What Are We Going To Do About Pope Francis?

Maybe Pope Francis is just too affable.

In the Kevin Costner film “Wyatt Earp,” Wyatt tells Ed Masterson that he is too affable.  In Masterson’s case, according to the movie, his affability got him killed.  But in Pope Francis’ case his affability tends to cause concern for many Catholics.

On top of perhaps being too affable, Pope Francis may also be a tad too loquacious and maybe a bit garrulous.  He may even be a bit naïve as well.  And he may also be a moderate.  This would explain his tendency toward compromise and pragmatism.

Tracey Rowland, theologian, professor, and author, says Pope Francis is also sympathetic to “People’s Theology.”

“People’s Theology,” she says, is “a form of liberation theology which is Peronist rather than Marxist. This means that it is intensely popularist and nationalist. The Peronists prefer the judgments of the “Juan Pablos” (common Joe’s) to those of the educated classes.”

Rowland holds two doctorates in theology.  She also has degrees in law and philosophy.  So she’s a pretty smart individual. If she thinks Francis leans toward “People’s Theology,” she is probably right.

In Defense of Francis

Admittedly, though, my take on Francis is all conjecture because I’m not one of Francis’ confidants.  I’ve never met him so there’s no way I can know for sure how he thinks.  All I know about him is based on what he himself says and what others say about him.  Most of those ‘others,’ however, don’t know him either.

Many pundits, including a good many Catholics, have accused Pope Francis of being everything from a communist to a heretic.  But I’ve tried to follow Catholic teaching in regard to our Pontiff.  I try to avoid rash judgment and interpret his words and deeds in a favorable way.

So, while others were calling Pope Francis a Marxist and a heretic I was saying ‘slow down.’  I wrote “Why the Left Wants Conservatives to View Francis as a Liberal” and  “Francis is not the Left’s Pope” and “Misreading Pope Francis.”  When many wanted to condemn him for footnote #351 in Amoris Laetitia, I suggested a different approach.  “Leave The Debate Over Amoris Laetitia To The Theologians,” I said.  And when Novus Ordo Watch was highly critical of Pope Francis because “Pope” Francis wants to change the “Our Father,” I was compelled to write that “Pope Francis Just Cannot Catch a Break.”

Pope Francis on Economics

Now, with his remarks on Civil Unions still reverberating, we’ve got his “The Economy of Francesco” event to consider.

It’s not surprising that Francis is concerned about the impact of economics on life and specifically on the lives of the poor.  He is, after all, from Argentina, a country that that has more than its share of poverty and has long had severe economic problems.

Argentina’s economic problems were brought on by almost constant revolutions and coups from 1930 through roughly 2003.  And Jorge Mario Bergoglio lived through all of it.  Knowing Argentina’s history goes a long way toward explaining Pope Francis.

Francis 2013 exhortation Evangeli Gaudium (Joy of the Gospel) caused a minor furor primarily because of one statement on economics:

“…some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system.”

Reaganites went ballistic.  Francis had to explain what he meant many times.  Two years later he was still explaining.

In a January 2015 interview in the Italian journal La Stampa, Francis – yet again – clarified his views on capitalism.  He said, “When money, instead of man, is at the center of the system, when money becomes an idol, men and women are reduced to simple instruments of a social and economic system.” He added that “We need ethics in the economy, and we also need ethics in politics.”

He was only restating what his predecessors have also said – the economy exists to serve mankind; man does not exist to serve the economy.

Poverty is a problem

Pope Francis, like many people, is undoubtedly very concerned about the world’s problems.  He sees poverty as a major problem and he’s said as much on many occasions.  So he is willing to listen to anyone who may have a possible solution to the problem of poverty.  This explains why people like the pro-abortion Jeffrey Sachs, the leftist former Franciscan priest and one of the founders Liberation Theology, Leonardo Boff, and Hindu activist Vandana Shiva were invited to speak at the conference.

The economic conference was an attempt to find ways to make economies function better.  As Francis said to the participants at the end of the conference, there is a “urgent need for a different economic narrative.”

Pope Francis invited the young people present to think out of box.  And they did.  Some of the “demands” issued by the participants were “bizarre.”

Bridge building

But, as Fr. Peter M.J. Stravinskas said about Pope Francis in an article in Catholic World Report four years ago, “Unlike many of his modern predecessors – and especially his two immediate predecessors, who were truly extraordinary – he is not particularly endowed with gifts of culture, languages, and broad horizons; nor was his philosophical and theological training very profound.”

Note that last part:  his philosophical and theological training was not very profound. This helps explain why he favors People’s Theology, and maybe why he favors moderation and compromise.

So we have a pope who truly cares about everyone – especially the poor.  And he wants to bring people to Jesus Christ.  But he is a pope who tends toward affability, garrulousness, loquaciousness, moderation, compromise and pragmatism.  And his philosophical and theological training was not very profound.  Such a combination of character traits does not make for a great pope.

Instead of delivering astute and insightful observations on the tenets of our Faith and God’s laws, Pope Francis seems to be trying to build a bridge between the spiritual and the secular.  This is what moderates do.  They are bridge builders.  It’s almost as if he thinks that if we can just eliminate poverty and get everyone to love and care for their neighbors (and the planet), love of God will follow.

Unfortunately, pragmatic solutions and compromises do not mesh well with God’s truths.  Such an approach is fraught with peril because there can be no compromise when it comes to dealing with immorality.  And if we truly love God, love of neighbor will follow.  It doesn’t necessarily work the other way around.

Problems for priests, too

While his approach to problem solving causes problem for the laity, it’s no less a problem for the clergy.  Monsignor Charles Pope provided a parish priest’s perspective on Francis’ latest comments on civil unions.

“As a priest, I can say his remarks here, and in the past, make my work of teaching and preaching a lot harder. Dissenters are emboldened and the faithful are discouraged. It is also very awkward to have to “popesplain” and remind people that private opinions of the pope can be ignored and do not bind. It is even more difficult to say I must publicly disagree with him. Priests and bishops should not be put in this position.”

As I said four years ago, “‘Uber’ Catholics, as Fr. Stravinskas called them, and maybe even some not-so-uber Catholics, have to get over the fact that Francis is not Benedict or John Pall II.”  Pope Francis is an Argentinian and the first South American pope.  He most likely has quite a different worldview than his predecessors.  And, once again (this bears repeating), his philosophical and theological training was not very profound

Many other bishops and priests also make remarks that cause confusion.  And the main stream media seems to delight in bending, twisting, and shaping remarks from any cleric and prelate to push the Left’s secular-progressive-socialistic-relativistic views of life.  Luckily there’s a simple solution to all this:  Tune ‘em out!

Prayer can help

But let’s not tune out Pope Francis.  Instead, let’s all be good Catholics.  Let’s interpret insofar as possible his thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way.  It’s a cinch he’ll never earn the title ‘Pope Francis the Great,’ but he’s doing the best he can.

In his recent article here at CS on Pope Francis’ remarks on civil unions, Scott Davis echoed some of what I’ve been saying for the past five or six years.  His final thoughts bear repeating:  “Let us pray for the Holy Father and all the bishops, that they provide clarity of teaching and pray for the faithful that we will approach all issues with compassion, humility, and the aid of the Holy Spirit.”

That’s the answer to the question “What are we going to do about Pope Francis?”  Pray for him.  Pray that the Holy Spirit gives him the gift of wisdom to guide the Church according to Christ’s will.