Pope Francis Revisited
a roundup of our Francis coverage
Sorry, no new hot takes on the Francis papacy (for now). Just prayers for Allah to have mercy on his soul…and for the Holy Spirit to inspire the cardinals to elect a holy AND PR-savvy pope (I already submitted my absentee ballot to the HS).
So until we finish mourning and find the time to concoct an appropriate hot take, here are our top 5 pieces on Francis, plus some honorable mentions:
1. Beyond the Pro vs Anti Francis Paradigm: on Fiducia Supplicans:
This is probably our most important Francis piece ever. I argue that the pope is not here for you to have an opinion about, but to be your father whose job is to help you grow in deeper communion with God. And that despite having many reservations about how the guy runs the Church (which I listed in the footnotes), I consider his papacy to be a net positive for the Church.
When I look at my family and friends who are drawn to Francis because they think he’s going to “modernize” the Church with gay marriages, lady priests, and whatever else they have their hopes set on, I realize that what the Spirit is asking from me is not to tell them why they’re wrong, not to give them a theological discourse, but to engage with their newfound receptivity to all things Church related.
Surely, some have only a tangential interest. But others have a genuine desire to draw closer to Jesus because they know that they need the peace, love, and hope that only He can offer. The fact that they feel more free to be involved in the Church–even under false pretenses–is a net positive. Thus why I place more emphasis in taking an interest in their desire for spiritual growth than in correcting their erroneous readings of the Pope’s public statements (though perhaps a time for that may certainly come).
And ultimately, this is why Catholics need to spend less time picking apart the Pope’s pitfalls, and need to pay closer attention to how the Spirit is using Him to bring about the salvation of souls…and how we are being called to participate in this work. You can have your reservations about him, but you’re not exempt from needing to get with the program.
2. Beyond Being Based: on Dignitatis Humanum:
The Pope has been labelled a “woke” leftist agitator one minute (see Jordan Peterson’s comments), and a “based” ideological reactionary the next (see the “Pope of Gender” Judith Butler’s comments). He has affirmed that people in same-sex relationships who are earnestly seeking to live in conformity to God’s will can receive blessings from priests and that trans people can be baptized, and also has condemned gay marriage as a “movement of the Father of Lies” and that teaching children gender theory is a form of “ideological colonization.”
Surely, I don’t want to act as if Francis never falls into cognitive dissonance, or that he couldn’t speak with a tad more prudence and clarity[…]But in general, his thought embodies the coherent yet paradoxical “both/and” logic of Catholicism. […]
As much I acknowledge that the Pope’s reliance on the concepts of accompaniment and the field hospital have been grossly misinterpreted (primarily by German and US clergy), I’ve strongly defended them. The scandal of some toward these concepts seems to be a derivative of the greater scandal toward the Incarnation and Cross—that He who is the objective Truth incarnate chooses to enter into the messy and erroneous subjectivity of human beings, to the point of allowing himself to be victimized and killed by it. Yet our incoherent subjectivity is not a threat to Jesus and the objective Truths he embodies, thus why we are free to accompany people in their brokenness.
3. Are all religions the same? On Francis’ lack of theological clarity:
As someone who is BOTH committed to doctrinal orthodoxy AND to ecumenical/interreligious dialogue, I must say that while I find Francis’ statements like these to be kinda annoying, I know what he’s trying to say and pretty much agree with him. […]
Francis doesn’t really have a knack for articulating these nuances of Catholic doctrine. And that’s ok, because the essence of truth is revealed more so in experience than in ideas/teachings. I wish, as the leader of the Church, he’d do a better job at this. But I’ll take someone who’s lived example is compelling and articulation of it lacking over someone who articulates things clearly but doesn’t walk the walk.
4. Frocciagine fiasco:
Those who categorically3 read slurs as expressions of disdain struggle to understand how in some cultural contexts, the usage of slurs can be an expression of affection and a demonstration of solidarity with those who are different from you in some way. Of course we acknowledge that it is often, very unfortunately, the case that such slurs are used to demean. But I must say, in my experience, those who use slurs affectionally with their friends who belong to different identity groups tend to have much deeper respect for said friends than those who are caught up with doing PC stuff like “checking their privilege,” “acknowledging their white [or whatever other] fragility,” or “amplifying minority voices.” […]
And for this reason, I’m willing to argue that his use of this term puts the cherry on top of the Pope’s relationship with the queers—cementing, rather than deviating from, his status as an ally. […]
Another point raised in the COMPACT pod was that Francis is a genius at “scrambling the categories” that one can place him in. One minute he’s blessing people in same sex unions and railing against the trads, the next he warns of f@ggotry in seminaries and says abortion is like what Nazis did but with white gloves. One minute, the normie media is applauding his tolerant tone, the next, the gigatrad anons on X are praising how based he is.
He is annoying, moody, shady, a contrarian, and never shies away from serving up some you-know-what. And this is why we love him. Francis is cracking pomo with his unpredictable public persona which is becoming nearly impossible to pin down.
In a word, we are here for it. Keep slaying, King.
5. Pope Modernism on Schizotopia podcast:
I went on Schizotopia to discuss the trials and tribulations of the Catholic Church in the modern word. Trad Caths vs. Lib Caths. The case for 'Bad Catholics'. The Death of God 1.0 vs. The Death of God 2.0. Answers to the current masculinity crisis and 'menfluencers'. Internet Christians and life beyond post-modernism.
Sadly, there are ‘Christians’ who truly believe that, due to his Roman Catholicism and/or relative liberalism as a pope, the deceased Francis, regardless of his good works, is not truly 'saved', and therefore his soul is destined for Hell.
Seriously, if God really is as vengefully angry, even seemingly blood-thirsty, as institutional Christianity generally portrays Him to be, is anyone — including supposed ardent followers or conservative Bible believers — truly safe or really ‘saved’? One could reasonably theorize that He’d be especially peeved by those self-professed Christians He’d (likely rightfully) deem as fake or frauds.
After all, Jesus (a.k.a. God incarnate) was about non-violence, genuine compassion, love and non-wealth. His teachings and practices epitomize so much of the primary component of socialism — do not hoard gratuitous wealth in the midst of great poverty. Yet, they are not practiced by a significant number of ‘Christians’, likely including many who idolize callous politicians standing for very little or nothing Jesus taught and represents.
As for the Biblical Jesus, he would not have rolled his eyes and sighed: ‘Oh, well. I’m against everything the politician stands for, but what can you do when you dislike his competition even more?’
Meantime, some of the best humanitarians I, as a big fan of Christ’s unmistakable miracles and fundamental message, have met or heard about were/are atheists or agnostics who, quite ironically, would make better examples of many of Christ’s teachings/practices than too many ‘Christians’. Conversely, some of the worst human(e) beings I’ve met or heard about are the most devout believers/preachers of fundamental Biblical theology.