There’s enough Italian in me to understand and appreciate that grass roots Catholicism isn’t about academic pursuits as it regards doctrine nor is it about rigid observance of canon law. In that sense Pope Francis and I are kindred spirits.
John Allen’s commentary on Pope Francis’ traditionalism is spot-on. I do think that Pope Francis would have been and could have been far more effective if he could get rid of the baggage of 1970’s theological ideology. While he is pastoral, there is a snarkiness in the 1970’s Church which he embraced and still does, especially in challenging people to give up previous ways of being Catholic to the point of pushing them away from the Church into the hands of non-denominationals and nones. I was schooled in that way of being Church in the 1970’s. The old adage applied back then as a sort of scorched earth theology with a tinge of compassion: “Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” But are any of us truly comfortable? And is afflicting anyone really Christian?
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1 comment:
Mr. Allen can make the argument as long as he also changes the definition of "traditional". The Pope does seem to be more vocal about the devil...but not much else that normally falls under the common understanding of "traditional". He is still stuck in the 1970s and detests anything commonly understood as traditional.
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