Pope Francis: Church too focused on gays and abortion

Pope Francis has said the Catholic Church is too focused on preaching about abortion, gay people and contraception and needs to become more merciful.

He warned that the Church's moral structure could "fall like a house of cards" unless it changed.

The Pope used the first major interview of his papacy to explain comments he made in July about homosexuality.

He told a Jesuit magazine the Church must show balance and "heal wounds".

The pontiff used the 12,000-word interview with La Civilta Cattolicato to set out his priorities as Pope, acknowledge his own shortcomings and open up about his cultural interests.

'Freshness and fragrance'

His vision for relegating the Catholic Church's reliance on rules marks a contrast to the priorities of his predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who saw doctrine as the paramount guide for clergy

"The church's pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently," Francis said.

"We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel."

Instead, he said, the Catholic Church must work to heal the wounds of its faithful and seek out those who have been excluded or have fallen away.

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We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the Church is likely to fall like a house of cards”
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Pope Francis

"It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars," he said. "You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else."

He said the Church had become tied up in "small-minded rules" and risked losing its true purpose.

"The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the Church must be ministers of mercy above all.''

His remarks could generate dismay among clergy in the United States who have already expressed disappointment that Francis has not pressed Church teaching on abortion, contraception and homosexuality.

Last week, Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, wrote in his diocesan newspaper that he was "disappointed" Francis hadn't addressed abortion since his papacy began six months ago, according to AP.

Francis said it was not necessary to speak out on such issues.

'Home of all'

"We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible,'' he said.

"The teaching of the Church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the Church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.''

Francis created headlines two months ago when he spoke about gay priests during an impromptu news conference on a return flight from Brazil. He said it was not up to him to judge about the sexual orientation of clergy as long as they were searching for God and had goodwill.

In his latest interview, Francis said his remarks were in line with Catholic teaching.

"This Church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people. We must not reduce the bosom of the universal Church to a nest protecting our mediocrity,'' he said.

Francis also used the interview to detail his favourite composers, artists, authors and films, which include Mozart, Caravaggio, Dostoevsky and Fellini's La Strada.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24166434#

I have to admit that each time he speaks, he surprises me.

It's nice to see a church leader that seems more concerned with people than dogma.

I agree with both of you ~ so far, I'm impressed ~ but time will tell if he can really force social changes ... or even a serious discussion ~

Sooz

Takes a special kind of Catholic to use the Pope's words to take a potshot at Obama.

Don't be shocked by Pope Francis
By William Donohue, Special to CNN
updated 1:33 PM EDT, Fri September 20, 2013

(CNN) -- Not in my lifetime have I witnessed a pope who has so quickly succeeded in making more Catholics, and non-Catholics, hyperventilate than Pope Francis. Indeed, some are ready to jump off the bleachers. They all need to calm down.

Pope Francis is delightfully frank, and that is what makes him positively engaging. He is also provocative in the best sense of that word. He seeks to challenge us and shake us out of our comfort zone. But he is not about to turn the Catholic Church upside down and inside out. Such talk is pure lunacy.

In a three-part meeting in Rome with Catholic journalists last month, Pope Francis offered his thoughts on a wide range of subjects; they were published Thursday by America magazine, the Jesuit weekly. Everyone should read it for themselves.

There is nothing new about ripping what a famous person said out of context, and that is exactly what is going on now with Pope Francis. The breaking news alert by The New York Times is titled, "Pope Bluntly Faults Church's Focus on Gays and Abortion."

In the Times alert, it says the pope discusses how "the Roman Catholic Church has grown 'obsessed' with preaching about abortion, gay marriage and contraception," and that he has been criticized for doing so.

It also quotes him saying the Catholic Church should be "home for all" and not a "small chapel" that is "focused on doctrine, orthodoxy and a limited agenda of moral teachings."

Regarding the pope's statements on abortion and gay marriage, here is what he said: "We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible." He also said, "when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context."

What the pope said makes eminently good sense.

For example, when I became president of the Catholic League 20 years ago, I visited the chapters around the nation and found that many were single-issue entities.

Some focused exclusively on abortion; others were obsessed with homosexuality; still others demanded we just concentrate on medical ethics. I shared many of their concerns, but I also told them we are an anti-defamation organization and should not become preoccupied with other matters, no matter how noble.

The pope is right that single-issue Catholics need to rise above their immediate concerns. He did not say we should avoid addressing abortion or homosexuality; he simply said we cannot be absorbed by these issues. Or any others.

Laurie Goodstein's article in The New York Times on the pope's comments says U.S. bishops will feel the pinch of these remarks as they often appear "to make combating abortion, gay marriage and contraception their top public policy priorities." This is inaccurate.

It is not the bishops who have made these issues front and center -- it is the Obama administration. It would be more accurate to say the pope would find fault with the bishops if they did not resist these state encroachments on the religious liberty rights of Catholics.

The Times alert was wrong to characterize the pope's "small chapel" remark as a criticism of focusing on "doctrine, orthodoxy and a limited agenda of moral teachings."

In the previous paragraph, he speaks about "the sanctity of the militant church." In the following sentence, the pope says, "[W]e must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity." Excellent.

Then, in the same paragraph, he cites the "negative behavior" of priests and nuns, saying their conduct is that of an "unfruitful bachelor" and a "spinster." He most emphatically did not say what the Times attributed to him.

Pope Francis unequivocally rejects abortion and gay marriage. Elsewhere, he has said, "[T]he moral problem with abortion is of a prereligious nature because the genetic code of the person is present at the moment of conception. There is already a human being." Similarly, he says, his opposition to gay marriage "is not based on religion, but rather on anthropology."

Pope Francis wants us to oppose abortion. He also wants us to reach out to women who are contemplating one, and to help women who have had one to find peace with God (that's why the Catholic Church has Project Rachel).

He wants us to oppose same-sex marriage. He also doesn't want us to reject lesbians and gays because they are homosexual. This is sound Catholic teaching.

Kudos to Pope Francis.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/20/opinion/d ... index.html?

fresh papalness.

Someone on my board, Politics and News, pointed out that these news articles are taking liberties with what the Pope says.

Here is his actual interview: http://www.americamagazine.org/pope-interview

It's all just pretty words. The doctrines against LGBTs and women and abortion are still there and won't change.

I had hopes of him being the "real thing" but still too early for me to think he is for certain.