Pope Francis: One Year Later

It's now been a little over a year since the world was introduced to Pope Francis. While it is still too early to draw any definitive conclusions about his papacy, I wanted to share some tentative thoughts.

1) The importance of evangelization. Pope Francis, as indicated by his apostolic exhortation, is making evangelization the hallmark of his papacy. Included in this emphasis is a stress on the person of Jesus Christ, love of neighbor, and the preferential option for the poor. Additionally, there should be less emphasis on abortion, birth control, and homosexuality. These are moral issues that are of secondary importance in the Gospel message.

2) Abortion and women priests are where he draws the line. His exhortation made clear that there will be no change on these two issues. Rumors have indicated that the pope is open to married priests in the Roman rite, that he is open to the reception of eucharist by remarried Catholics, and that he has considered civil unions as an option for gay and lesbians, but abortion and women priests are off the table. Even in the Milwaukee area, we have had a priest that was recently censured for concelebrating mass with a woman priest.

3) He might actually do something about the clergy sexual abuse scandal. While Pope Francis has not done much about the clergy sexual abuse scandal so far, he had indicated that in the coming months, a zero-tolerance rule may be implemented world wide against clergy with credible allegations of abuse. He also plans on meeting with some victims of sexual abuse. Which victims he will meet with and how they are selected should (and will) fall under public scrutiny. Pope Francis has thus far created a positive image for himself and the direction of the Catholic Church, but his actions on sexual abuse will define his papacy for years to come.

A Faithful Catholic

Easter Reflection on the Year of Two Popes

 

Since I posted last, Benedict retired and Francis was elected.  As in previous posts about Benedict, I believe he was step forward from John Paul II.  He was much more willing to dialogue (e.g., with H. Kung) and allow for a bigger Catholic Church than JPII.  Nonetheless, his greatest contribution to the modern Church may be his resignation.  There is a popular theory that he resigned because the Vatican Curia was out of his control.  Who knows... In any case, having two popes at the same time (in a sense) causes some of the mystique the papacy to fade.  For many conservatives, the Pope is the direct conduit of the Holy Spirit.  Does the Holy Spirit get confused when there are two popes?  Benedict obviously did not believe this to the extent that many arch-conservatives do, for he published books under this baptismal name--an action not done by JPII.

A little bit on Francis.  I'm sure I'll disagree with some of his future pronouncements, but so far he has been a great breath of fresh air.  I would like to think that the Catholic Wintertime in Milwaukee is experiencing an early spring thaw, but I'm not naive.  Nonetheless, his emphasis as the Bishop of Rome (as opposed to the Pope) has been nice.  It expresses a greater sense of collegiality with his brother and sister bishops.  His washing of not only women's feet, but a Muslim woman's feet during Holy Thursday was great.  He broke with a Roman custom that stressed Holy Thursday as Jesus founding the priesthood.  By not washing the feet of twelve priests, he reminded the Church that Holy Thursday is about service and being the least one.  His simple living is another great attribute.  I await his next scandal.

I'll check in from time to time.  Feel free to leave comments.

A Faithful Catholic