From her hands to Pope Francis’: At Vatican, Kansas City woman delivered a message

After a book about Pope Francis that I co-authored with my pastor was published in 2015, my friend Bonnie Haghirian told me she was going to the Vatican and would try to hand a copy to the pontiff, whom she was to see at a large gathering.

Bonnie, who teaches at Notre Dame de Sion High School, is clever and resourceful. So I thought she might succeed in placing into the pope’s hands a copy of our “Jesus, Pope Francis and a Protestant Walk into a Bar: Lessons for the Christian Church.”

But as she reminded me recently, “I gave it to one of the security guards, who also had other gifts people had brought, but I don’t know if it ever reached him.”

Too bad, I thought. My guess is the pope would have enjoyed reading the book’s essays. They were based on sermons that my co-author, the Rev. Dr. Paul T. Rock, and others had preached about Catholic-Protestant relations soon after the election of Francis in 2013 — an election that seemed to energize not just Catholics but Protestants, Orthodox and other Christians, too.

After 11 years as senior pastor of my church, Second Presbyterian of Kansas City, Paul left last year to become senior pastor of the American Church in Paris. We stay in touch now by email and Facebook.

Recently I got this note not from Paul but from his wife, Stacey Perkins Rock: “Thought you’d like to know that I personally handed the Pope a copy of your book today. If you get a call from the Vatican City area code, pick up — it’s not a prank.”

It took a bit of time to get the fuller story, but it turns out that Paul and Stacey were part of a group of English-speaking pastors in Europe who had an audience with Francis. As the gathering was breaking up, Stacey walked over to the pontiff and handed him a copy of our book, which explores why “for almost 500 years, Catholics and Protestants have been standing on the common ground of Christ Jesus while at the same time are often backed into corners, proclaiming that the other is wrong about what exactly it means to be Christ’s church.”

The book’s title? Ah, that’s drawn from a water-to-wine joke Paul used to open the sermon series and the book: “So Jesus, the pope and a Protestant walk into a bar. The bartender asks, ‘What will it be today?’ As the pope reaches for his wallet, Jesus winks at his companions and says to the bartender, ‘Just three glasses — and keep the pitchers of water coming.’”

If Francis has read the book, I hope he liked the joke as well as the rest of the book’s more serious ecumenical content. But I don’t know. I’m still waiting for his Amazon review or phone call.