. Given
the immoral and often scandalous behavior that some prominent politicians and civil
servants have engaged in during the last several decades, some now believe that
it’s impossible (or nearly impossible) for a person to be both a good leader
and a good Catholic at the same time. It’s as if holiness and effective
leadership are mutually exclusive realities.
But King Baudouin, St. Louis, St. Stephen of Hungary—and others like
them—have shown us that living a virtuous life is possible even amidst the
trappings of wealth and worldly power. By
the grace of God, it can be done. This led Pope Francis to voice his hope
recently that King Baudouin’s powerful “example as a man of faith
enlightens those who govern [in the world today].”
Which is definitely an “enlightenment” that people in our
country—and in every other nation on earth—should pray for.
