Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control
Six months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic church on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the church had grown “obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to talk about those issues despite recriminations from critics.
I’m really starting to like Pope Francis!
7 Comments
I too find Pope Francis to be a breath of fresh air and like Chris Hayes I believe he is “the best pope ever”.
However, he is still only the best of a pretty sorry lot. As Katie McDonough writes in Salon, http://www.salon.com/2013/09/20/best_pope_ever_still_pretty_awful/
“But the praise feels undeserved. Francis may be better than the old pope, but what does that actually make him? A religious leader who has said some great things about equality and acceptance — but who appears quite content to leave the actual, structural barriers to achieving those goals firmly in place.”
Lets hope Papa Francisco lives long enough to change the culture of thinking within the entire church. I believe he correct, that the church should neither condone nor condemn, but accept and love all. Basically, get man out of the judgement game and leave that up to God. Put man back into the business of taking care of themselves and each other.
I will cheer any step in the right direction.
I also take issue with something McDonough said in that Salon article about Pope Francis having a “deeply conservative record” during his time as cardinal in Argentina. Francis specifically spoke to that in the article in this post:
I’m sorry to see, though, that the Pope turned the other cheek and offered up a statement directing doctors to not perform abortions, again refocusing the faithful on that issue. He should have read what he said the day before, maybe?
I see nothing incongruous in the Pope offering a statement in opposition to abortion right after the interview. The interview was not at all changing the Church’s stance on abortion. Rather, it was directed at elements in the Church that focus exclusively on the social issue trinity (abortion, contraception, and gay marriage) while ignoring the mandate to serve the poor and work to create a better world. Basically, it was opposition to the litmus test approach of some in the Church hierarchy to automatically oppose a candidate like Obama for being pro-choice, while ignoring the implications of Romney’s economic policies.
I’ve said this in a few places to friends: I am not Catholic. I’m not even Christian. But I love Pope Francis, because he makes is so easy to *respectfully* disagree and work toward common ground. He truly is a breath of fresh air in this hyperpartisan world.
Michael, I agree with most of what you’ve said, but my point still stands. One day he attempts to broaden the issues being confronted by the Catholic Church saying that it is too focused on the social issue trinity (as you describe it so nicely) and then the next day he once again focuses on that very same set of social issues.
He is a breath of fresh air and I hope he continues to broaden the focus of Catholics.
And then he says things like this and I’m buoyed by his words and actions. Bravo.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/22/us-pope-economy-idUSBRE98L04H20130922