HAS POPE FRANCIS' AMBIGUITY COME BACK TO BITE HIM OR IS THIS AMBIGUITY SOMETHING THE PRESS HAS CREATED AND MANIPULATED THE WORLD TO THINK THE POPE ISN'T CATHOLIC?

Is Pope Francis beginning to learn that his ambiguous populist speech has caused confusion where once clarity reigned supreme in the Holy See? I suspect that for a man of 77 to be thrust on the world's stage and overnight from the obscurity of South America, that the learning curve must be dramatic and a bit difficult.

But the Holy Father has opened himself to the problems he is now experiencing when it comes to his populist approach that pleases the powers of the world who hate the clarity of Catholicism as it regards human sexuality and everything that flows from it.

I just don't know how the liberal press will deal with this other than ignore it and pretend it wasn't the pope that is saying these Catholic things:

Vatican ambassadors

Vatican standoff with France tests the pope’s ‘Who am I to judge?’ stance

By Elizabeth Bryant

Religion News Service April 25, 2015

 

PARIS — Pope Francis has been hailed for his forward thinking, but — at least according to French news reports — the pontiff has put on the brakes when it comes to a gay French ambassador at the Vatican.

In January, French President Francois Hollande nominated his protocol chief Laurent Stefanini as Vatican envoy to replace outgoing ambassador Bruno Joubert. The pick seemed ideal: 55-year-old Stefanini is described as brilliant and a devout Roman Catholic who secured support for his candidacy from Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, the archbishop of Paris. He is also a known quantity at the Vatican, having served as a top official at the French embassy to the Holy See a decade ago.

But so far, his nomination has gone nowhere. Last week, France’s investigative weekly Le Canard Enchaine reported that Pope Francis met with Stefanini last weekend. The message: The pontiff did not appreciate France’s 2013 same-sex marriage law, nor being pressured into accepting Stefanini’s candidacy.

The pope supposedly told Stefanini that France’s legalization of same-sex marriage in meant he could not allow him to serve at the Vatican. Reuters speculated that the pope worried that Stefanini could decide to marry while at the Vatican.

The pope’s reaction, as reported in the media, appears to contrast starkly with his remarks two years ago in which he said, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?”

Another French media report said that the unusual meeting between Stefanini and Francis — a pope rarely gets directly involved in the appointment of an ambassador — was friendly and lasted 40 minutes, and ended with the two men praying together.

The French government has said little about the matter, except to confirm the meeting between the pope and the Vatican nominee took place.

“Nothing has changed,” government spokesman Stephane Le Foll told reporters. “France has proposed a candidate, and for the time being, we are waiting for the Vatican’s reply, after the usual discussions and review of his candidacy.”

Bernard Kouchner, France’s former foreign minister, has been more outspoken.

“The Vatican seems badly placed to refuse homosexuals,” Kouchner told RTL Radio this week, adding, “but apart from that, I adore Pope Francis.”

My final comment: It seems that the world (in the sense that John's Gospel uses the term) loves Pope Francis when they perceive His Holiness not to be Catholic!