A Sunday Thought About Being Pope Francis
I don't know Pope Francis, except that he's a man like
other men. One thing I do know is that he talks a lot compared to his predecessor - at
least he's more in the limelight than Pope Benedict. I don't know why he
talks so much - not that there aren't all sorts of theories floating
around.
Liberal modernist Catholics like his talk because they use some segment of the torrent of words that flow out of his mouth to imply that he supports their vision of a more "inclusive" Church - one that doesn't condemn homosexuals, nuns who support social causes, and maybe even contraception and abortion, women becoming priests, priests becoming husbands: it's a long list.
Conservatives don't necessarily believe all this talk adds up to the liberal's vision, but they get all out of sorts because all the words - just the sheer volume of them - seem to provide fodder for the liberals' claims and they think the Pope should be more aware of how his words are being used. So they just want the Pope to shut up, I suppose. Either that, or they want him to say just the things they want to hear - whatever that might be.
Either way, it seems Pope Francis can't or ought not be himself - whoever that is. So being Pope Francis, while it can't be the worst thing in the world, probably isn't the easiest thing in the world to be either. You like to talk, but no matter what you say no one seems happy. You'd think the liberals would be happy, but it seems that just when they think the Pope's given them the fodder they want for their liberal cannon of heterodoxy, the Holy Father comes out with a clear statement of the real teaching of the Church, which inevitably suggests opposition to just about every one of their causes. Dang!
I don't know how you feel about all this, but after an initial flurry of reading the Pope's first public pronouncements and the fire-storm of commentary that followed, I've pretty much given up on either trying to keep up with all he seems to have to say or figuring out exactly what he means, or even understanding what sort of man or pope Francis is or wants to be or will be. I'll just let him be, I guess.
I suppose just trying to live live my life best I can as a good Catholic pretty much consumes most of my mental, spiritual and physical energy. Not that I succeed all that often, but it's certainly worth a try, don't you think? And with the limited time I have each day, and ultimately the limited time I have to live my life in this world and work out my salvation, there's just not enough time to spend thinking about and talking about the Pope.
So I guess I'll leave Pope Francis alone - not that my interest or lack thereof will affect him either way. I've figured out that it's enough - now that he's been Pope for a few months - to leave him be and get on with trying to live a life of faith, hope and charity. Sure, there's nothing all that exciting or controversial in this - just living an ordinary Catholic life each day - but such is life.
Whether being Pope Francis is more exciting, I don't know. It's certainly more controversial. Then again, no one forced him to be pope, right?
And now that I've decided to let the man live his life as he sees fit, you know what? I don't even care whether he ever moves out of his modest apartment into the papal apartment!
Liberal modernist Catholics like his talk because they use some segment of the torrent of words that flow out of his mouth to imply that he supports their vision of a more "inclusive" Church - one that doesn't condemn homosexuals, nuns who support social causes, and maybe even contraception and abortion, women becoming priests, priests becoming husbands: it's a long list.
Conservatives don't necessarily believe all this talk adds up to the liberal's vision, but they get all out of sorts because all the words - just the sheer volume of them - seem to provide fodder for the liberals' claims and they think the Pope should be more aware of how his words are being used. So they just want the Pope to shut up, I suppose. Either that, or they want him to say just the things they want to hear - whatever that might be.
Either way, it seems Pope Francis can't or ought not be himself - whoever that is. So being Pope Francis, while it can't be the worst thing in the world, probably isn't the easiest thing in the world to be either. You like to talk, but no matter what you say no one seems happy. You'd think the liberals would be happy, but it seems that just when they think the Pope's given them the fodder they want for their liberal cannon of heterodoxy, the Holy Father comes out with a clear statement of the real teaching of the Church, which inevitably suggests opposition to just about every one of their causes. Dang!
I don't know how you feel about all this, but after an initial flurry of reading the Pope's first public pronouncements and the fire-storm of commentary that followed, I've pretty much given up on either trying to keep up with all he seems to have to say or figuring out exactly what he means, or even understanding what sort of man or pope Francis is or wants to be or will be. I'll just let him be, I guess.
I suppose just trying to live live my life best I can as a good Catholic pretty much consumes most of my mental, spiritual and physical energy. Not that I succeed all that often, but it's certainly worth a try, don't you think? And with the limited time I have each day, and ultimately the limited time I have to live my life in this world and work out my salvation, there's just not enough time to spend thinking about and talking about the Pope.
So I guess I'll leave Pope Francis alone - not that my interest or lack thereof will affect him either way. I've figured out that it's enough - now that he's been Pope for a few months - to leave him be and get on with trying to live a life of faith, hope and charity. Sure, there's nothing all that exciting or controversial in this - just living an ordinary Catholic life each day - but such is life.
Whether being Pope Francis is more exciting, I don't know. It's certainly more controversial. Then again, no one forced him to be pope, right?
And now that I've decided to let the man live his life as he sees fit, you know what? I don't even care whether he ever moves out of his modest apartment into the papal apartment!
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