POPE FRANCIS.....A FLAMING LIBERAL

Pope Francis' election as Pope of the Catholic Church provided me no consolation at the time. I wrote soon after that I doubted he was what Catholics in the United States needed. I envisioned him as another preacher of Church doctrinaire which had driven Catholics from the Church en masse. 

 

I considered the problems of United States Catholics distinct from those of Catholics in other countries. Gays, abortion and birth control were among the leaders. It was my opinion that a simple priest from Argentina was not equipped by training or experience to deal with these issues. My reasoning was based on the fact that his primary concern as a prelate  in Argentina was to help the poor. Poverty was a local problem he had dealt with his entire priestly career.

 

I was wrong! I could not have been more wrong!

 

Pope Francis has been a surprise and a breath of fresh air. Doctrinaire is not as rigid. He speaks of love. Jesus loved. The Church should love. The new Pope recognized that the position of the Church had been one of obsession. A rigid doctrinaire approach to gays, abortion and birth control. He said in effect ease up, love one another.

 

Pope Francis made it clear. Such items were on the table for rethinking.

 

Slate Magazine last week referred to Pope Francis as.....a flaming liberal. He is. Conservative he is not. His comments are shaking his Church and the rest of the world at the same time.

 

If question still existed as to his flaming liberalism, Pope Francis cleared the air this past Sunday. The Pope was in Cagliari, Sardinia. He had a prepared speech to give. The comments of the people caused him to cast his prepared remarks aside. People were telling him they lacked work, needed work. Things were desperate. It was increasingly difficult for a father to feed his family.

 

Pope Francis' off the cuff remarks hit home. Not only for Cagliari, but for the rest of the world also. He spoke of money, big business and poverty.

 

He began by condemning big business' idolatry of money over man. He referred to money as an ".....idol." Decried the ".....god called money."

 

The Pope said, ".....where there is no work, there is no dignity." This statement recalled to mind Flora's comment. Flora is an Albanian I met in Amorgos this past summer. She cleaned my living quarters.

 

Flora moved me. Her simplicity, her piety. Life could be tough. I quoted Flora's comment in my column published here late in August. She told me that ".....for poor people winter is all year, there is no summer."

 

Flora and the Pope are of the same mind set.

 

Pope Francis further commented on the old, the young and their treatment in the money world of today. He said,  "We throw away grandparents and we throw away young people. We have to say no to this throwaway culture. We want a system that helps everyone."

 

Another of his comments hit me hard. He urged the unemployed to fight for work. Fight.....

 

Comments the Pope has made fuel the fires of revolutionary thought. Love one another, tear away at the restrictive thinking of the Church, everyone who wants to work should work.

 

No question Pope Francis is a liberal. Makes sense. Jesus was a liberal.

 

Pope Francis is planting seeds that will alter the thinking of the Catholic Church. Perhaps the world. 

NEW POPE AND U.S. CATHOLIC SOCIAL ISSUES.....RESOLUTIONS?

A new Pope was announced to the world this week. Pope Francis.

 

Apparently a very holy and humble man. I wish him every success in guiding the Catholic Church through its trying times.

 

Some background. He is Argentine by birth. However, he is of Italian extraction. His father was born in Italy. A modest man. The new Pope dances to his own tune. He does things his way.

 

As an Argentine Cardinal, he was entitled to all that goes with the position. From a glamorous home to a limousine to drive him here and there to whatever. He shunned all these things. He lived in a small apartment. Cooked his own meals. Took the subway to his office each day.

 

Pope Francis was ordained a Jesuit. Jesuits are an order of priests within the Catholic Church. They are well educated and considered extremely intelligent. The primary purpose of a Jesuit is to give aid the poor. To assist in providing  basics such as food and shelter.

 

Jesuits are also doctrinaire. They read the Bible literally. What it says, it says. Period. No room for interpretation.

 

In 2010, Argentina recognized same sex marriage. Today's Pope Francis spoke out at the time. He disagreed with the law. Said it was not consistent with God's plan.

 

Argentina is part of the Latin American community. The community is still dealing with poverty. Basics such as of food and shelter. The things Pope Francis was most concerned with as a priest and then Cardinal in Argentina. He had his brush with same sex marriage.He disagreed. Matters such as priests marrying, a woman becoming Pope, dealing with the pedophile problem, birth control, and other matters of a social nature do not appear to have been on his plate. Pope Francis is accustomed to caring for the poor. A Latin American and Third World country problem. A full plate in and of itself.

 

There is significance in the new Pope taking the name of Francis. He took unto himself the name of St. Francis of Assisi. Saint Francis was a wealthy person. He gave all his riches to the poor. He then spent the rest of his life caring for the poor.

 

I doubt that the new Pope will have time to delve into the social ails of the U.S. Catholic Church. When and if he does, it will be in the doctrinaire fashion described before. The word itself with no deviation.

