Pope Francis has been quite a busy guy within the last few weeks.
It was announced earlier this week that Francis would be coming to the United States – Philadelphia, to be more specific – in 2015.
This news comes on the heels of Francis demoting Cardinal Raymond Burke after Burke vocally opposed the Francis and his leadership leaning in a liberal direction.
He went from serving as a key leader in one of the church’s highest order to the chaplain of the Knights of Malta.
According to the msnbc.com article “Pope demotes anti-gay bishop” by Jane C. Timm, “His new position holds almost no responsibilities.”
I have been thinking a lot about Francis a lot lately.
In one of my religion classes we are reading The Joy of the Gospel by Francis – a document the pope wrote to analyze the church as he sees it.
Perhaps what is most refreshing about this pope and this document is how grounded the language is.
Francis speaks to all Catholics, not just the highest educated religious officials.
Francis and his more liberal approach to Catholicism is geared toward being more inclusive to all those who call themselves Catholics and those who would like to call themselves Catholics.
I really like the pope. I think that he’s a really interesting guy who places an emphasis on inclusive language and bringing the church to the ground level.
Within The Joy of the Gospel, Francis talks about how he wants a church that is dirty and bruised, not in a literal sense, but in the sense that he wants the church’s members to go out in the world and do actual work and physically make the world a better place through action.
I think many within the Catholic Church’s ranks see Francis as a threat to the way things have been working in the recent past. Many have grown complacent with the routine and don’t see a need for change.
Many more conservative Catholics for some reason don’t want to see a more inclusive church and that’s why Catholics need a leader like Pope Francis.
For too long the Catholic Church has been marked with the stigma of being an organization that pushes many away.
Often when I think of what outsiders of the Catholic Church must think of the organization, I can’t help but think that their minds must jump to all the things that the Catholic Church is vehemently and vocally opposed to: abortion, divorce, gay marriage, etc.
I’m a realist and and I know that for an institution that spans centuries to change, that change is likely to be very slow.
I’ve gone to Catholic schools my entire life and have always had a problem with the organization as it has always seemed so far removed from the world in certain areas and needs to make changes if they expect to stick around in the modern era.
Change for the sake of change is never effective, but the new changes in approach and language to those on the fringes of the faith is progress.
Francis has a lot of questions to answer for many progressives.
How can an organization tell people of certain sexual identities that their love is no more pure than that of those with more “traditional” values of love? How come a marriage falling apart results in a social-religious stigma for those who get divorced? Why can’t women – who are valued equally in the eyes of God – serve as priests or take on bigger leadership roles?
Francis’s use of language is a move in the right direction.
For the first time in a long time, he’s a Catholic figure head who seems to really see the world for what it is and wants to make the Catholic name one that rings of inclusion to people of all different walks of life.
I give Francis credit for sticking to his guns.
Criticism is a part of making any organization function, but when that criticism is preventing necessary progress it must be shut out.
The word “catholic” literally translates to mean universal or diverse. It’s about time the organization associated with that word starts living up to that namesake.
Brian Laughran
Editor-in-Chief