The Valley Catholic
COMMENTARY
August 27, 2013
19
Francis — ‘the world’s parish priest.’
It is now well-known that Pope Francis gave an hour and a half impromptu press conference July 28 on his flight back to Rome from World Youth Day. While the headlines focused on the Pope’s comments on gays — “Who am I to judge?” — it is a serious error to reduce his message to this one point. The Pope’s most revealing comment came in response about divorced and remarried Catholics. His answer provides the best and guiding window into his pastoral outlook. “Mercy,” he said, “is a larger theme than the question you raise ... This is a time of mercy ... If the Lord never tires of forgiving, we don’t have any other path than this one.” Certain catchphrases often represent a core emphasis. For John Paul II, it was “Be not afraid.” For Benedict XVI, it was “reason and faith.” For Francis, it is “mercy and compassion.” This moral and pastoral ethos explains the Pope’s unwillingness to pass judgment on gays. Francis believes it is time for the Church to lift up its merciful face to the world. The Italian edition of Vanity Fair recently declared the Pope “a miracle of humility in the era of vanity.” He is the Pope who established a custom
Moral Theology
By Father Gerald D. Coleman, SS
‘Who am I to judge?’
schools, and structures.” He is creating a substance-change in tone and attitude. We know the Church’s moral teachings on sexual activity outside heterosexual marriage. To bring this up again is unnecessary because it misses the point of the Pope’s vision of the human person. “If a person is gay, seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge.” That is what he said, and then added, “They should not be marginalized.” Francis is calling us to look at people’s hearts and the totality of their lives. This is the part of Catholic teaching the P ??????????????????????
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