 

Which means in the final analysis that U.S. problems will basically remain unsolved. Priests will continue to be prohibited from marrying, a woman may not become Pope, birth control will be as it has for the past sixty years, gays will be shunned.

 

I smile when these issues arise in the context of the Church. Priests initially were permitted to marry. Some early Popes had wives. It is man made law, not God's law, that prohibits marriage. Jesus respected women. His mother Mary is a prime example. He also was a close friend of the prostitute Mary Magdalen. Such has no present impact on the woman becoming Pope issue. Women continue to be second class citizens. Birth control is an issue that has strangled Catholic and non-Catholic society for years. The fight by those against birth control will go on. Leaving otherwise devout Catholic women in a quandary. The mockery of God's universal love will continue by not recognizing the love between two persons of the same sex.

 

New York's Cardinal Dolan in an interview following the new Pope's election said he doubted the social problems concerning U.S. Catholics would gain attention or be resolved. Things would continue as they have been. A status quo. No solutions.

 

My thoughts answer the question raised in the title to this article. Resolutions? Few, if any.

THE RESIGNATION OF POPE BENEDICT XVI

The Pope recently announced his resignation. It took effect on February 28, 2013. Benedict XVI is no longer Pope. The Catholic Church will be without a Papal leader for a few weeks till the body of Cardinals elect a new Pope.

 

There is push within the Catholic Church hierarchy for the Cardinals to meet sooner than proscribed in Canon law to elect a new Pope.

 

The abruptness of the Pope's announcement of his retirement and then the rush to elect a new Pope concern me. Why three weeks notice of Benedict's retirement? Why the move to amend Canon law to permit the election of an immediate replacement? Moreover, why Benedict's resignation in  the first place?

 

Popes do not retire. They reign till they die. They can be ill in bed and find it difficult to carry out their Papal duties. They nevertheless remain Pope.

 

The last time a Pope resigned was in the 1200s. However at that time, the Church had schism problems and was divided. Each group elected its own Pope. Two reigned at one time. Once the problems between the two factions were settled, one of the Popes had to resign. That is the background of the only Papal resignation prior to this time.

 

Something is amiss. There are things we do not know. Matters the Church is not sharing with us.

 

Lest anyone think I am picking on the Catholic Church, be aware of my Catholic background. I was an alter boy and choir boy. I attended Catholic grammar school, high school and college. I am a fallen away Catholic. My mental change began while I was a student in college. It does not mean I do not believe in God. It means I did not agree with certain decisions of the Church early on and have continued to disagree with others over the course of my life.

 

Today the Vatican is a place of intrigue, mismanagement, and scandal. Internal political wars are ongoing.

 

Is it one problem that has wrought the Pope's resignation? Or it is the culmination of many problems which suddenly have swirled out of control? Or is it nothing? Has the Pope determined he is old and a younger healthier mind is better to direct the Church?

 

I believe it is a culmination of problems with something new on the horizon which as yet is secret to those outside Church hierarchy.

 

The priest pedophile scandal is world wide. It has been for 30 some odd years. The Church buried the problem. Now it is seeing the light of day. Priests are being arrested, tried and sent to jail. Diocesan hierarchy are being charged and tried for participating in cover ups.

 

It has been claimed that the Church recently has been less than appropriate when discussing matters involving Jews and Muslims. To the point that both groups have been angered.

 

Last year the Pope's personal butler was arrested for stealing private Papal documents. He was tried and jailed. Thereafter the Pope visited him, forgave him, and assisted in his release. Why was the butler arrested in the first place? Why did the Papacy subject itself to scrutiny regarding the issue? Why didn't the church merely fire its employee and send him on his way? God's admonition is forgive and forget, turn the other cheek.

 

The Church has lost many members over the years. Fallen away Catholics. As I am. Church attendance in the United States is down by two thirds in the past 20 years. Italy is another example. Church attendance is down 90 per cent in the past 10 years. Both figures are attributed to the pedophile issue. The Church has made no effort to recapture its former members.

 

The Vatican bank has problems. It has been under a three year investigation for money laundering. Last year., Italian authorities confiscated a Vatican account containing $20 million.

 

Claims are constant that the Vatican has become a ship with out a rudder. Mismanagement prevails.

 

The Church historically found new members in the developing countries. It bolstered the Church to have among its flock these converts. The Church was alone is seeking to convert these persons. No more. Evangelical Pentecostal groups are competing in places where heretofore the Church was the only one.

 

The number of people not believing in God has increased dramatically the past 20 years. The Church has made no effort to recapture these persons to God.

 

There is the issue of gay priests. Homosexuality apparently is significant in priestly ranks. Last week there were news announcements to the effect that Vatican priests who were gay were being subjected to blackmail by persons outside the Vatican.

 

An oracle of wisdom I am not. I do not know what specifically motivated the Pope's retirement and the rush to elect a new Pope.But I do have a sense of when something is wrong. Whatever the problem(s), I hope they are revealed and corrected post haste. Get them out and deal with them. God's people of all people must be transparent.