Pope Hope and Regency Romance: Dispatches from a Hearth-Keeper

Or, revolution, resistance, rebellion

Dear friend,

Something happened to me yesterday that I realized hadn’t happened in at least 108 days.

My shoulders relaxed. Tears came to my eyes, accompanied by a smile. The rage in me, the indignation, quieted to a duller roar. All because an unexpected person stood on a balcony and waved, said a few words, and left me feeling like sometimes, even when we as a species are doing so many things wrong, we can still do something right.

I’m talking about feeling hope. Unity. In the moments after a new pope was chosen in just two days, a pope from America (which everyone said would never happen), and a pope who proved that progressive policy is not always met with the pendulum swinging the other way.

I want to state plainly and clearly:

I love that part of what America can represent is hope. I love my country. For all of its problems (and there are more than we ever thought), it’s an experiment that has led to some pretty amazing things. But it’s not great and it hasn’t been yet, at last, not if you’re not a rich white dude. Lately though, I’ve been watching (and speaking out, and marching, and writing) as this country has been plummeting toward a plutocracy of self-aggrandizement for the 1 percent.

So there hasn’t been much hope. It’s been like running around a bunch of fires (oh yeah we’ve had a lot of those in the last year, too, thanks to climate change) and trying to put them all out with a few grains of sand. You try, because to not try feels like giving up, but you don’t have much hope that you’ll succeed.

Because every day there’s some new horror. A president who doesn’t believe it’s his job to uphold and defend the Constitution (it’s in your oath, guy. The one you’ve now taken twice). A tech CEO gaining illegal access to everyone’s private information. People being swept off the streets and sent to prisons in other countries without habeas corpus. Droves of people losing their jobs in one fell swoop. Threats to children simply because they don’t fit the mold defined by a bunch of rich, white men. Sorry, not men. Poor excuses for men.

And then yesterday happened.

Leo XIV, the new pope, chose his papal name as a message that he cares for the poor, the working class, the people.

I made a joke to my mother yesterday that if he didn’t, soon he wouldn’t have a Church, because soon most of us will be in poverty.

Sorry, but my humor tends toward dry and deprecating. If that’s not for you, I wish you a nice life.

But truly? I am glad His Holiness chose that name. I am glad he was elected. I’m not saying he’s perfect. There are some hints of troubles in the past in dealing with priests who were accused of abuse and that practice of the Church, of sweeping it under the rug, of shipping abusive priests to new diocese where they can torment all new children… will never be okay.

But find me a cardinal who was eligible to be pope who cares about the poor who doesn’t have that stain. Ok, I haven’t researched all of them because I was 99% certain it was going to be someone super conservative because Pope Francis was not, but I think given the history of the Church’s policies around abusive priests, it’s probably a fair presumption. Take it with as much of a grain of salt as you need to though. I also don’t know how much was in Pope Leo XIV’s control and how much was the diocese.

Before you come at me for being/not being Catholic too much/not enough…

I was raised Catholic. I mean, I come from a predominantly Gaelic and Garlic family as we call it in our household, so it’s pretty predictable that I’d be raised in that faith.

There are some really beautiful things about Catholicism. Here’s a brief list of what I like about it:

• A sense of community (ok, but you could have that in any organized religion though)

• The teachings of Jesus Christ are really beautiful and all based on loving one another and being kind (super cool, but yeah, lots of sects now have that thanks to Anne Boleyn et al)

• I find the ceremony fascinating. Not gonna lie. All those interesting hats. All those robes. All the ritual of it.

• Some of the music is really pretty (more on that below)

• When I was a kid I thought the wafers were yummy (I know that’s probably sacrilegious but cut me some slack, I was a child)

• I’ve always found it comforting to believe in something (call it the opiate of the masses if you will, and then go back to medicating your sense of worthlessness with greed and dehumanization and commoditization of other human beings, then we’ll talk)

• I find the history absolutely fascinating, especially when I learn the real reasons for things (wanna know why during Lent you aren’t supposed to eat meat on Fridays? Because in the Medieval era, meat = expensive and also they thought red meat made men angry and want to fight, which would clog up confessionals before Sunday mass)

• The lore is also fascinating (again, could have that with any belief system, and I say belief system because it’s not unique to religion)

Now, for a list of some of the things I don’t like about the Catholic Church. I say some, because honestly, I could go on for much longer but I have other points to make here.

• Let’s start simply and because I promised and don’t want to forget: The music. Also. Because some of it is so discordant. Like… the Church patronized countless musicians over thousands of years… and this is the best they’ve got? I don’t think so.

• The abusive priests. Look, there are sick people in every religion and belief system and institution. But don't just sweep it under the rug. It’s not a cute look, k? Own it. Do something about it. If you love everyone as much as you claim, protect children from sick men who prey on them. It should be as simple as that.

• OMG would you please let women preach already? Plenty of other sects do and it hasn’t kickstarted the opening of the seven seals. So relent on that, please.

