UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
Pope Francis plans to add new Cardinals in two months. He really needs to invite courageous Swiss theologian, Fr. Hans Kung, and Ireland’s “straight talking” leader, Mrs. Mary McAleese, to become Cardinals in February, and then to attend October’s Final Synod. Of course, they may be overqualified. Please see:
Many Catholics, especially those seeking real reforms, including countless women, are losing hope that this media star pope is the “real deal”. Even some in the media are shedding their earlier “Francismania” mentality, for example, please see David Gibson’s recent article, “Lost in translation? 7 reasons some women wince when Pope Francis starts talking” at:
Pope Francis needs to act boldly now and these surprise appointments would surely be bold. Pope John XXIII understood shrewdly the advantage of “surprises” to shake the Vatican up, as he did with his dramatic and unexpected call in 1958 for a new ecumenical council and a papal birth control commission in 1962 with active women participants. Francis should now follow his effective example with these two appointments.
If Pope Francis fails to act boldly now, the escalating child abuse tsunami may sink the Vatican Titanic even before his struggling Synod strategy plays out. He should consider seriously appointing these two exemplary Catholics as Cardinals. He likely can do so practically fairly easily, instead of relying so heavily, as he has been, mainly on unpredictable, cumbersome and even amorphous Synods.
If Pope Francis wants to steer his papacy promptly out of the ceaseless child abuse tsunami the Vatican is facing, he must act creatively now. After almost two years as pope, his advisory committee on child abuse will not even hold its initial meeting with its full membership until next February. The sole current abuse survivor member, Marie Collins, months ago even complained publicly and bravely to AP’s Nicole Winfield about the commission’s slow pace, now ominously operationally under Cardinal Law’s former canon lawyer. Fr. Robert Oliver.
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