There is a lot of speculation about Pope Francis and his latest proclamations about gays and abortion.
It seems that all of the usual suspects are trumpeting that this signals that there is going to be a change on the church's stance on abortion or gay marriage. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Pope want's to be more inclusive. To welcome people who strayed back into the church. He is not changing anything. He is just restating the old bromide of "reject the sin but not the sinner."
There will be a lot of wild speculation and nonsense for the next few days. The usual suspects will gloat and tell us that the church is changing. Well guess what? It's not.
I think the Pope made a mistake stating it this way. Now he is infallible in the matter of interpreting matters of doctrine. He did not change any doctrine. He just wanted to be more welcoming.
We have to see how this plays out in the wider scheme of things.
18 comments:
It seems like he's trying to make the church be more accessible--which is pretty much what you were saying, I think.
I'm not Catholic (despite the best efforts of the nuns back at St. J's), but I think I like this guy a lot and I think he's gonna be good for the church.
I don't know. Let's wait and see.
If he is just being a pastor that is great. If he is signaling a big change in doctrine then he is in for a surprise. Mind you I don't think he is but I want to wait and see.
I think you were on vacation, Troop, when Father Fox opined on the issue at Lem's. I've forgotten exactly what he said, but it was something about how this has happened before but nothing ever actually happens.
Inclusiveness doesn't mean selling out the primary 1st principal doctrine of your faith. Christ is no longer, according to Francis the way to heaven through salvation. This is bullshit.
The Opus Dei folks are shitting their pants. You're not Opus Dei are you Troop?
He is just restating the old bromide of "reject the sin but not the sinner.
It is totally amazing to me how many people just do not get this concept. Over at TOP Andy hatassbackwards could not believe that it is possible to separate the sin from the sinner and refused to accept that those who were espousing this concept were actually acting in good faith.
It is totally amazing to me how many people just do not get this concept.
I'm of the belief that lived experiences of receiving and giving unconditional love help with the "getting" of this old bromide.
As someone who makes a portion of his living as an employee of the Archdiocese of Boston, serving at a church and school that practices one of the most conservative Liturgies (albeit novo ordo, NOT Tridentine) in North America, I admit I was a little afraid of Francis. What would he do to our Latin, not to mention the boychoir, and Palestrina, Tallis, and sung Vespers on Wednesdays? Would the only Catholic boys' choir school in North America be closed in favor of a homeless shelter? There are plenty in the increasingly decrepit, Boomer-dominated looney left in the Church who would love to see that happen.
As it is, I think Pope Francis has many other things to worry about before concerning himself with choristers singing Mozart and lugging candles around. He is artistically and musically sensitive, and no leftie ideologue in the ways we know too well.
The odd thing is, all that Latin and Palestrina, four torch bearers kneeling at the Altar, Communion on the tongue and NOT in the hand, the congregation chanting the Credo in Latin (yes, many do it WITHOUT a hymnal), all that is much beloved of the Harvard Catholic world, many of whom are fairly "progressive" otherwise.
There has been in recent years, a serious abandonment of the old symbolic Liturgical divisions between left and right. Conservatives used to go for smells and bells, and lefties for guitar Masses. At least from where I am, people, especially younger people, are looking for beauty and meaning in the Liturgy, no matter what their opinions are about immigration policy or Congress voting on Food Stamps. A lot of younger people I know would say you don't have to love an ugly Liturgy to love Jesus and your fellow man. Boomers are the problem, and now that they're dying off, things are going in very interesting directions.
Which brings me back to Francis. He is one of those directions, and he is the real deal. As I say, at first I was a little skeptical, but I've quickly grown to love the guy.
And I think he was directly addressing those who squirm and wrinkle their noses, and think they're all virtuous because they're "Conservatives," when he said the following:
"If the Christian is a restorationist, a legalist, if he wants everything clear and safe, then he will find nothing. Tradition and memory of the past must help us to have the courage to open up new areas to God. Those who today always look for disciplinarian solutions, those who long for an exaggerated doctrinal ‘security,’ those who stubbornly try to recover a past that no longer exists—they have a static and inward-directed view of things. In this way, faith becomes an ideology among other ideologies."
He is being more parish priest than pontiff, and frankly I welcome that humanity. Because good priests are forgiving of our faults and encourage us to be better people.
I do not think Francis is selling out at all (or being a cafeteria catholic). I think he is recognizing we are all sinners and that the church should be a place to reflect on being better human beings.
Go read the gospels and see if Christ was that way. He did not excuse sin, but he always forgave it.
After re-reading the Pope's12,000 word interview several times, my conclusion is that he proposed no revisions to theology. What he did, though, is clarify that popular culture does not set the Catholic agenda. It was set more than 2,000 years ago.
He is a Jesuit. Anyone who knows Jesuits knew he was going to shake up things. Certainly the Cardinals that elected him knew that. This Church needed some serious shaking up, and I believe we have a righteous man to do it.
Maybe we need a Jesuit prez.
He should know that he shouldn't mention women or gays in his homilies because they tend to get hysterical.
Wait, you never answered the question!
Did a bit of research into the Pope's interview that has a secular media all convinced that Catholicism is about to change.
You know how many times he mentioned contraception? Once. Homosexuality? Once. Abortion? Just twice--twice out of 12,000 words. More proof that secular journalists believe in transubstantiation.
Pope Francis spoke eloquently about art, the saints, the Church, social justice, and prayer. Some of the words he used most include God (37 times), Jesus (26), Ignatius (15), Gospel (14), experience (14), and encounter (10).
It's disconcerting to see all of the misinterpretations being proliferated by various media outlets to further their own agendas. All Catholics and Christians should read the interview for themselves to understand what Pope Francis is saying about the role of the church in society today and always.
Should you wish to read the Pope's interview in it's entirety, here's a link to a good translation.
I do hope you will take time to read the interview. Read as one piece, without agenda driven excerpting by the media, it is a portrait of a wonderful and kind Pope who is moving the Church away from political topics and back toward evangelization.
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