BALTIMORE (MD)
Crux

By Michael O’Loughlin
National reporter November 10, 2014

BALTIMORE — In his first address to the full slate of American bishops as president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville praised Pope Francis’ tone and style, but avoided specific mention of the hot-button cultural issues that roiled the Synod of Bishops meeting at the Vatican last month.

Kurtz defended the pope’s emerging “culture of encounter,” with its emphasis on mercy over judgment, embracing those not living in accord with Church teaching, and more directly assisting the poor and disadvantaged. He likened Francis’ philosophy to his own visits to the homes of parishioners when he was a pastor.

“When I’d come to someone’s home, I wouldn’t start by telling them how I’d rearrange their furniture. In the same way, I wouldn’t begin by giving them a list of rules to follow,”…