Pope Francis- A Better Politician

I read today that Pope Francis recently made a rather extreme statement- that he (and thus, all people of the Catholic Church) is not in a position to judge gay clergy for their actions. And, by extension, that gays should be welcomed into the Catholic community. 

At first, I was thrilled. Finally someone gets it! 

Having grown up Catholic, I have never understood why we were entitled to judge and cast down other people. Are we not all sinners? Isn't that kind of the whole basis of our religion? 

We're so far from perfect that only a sacrifice could possibly make up for the things we do in life- particularly to each other.

I've said time and again, to the point of irritating my non-Catholic friends I'm sure, that it makes me so sad the views most people have of Catholics.

Don't get me wrong- we deserve it. The history of our Church is filled with bloodshed. Now, though it may not be murder, the Church has seemingly abandoned the basis of the religion: Love.

I may not go to mass every Sunday, but I can promise you that the message always should have been about love. "For God so loved the world," "Love your neighbor."

This new pope is quite incredible, actually. That he would acknowledge these truths I have clung to, so desperately, hoping and waiting for the day the Church finally returns to the root of the religion.

All people are people, and all of them loved by God. That we, as mere humans, should not judge them for having different beliefs or a different way of life but for their morality as a person. That we are all treated equally in the eyes of heaven. 

Most importantly- that being an atheist, or being gay is not immoral.

It should be noted that the Vatican retracted the statement by the Pope regarding atheists (it's probably only a matter of time before they retract the one about gay people). I have a very clear idea of where the whole of the Vatican will end up. 

I'm thrilled that he would advocate these feelings. Speaking to the most fundamental principles of his faith is so necessary in his position.

Then I had to take a step back...because his position is one of power. Perhaps not as politically powerful as it once was, but he is the religious leader of nearly 18% of the worlds population.

My hope is that he is not simply being shrewd to fill pews. I hope that he is sincere in these messages and will continue to speak to them.

My fear is that he has spoken to these points and will not continue to have these opinions grow as part of the faith. That this is a show of goodness...and only that. A show. A clever ruse to have media praise the new Catholicism. He did allow the Vatican to retract his blanket salvation statement, after all. 

Searching through a few articles on it, my suspicions can only grow. 

Pope Francis, prior to his papacy, was an Archbishop in Argentina. Here, he urged priests to become accepting of civil unions for gay couples- to keep them away from using the word "marriage." 

Similarly, delving deeper into his past statements, he has continued to denounce gay marriage and adoption. I admit, I will be interested to see if the gay adoption piece, at the very least, holds. 

Now, my personal opinion is that no Pope will ever allow gay marriage sanctity within the church. It's possible that with enough time one will finally end the religious bashing of legal marriages- but will still never condone it within the church. 

Gay adoption, however, will probably be fixed. Eventually, the Church will have to cave into the peer pressure of science and acknowledge that being gay is not a choice (even if it was- free will people). A Pope- hopefully Francis but rather unlikely- will have to acknowledge that it can be a loving environment for a child that could otherwise have been lost in the system and ended up so much worse than having two moms or dads. 

Even the phrasing- singling out gay priests and those who seek God. It's concerning that he would do that; because it still means there are people out there we are not to accept as our brothers and sisters in Christ. Worse yet, as our brothers and sisters in humanity. 

I'm afraid that the Pope is the ultimate politician. That he knows exactly what he needs to say and when he needs to say it to cover his ass on his "views."

I miss the days of JPII where he was just a sincere man with a love for people. He was the only thing that has ever been able to redeem the Catholic church. Yes, he had his bigoted views and he was far from perfect. But I like to think that, were he still Pope, he would have found that he was was bigoted and would have tried to reconcile those problems- and he was popular enough both within and out of the church that he could have done it. 

So, congratulations Pope Francis, I hope you meant what you said and continue to use your influence to make Catholics a little more bearable for the other 5.8 billion people out there.