The Lord works in mysterious ways. And it seems that for many of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics the ascent of Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the chair of St. Peter is something of a godsend – a liberal Pope. Although the jury is still out on Pope Francis as to just how reform-minded he is, a series of whirlwind statements by him on a variety of social issues has raised more than a few eyebrows.
Here in the United States, Francis has seriously undermined church reactionaries who have used past Papal pronouncements and a rigid interpretation of Catholic doctrine to wage an unrelenting culture war against their religious and political enemies. In turn, the iron grip these right-wing Catholics have had on the official Catholic Church in America has made most liberal and many moderate Catholics second-class congregants in their own faith and have forced many to leave the Church altogether. A liberal pope, therefore, is extremely appealing for those put off by the hidebound rules and unresponsive, deadening bureaucracy that characterizes much of American Catholicism.
Indeed, given the low regard in which most American Catholics hold America’s reigning right-wing cardinals and bishops, many of whom are deeply implicated in covering up the Church’s wretched sex-abuse scandals, Francis’ papacy could turn out to be profound since the vast majority of American Catholics agree with Francis’ reformist spirit. What’s more, as conservative Catholics have made common cause with American Evangelicals on culture-war issues for decades, a liberal papacy may not just induce theological reform for the world’s Catholics, but a political revolution in the U.S. too.
Take Francis’ comments on the bedrock culture-war issues of abortion, contraception, and homosexuality, when he stated in September that the Catholic hierarchy was overly obsessed with them to the detriment of the health of the Church overall, which he saw as needing to be more inclusive and welcoming. Famously, on homosexuals, who comprise a huge if unacknowledged and closeted portion of the Catholic priesthood, Francis asked “who am I to judge,” in effect tacitly accepting their existence and dignity though not, importantly, ending official condemnation of homosexuality in Catholic doctrine.
Accordingly, Francis opined that in locking itself up “in small-minded things, small-minded rules,” that it neglected other, more important, aspects of Christian ministry such as reaching out to and assisting the poor and disenfranchised. Even atheists are welcome in this effort, with Francis noting that many non-believers are of good character and should “abide by their own conscience.” God’s mercy, Francis continued “knows no limit,” suggesting that the Pope may be implying that atheists, like all dogs, may also go to heaven if their decisions here on Earth warrant it.
Then there are Francis’ remarks on politics and economics, which stand in fiery contrast to his empathic, compassionate comments on culture-war issues. Francis recently condemned neo-liberal economics and government corruption. Both, he says, have helped foster inequality within society and created an “idolatry of money” within secular society that threatens a new form of tyranny. Trickle down, noted Francis, was supported by opinion which, “has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile,” the Pope continued, “the excluded are still waiting.”
All this, in the space of just a few short months, has forced conservative Catholic leaders and right-wing political actors long assured of unflinching support from Catholicism’s highest prelate to scramble for cover. In a recent interview on CNN, Bill Donohue, president of the ulta-conservative Catholic League, was put in the unusual position of defending his group’s views on the social issues they commonly campaign on in light of recent Papal statements. For a group that commonly uses appeals to authority as justification for anti-gay bigotry, having authority turned around and used against them must be flummoxing and quite uncomfortable.
The reaction of other U.S. right-wingers has also been predictably hilarious. Rush Limbaugh, whom blogger Andrew Sullivan has christened the Republican Pope in a recent, scathing takedown, said that Pope Francis was preaching “pure Marxism” that must be giving President Obama “an orgasm.” Meanwhile, commentators ranging from Fox News pundits to Sarah Palin have voiced concerned that the Pope is purportedly driving a “neo-socialist” agenda aimed at toppling the capitalist system. Class warfare infused by religion, they seem to be arguing, is just around the corner if the Pope doesn’t go back to talking about traditional – meaning sex, not banking – issues.
In one fell swoop, the fatal flaw in the alliance between the entities making up the economic and social right has been highlighted by the antics of Pope Francis, for it seems that this Jesus fellow that Christians, including Catholics, go on about had quite a bit to say about the marginalized poor and disenfranchised, but not a lot about sexual immorality, which along with commandments to go out and engage in genocide, seems to be a preoccupation of the Old Testament and not the New. Rightly, the question now being posed to conservative Catholics, and through them Christian conservatives everywhere, is how they can continue to pick-and-choose what they condemn and politick against when their own spiritual leader, taking a lead from the Gospels, has seemingly changed course?
In answer, it might be best to understand the existing conservative Christian leadership throughout much of the U.S. as Christ once did law-but-not-spirit-obeying Jews back in the days when he was an itinerant preacher in the Galilee. The Pharisees, as they were termed, used man-made rules premised on Mosaic Law outlined in the Old Testament to evade equally important divine commandments promoting fraternity, empathy, and compassion toward one’s fellow man. In highlighting law and order over love and compassion, Jesus argued, God’s people had fundamentally erred.
Thus, much as how Francis is now arguing that “small minded rules” are crippling the Church in its apostolic mission to love and care for human beings as they actually are, not as we may wish them to be, so too did Jesus castigate the Pharisees for unduly emphasizing blind allegiance to traditional rules and prejudices than to the people around them. Much of the Christian Right, to continue the analogy, are the Pharisees of today, and their reaction to Francis’ blandishments are not dissimilar to the ones Jesus encountered in his own ministry.
Christ was crucified for his temerity, but his mission to get people to focus on individuals as opposed to rules lives on today in various guises – only some of which are found in official Christian churches. So the legacy of the Pharisees and modern religions, like all ideological movements, are often torn between the need to obey rules for the sake of unity and order and the need for practical compassion toward other human beings. Thus, as Francis does battle with our own time’s version of Jesus’ opponents, we on the left would be wise to wish him well, regardless of whatever God, or even the lack of one, one happens to believe in.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Mint Press News’ editorial policy.