• I really don’t like that the teachings of someone who said love everyone have been used time and again to kill loads of people, enslave them, and practice colonialism all over the world. I get that your missionaries needed financial support (or claimed to) and so joined with conquests, but OMG it’s time to own up, and show up differently. You don’t know better than cultures that believe something different than you.

• The whole LGBTQIA+ thing. Marry everyone. Seriously, you’d have way more people in your Church if you were equally welcoming to all. As an asexual person, this doesn’t affect me a ton personally but I’m an ally to the rest of that alphabet soup and loving everyone means treating everyone with respect, as equals. It’s the 21st century. Do better.

• Get your priorities straight on what constitutes mortal sin. I once went to confession and said I’d not been to church in a while, and the priest told me that because it was more than ten years, that was as bad as, or worse than, murdering someone. Seriously? I don’t think so. I’ve never murdered anyone and I don’t plan to, ever. So I shouldn’t be punished as much as someone who does. Just sayin’.

• Does mass really need to be like calisthenics training? Kneel. Stand. Sit. Stand. Sit. Kneel. Stand. Kneel. Sit. Why don’t we do all the standing at once, the sitting at once, and the kneeling at once? It would be way more efficient.

Okay. I’m done with this list for now, but I think you get the gist. I don’t hate the Church, but nor do I love it, but I’m down with what Jesus was all about. The guy was nice to everyone, and hated shady money practices. I don’t like fish, but I mean… if I lived 2,000 years ago I probably would have eaten fish. I probably would have eaten whatever I could get my hands on just to not starve to death. (And you may find me eating fish sometime in the future if capitalism keeps being all capitalism-y.)

So. The new pope? I’m excited. I didn’t think Pope Francis was as effective as he could be, as he wanted to be, but I think he had a good heart. I think this pope does too, and I think he’s been in the Vatican enough that he might actually be able to get some changes made. I’m cheering for him, but mostly, I was just really happy to see someone in a leadership position talking about loving everyone, especially the poor.

It gave me hope. Pope hope.

What’s love got to do with it?

I mean, how could I resist that heading, right?

But seriously… what do romances have to do with the pope?

Not much. Unless he likes to read them (do you think I should send mine to the Vatican when they’re ready? Do you think he’d enjoy slow-burn Regency romance novellas? He might. Pope Leo XIV or his helpers… if any of you want free copies for him, just hmu, k?)

Anyway… where I'm going with this (eventually, I promise) is that like the new pope’s election yesterday, May 8th, I’ve been finding hope in Regency romance. I used to think an HEA was a bad idea because it gave away the ending… but since I’ve started really diving into writing these stories, I’ve realized two things (well, lots more than two, but let’s stick to two because already this letter is getting a little long in the tooth):

1. Romance readers know it’s about the journey, not the destination. Yes, they know the story will end happily (and it better!), but it’s the road there that matters to them. How wise. How present. How Zen. Wtg, romance readers! I’m sorry I didn’t understand you at first. I’m on board now, though.

2. The hope that can be generated by knowing there will be an HEA, that something will turn out well, is hugely restorative. Both in writing and reading. And that hope can be like a release valve when the rest of the world is so frightening and disappointing and realistic… that hope can be the thing that makes it easier to carry on.

So yeah, the pope may or may not be a Regency romance novella fan, but he offered hope, and this genre is offering hope.

(I promise my segue into the next section of this post will be a lot smoother.)

My place in this revolution, resistance, rebellion

So I’ve tried a lot of the resistance-y things. Protests. Phone banks. Tee shirts supporting marginalized groups that have sayings on them I wish would make people think. Writing my representatives. Calling my representatives. Donations. Supporting independent journalists like Aaron Parnas.

I’m not saying I’m going to stop doing a lot of these things. But I’m realizing more and more that my biggest contribution to this movement is not using my voice in this way. It’s in creating a space for people to unwind, to relax, to restore themselves for the next round.

It’s being a hearth-keeper, and I am doing that with stories and art. Slowly, because I work full-time and I need to devote some time each day to trying to convince my corgi that the toy chipmunks really are alive.

But as someone deeply introverted, as someone who takes days to recover from being around a bunch of people I’ve never met, I do better as a hearth-keeper than someone yelling and waving a sign (though I do enjoy the cleverness of many signs at protests).

Artwork, stories… especially those that inspire hope… can do wonders to help keep the populace engaging actively in revolution, resistance, and rebellion. We need both. We need people to go out with their megaphones and we need people to nurture those people when they return at night. We probably need a whole tapestry of people in different roles, but I’m not a community organizer, so don’t ask me.

I know the role I’ve tried to step into (firebrand) and the role that I can actually step into (hearth-keeper), and I’m choosing to focus primarily on the latter.

So when you need to recharge, when you need to remember what it is to feel hopeful, when you need something creative to engage with, come and sit with me. One at a time, please, though, because of the whole crowds of strangers thing. (Just kidding because we’re digital here, so you can come in whatever numbers you want!)

I’ll be here, poking the embers, adding a fresh (but well-aged) log to the flames, and crafting stories and pictures to help you recharge before you go back out there.

With curiosity always,
Margaret
Letters from the studio, insights from the stars