MISSOURI
National Catholic Reporter
Thomas C. Fox | Nov. 2, 2014
KANSAS CITY, MO. — In a day-long gathering, Rockhurst University educators and National Catholic Reporter journalists dissected the theological and pastoral implications and challenges of the still emerging Pope Francis pontificate.
The event, promoted as a “conversation”, used the theme “Becoming a Church of Mercy,” drawing 200 locals and students who filled a Rockhurst campus auditorium Saturday on a chilly autumn morning here.
It was the first time the two institutions joined forces to bring their vantages and insights to the Catholic scene and came just days after NCR began to celebrate its 50th anniversary as a publishing company.
Speakers concurred that Pope Francis is taking contemporary Catholicism into uncharted waters. Not because his message his fundamentally new, but rather because of his unique style and pastoral emphasis following decades of pontificates that stressed strict orthodoxy. …
The journalists then listed a number of what they called “unanswered questions,” troubling observations they’ve filed in stories and analyses the first 19 months of the pontificate.
Their list began with the way Francis’ has spoken about and dealt with women. The list includes what they said are inadequate steps he’s made in facing clergy sex abuse, his unwillingness to reexamine certain Catholic teachings, beginning with aspects of sexual morality, and, finally, the continued opaque and arcane methods by which bishops continue to be appointed.
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