UNITED KINGDOM
Westminster Faith Debates
Tina Beattie
After a year in office, Pope Francis’s popularity shows no sign of waning. A weekly Italian fanzine called Il Mio Papa (‘My Pope’) has just been launched by Silvio Berlusconi’s publishing company, though Francis says he finds such adulation ‘offensive’. His response to a journalist’s question about gays – ‘who am I to judge?’ – has earned him cult status, including his appearance on the cover of LGBT magazine, The Advocate, as their 2013 Man of the Year.
Francis has transformed the style of the papacy, but to discern the substance of his theological vision one must trawl through a wide range of homilies and interviews, off-the-cuff remarks and more considered theological reflections such as his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (‘The Joy of the Gospels’). He speaks of wanting a ‘messy’ Church, a Church which takes risks, which expresses radical solidarity with the poor, and which avoids being ‘obsessed’ with issues such as same-sex marriage, contraception and abortion. He makes clear that his intention is not to change Church teaching, but to offer a pastoral response that is sensitive to the situations in which people find themselves. His experience in Argentina will undoubtedly stand him in good stead when it comes to dealing with the sometimes Machiavellian politics of the Vatican, but however politically astute he might be, it is clear that he is motivated by the conviction that the joy and freedom of Christ are the heart and soul of the Church’s mission, and this finds its most truthful expression in service to the poor. He has condemned the tyranny of the global economic system in language that is reminiscent of liberation theology. …
He has also disappointed many people by his failure to address the ongoing scandal of sex abuse in the Church. With new cases still being regularly reported, he shows little real appreciation of the extent of the problem or the ongoing challenge it poses to the credibility and reputation of the Church.
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