Pope Francis is the Person of the Year 2013. And he just amazes me more each day. The article discusses who he is and how he works:
Pope Francis is quoted saying of women who consider abortion because of poverty or rape, “Who can remain unmoved before such painful situations?”
Of gay people: “If a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge.”
To divorced and remarried Catholics who are, by rule, forbidden from taking Communion, he says that this crucial rite “is not a prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.”
And so Francis signals great change while giving the same answers to the uncomfortable questions.
On the question of female priests: “We need to work harder to develop a profound theology of the woman.” Which means: no.
No to abortion, because an individual life begins at conception.
No to gay marriage, because the male-female bond is established by God.
“The teaching of the church … is clear,” he has said, “and I am a son of the church, but”—and here he adds his prayer for himself—“it is not necessary to talk about those issues all the time.”
If that prayer should be answered, if somehow by his own vivid example Francis could bring the church into a new relationship with its critics and dissidents—agreeing to disagree about issues that divide them while cooperating in the urgent mission of spreading mercy—he might unleash untold good. “Argue less, accomplish more” could be a healing motto for our times. We have a glut of problems to tackle. Francis says by example, Stop bickering and roll up your sleeves. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good—an important thing for the world to hear, especially from a man who holds an office deemed infallible.
What a breath of fresh air... He is all five of my great things today! We do not agree in all things- but to agree to disagree- he gives me hope with his love of all!
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