Psst…… Is The Pope You Know? Catholic?
Pope Francis is a divisive figure no doubt about it, while traditional Catholics can’t stand him liberals blow hot and cold as they can’t be sure where he stands on an issue from one day to the next.
The man is wily he knows how to play both sides of the fence and keep them all guessing. One minute it looks like he upholds the Churches’ teachings the next he’s a populist.
One thing is certain; he never misses an opportunity to take a swipe at conservatives whenever he gets the chance; nor do they to respond to him in kind.
A video message from the Pope went viral October past, when he addressed the World Meeting of Popular Movements in the US.
He began by saying; “Dear social poets… you have the ability and the courage to create hope; where there appears to be only waste and exclusion.”
He attacked social media companies for encouraging “hate speech, grooming, and fake news” and condemned agribusiness and mining for destroying habitats. He then called for a basic income and shorter working hours… and this was just the warmup.
Yes this Pontiff is what you’d call a populist; he’s no intellectual like his predecessor Pope Benedict. But he is popular with younger Catholics because he says all the right liberal things.
The question has been asked before and just recently again; is the Pope a Protestant. And not a Catholic?
The Spectator’s Damian Thompson argues it could be said the Pope has gone Protestant.
“Francis may be pursuing a liberal policy agenda, but it’s also quirky and incoherent. He is Jesuitical in the pejorative sense of the term, constantly shifting his position in order to keep both his opponents and supporters on their toes. But his leadership has none of the positive attributes of his order: it has created an intellectual mess.”
And if you think Thompson’s statement is a strongly worded one; a priest he quoted expressed the hope that Francis would drop dead that very night. Francis acknowledges there are some who would like to see him off; for good.
After his colon operation in July, someone asked him how he was. “Still alive,” he replied, “though some people want me to die.” If you’re Pope, being paranoid doesn’t mean people aren’t out to get you.
He sees conservatives as the enemy because they are hostile to his approach.
And he doesn’t pull his punches. Though he didn’t mention them by name, he referred to America’s biggest religious broadcaster, EWTN, recently as “the work of the devil”. And yes, they speak very well of him too.
But it’s not only his approach that has got Francis labelled Protestant. It’s his idea of a new way forward for the church. The Catholic institution has always been a hierarchical one, managed from the top down. He wants to change this to a synodic one, called the syndol way, where a majority vote decides policy; in a kind of majority rule system, if you will.
There has been talk the synod is not intended to be just for the Catholic laity either; but Protestants, even those of other faiths. And maybe atheists too????
It looks more and more like Francis wants to alienate his own traditional Catholic base. And there lies the rub.
The paradox of the pope is that he is reformist and a liberal, and yet, when it comes down to it, supportive of tradition because he has to be; the Pope may be a Protestant in some ways, but he is still a Catholic.
Well at least for now; but who knows.
Does Francis aim to broaden the appeal of the Catholic Church; to a secular culture?
Sociologist Professor Stephen Bullivant at St Mary’s University says;
“If you ask people why they like him you often discover they see him as embodying everything they think the Catholic Church isn’t. They see him as pro-science, pro-LGBTQ, pro-environment, and a religious and moral relativist.
The trouble is those general impressions aren’t terribly accurate either of Francis or the Church”.
And that’s the second rub right there.
