UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
Is Pope Francis so shrewd that he is personally trying to undercut belief in papal infallibility, the key to the modern post-1870 “supreme papacy”, by his unpredictable, inconsistent and even seemingly contradictory statements and actions — the latest arising out of a recent address described below to top officials of the Italian interior (police) ministry ?
Pope Francis “zigs and zags” often: Don’t breed like rabbits, just don’t use the Pill. Help the poor, but honor, like he seems to do, the crony capitalist billionaires who help keep them poor. Protect children, but don’t report priest child abuse to the police unless legally obligated to do so. Slap your kids, but do so respectfully. Be nice to abuse survivors, but go bankrupt to avoid compensating them justly. Don’t judge gay folks, just ostracize them from Church institutions. Is Francis shrewd, or just opportunistic, or even duplicitous and hypocritical? What do you think?
Meanwhile, Francis’ fellow Jesuit, Fr. Hans Zollner, a key member of the pope’s sex abuse commission, seems to be reading from a different script, in his recent and almost embarrassing promotional interview on Vatican Radio. entitled “Child protection at top of Pope Francis’ priority list“, here,
Even usually sympathetic journalists seem now to be second guessing Pope Francis. Please see, for example, David Gibson’s “Vatican sex abuse commission meets amid new hopes, old concerns’“, here,
and see also former New York Times’ reporter, Ken Briggs’ “Pete Rose, Meet Junipero Serra“, here,
It may be that Pope Francis just wants to appeal to different Church donation sources, for example, divorced and remarried Germans, with their substantial governmental tax subsidy, and right wing US Republican plutocrats who seem to think they need more of the anti-gay marriage, as well as US Latino, voters to elect a “low tax/low regulation” presidential ticket in 2016, like Jeb Bush/Ted Cruz in all likelihood. Please see Betty Clermont’s relevant, comprehensive and well documented, “Catholic Right Still Tied to Big-Money Republicans“, here.
Pope Francis is halfway through his four year term. He can be expected to retire at the end of of 2016 — after he helps (with his media missives on Cuba, Oscar Romero, Junipero Serra, Our Lady of Guadalupe, anti-contraception, anti-gay marriage, etc.) get out the US Latino vote for the JebBush/Ted Cruz ticket in the US presidential elections. By then, as an 80 year old with one lung, he will likely be replaced by Cardinal Parolin, whom Francis is evidently grooming as his successor, to be expected for one of of powerful Cardinal Sodano’s top proteges.
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