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As God is my Witness .....
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as McMansions go... that's pretty nice!
he'll enjoy his dirt floor abode just as much, I'm sure.
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This is a question that may best be answered by Catholics here - do you think it was a deliberate decision on the part of the Cardinals that elected Francis to Pope to have the church move toward being more egalitarian and austere as it focuses more on giving service to people? Or do you think that many of the Cardinals are probably quite surprised at what Francis has done?
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Ted King wrote:
This is a question that may best be answered by Catholics here - do you think it was a deliberate decision on the part of the Cardinals that elected Francis to Pope to have the church move toward being more egalitarian and austere as it focuses more on giving service to people? Or do you think that many of the Cardinals are probably quite surprised at what Francis has done?
I think they are very surprised, and dismayed.
There is a good article about the Pope in a recent Rolling Stone. It's been suggested that the Vatican (especially the Bank) and Italian organized crime are so enmeshed, that Francis' life will be in danger if he tries to clean it up too much.
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Ted King wrote:
This is a question that may best be answered by Catholics here - do you think it was a deliberate decision on the part of the Cardinals that elected Francis to Pope to have the church move toward being more egalitarian and austere as it focuses more on giving service to people? Or do you think that many of the Cardinals are probably quite surprised at what Francis has done?
My reading is that the College was well aware that the Church was in dire need of a change in its public image, and that the election of Francis was considered a reasonably conservative (theologically) path to that end. I think many are surprised at how candid and public he's been in his comments that both A) reflect a faithful and accurate reading of theology, and B) have been hugely disruptive to the extremely conservative wings of the Church in North America and Africa. As well, he has tread lightly in terms of reforming the curia, by pushing steadily but not hastily at the most corrupt centers (finance particularly), probably well aware of both the danger and the futility of trying to undo decades of enmeshed degeneracy in the span of a couple of years. Personally, i think he's a brilliant natural politician with a giant heart and an absolute devotion to the Church. I like him, even though i still don't much like the Church.
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I'm in general agreement with rjmacs. I think that the Italian Mob threat against the pope may be fantasy related to the Godfather movie. I will point out that the Vatican Bank has already had one official arrested on money-laundering. Was he a sacrificial lamb to hide other illegalities, or a head on a pike 'pour encouragez les autres' ? Unknown.
In general the Catholics I speak to adore Pope Francis. His personal attention to humanity and connection with the basic elements of the faith have restored a lot of confidence in the Papacy.
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Addendum: It's also worth noting that although Francis is making a lot of waves in his public comments, he is roundly leaving conservative bishops to continue on as before. He may say that it's his opinion that the Church would serve humanity better by focusing on poverty and privation than abortion and homosexuality, but he doesn't tell the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to knock it off. When it comes to the management of dioceses worldwide, Francis is proving to be a 'mouth-on, hands-off' leader.
