Reading Francis Through Benedict: a workshop on misunderstanding Francis
Posted on 26 September 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
We now have in Francis the most wonderfulest and fluffliest Pope ehvur. Liberals are crowing that the bestest Pope of all is against rules. He’s chill about abortion and women’s ordination and, like, stuff. No other Pope has ever kissed a baby or thought about “the poor”. He is so original too! Only Francis could have thought up deemphasizing some controversial issues for a while to make the Church look friendlier and more inviting.
I bring to the honorable readership’s attention, again, a great papal quote:
“I remember, when I used go to Germany in the 1980s and ’90s, that I was asked to give interviews and I always knew the questions in advance. They concerned the ordination of women, contraception, abortion and other such constantly recurring problems. If we let ourselves be drawn into these discussions, the Church is then identified with certain commandments or prohibitions; we give the impression that we are moralists with a few somewhat antiquated convictions, and not even a hint of the true greatness of the faith appears. I therefore consider it essential always to highlight the greatness of our faith – a commitment from which we must not allow such situations to divert us. ” – Address of his Holiness Benedict XVI – Thursday, 9 November 2006
If you are wondering what Pope Francis is doing, this is what he is doing. He has taken a page from Benedict XVI’s play book. Francis, however, is giving this strategy far more energy than his predecessor.
But make no mistake: What Francis is doing is original in the extent of the application of the strategy, not in the strategy itself.
And may I remind you that we are only six months into Francis’ papacy and we already have:
an excommunication of the priest who supports “gay” marriage and women’s ordination
an extemporaneous jaunt into the streets of Rome to meet an anti-abortion march
an explicit affirmation of the impossibility of women’s ordination
a public endorsement of Summorum Pontificum
a speech to Catholic physicians not to perform or cooperate in abortions
a call for a “profound” theology about women (read: a good theology that isn’t, as he put it “female machismo”)
And, for good measure.
via Reading Francis Through Benedict: a workshop on misunderstanding Francis | Fr. Z’s Blog.
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