IRELAND
Alaska Dispatch
Paresh Dave
March 26, 2013
DUBLIN — In his first week at the Vatican, Pope Francis called for a leaner, no-frills church rooted in Christ’s original mission of serving the most needy. Many heralded his vision for the future, but not everyone is convinced that Francis can reposition the diverse global institution.
Dublin City Councillor Mannix Flynn is among the naysayers. A victim of sexual abuse while at a church-run industrial school in Ireland, Flynn said he believes the church will continue down a perilous course.
“You get people projecting onto the person that he’s a very simple man, that he’s a humble man, that he’s broken with precedent, that he’s doing everything differently. But it’s the same make, same shape — only different color,” Flynn said of the pope during a recent interview.
“The idea that a man from Barcelona, or from Argentina or from Berlin is going to change the dynamics of what’s been around for a long time is completely crazy,” continued Flynn, a 56-year-old Independent who represents the posh southeast section of Dublin’s inner-city.
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