UNITED STATES
Bangor Daily News
Posted July 08, 2014
Editorial
In the 16 months since he assumed the papacy, Pope Francis has projected an image of humility and open arms to the outside world — especially when compared with the image of the Catholic Church projected by his predecessor.
It hasn’t taken much for Pope Francis to make waves.
Soon after becoming pope, he traveled to a juvenile detention center outside Rome and washed the feet of 12 young people, including two Muslims and two women — shocking traditionalists while expanding the reach of a custom meant to emulate Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.
Last summer, as he returned to the Vatican from a trip to Brazil, the pontiff said of gay priests, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” It was the first time a leader of the Catholic Church used the word “gay,” and it marked a change in attitude toward gay clergy just eight years after Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, called homosexuality “an objective disorder.”
Pope Francis also has called for a greater role for women in the Catholic Church and he has called on young Catholics to stir up “trouble in the dioceses” in order to forge a church more connected to the people.
Even without major policy changes within the church, a pope’s gestures and statements can have a powerful effect in shifting public attitudes. But even when it comes to gestures, Pope Francis has fallen short in addressing the clergy sexual abuse that has irreparably damaged victims and done serious harm to the Catholic Church.
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