With Benedict Gone, Pope Francis is Moving On


The Pope made the news with a simple statement of something that is self-evident. Sometimes in religion a leader will says something practical and it shakes the earth. The Pope said, "Homosexuality is not a crime."

The recently dead Pope Benedict a few years ago used his annual opportunity for international press coverage, the holiday mass, to tell the world about the evil of gay marriage. That Francis said homosexuality is not such a big deal is almost a direct counter message. 

Francis once admitted, under questioning from the press, that homosexuality is a sin. He has never repeated this, however. Recently he canned a Cardinal who repeated the sin line. Franis does not want sin, the Catholic Church and homosexuality linked.

There is lots of speculation about whether Francis has been intimidated by the living Pope Benedict. It really doesn't matter, Francis is playing the long game for the Catholic Church, conservatives are not. If those with the money, those in the pews, do not agree with the product clergy are producing clergy are on borrowed time. The entire enterprise is on shaky ground.

I suppose the Pope will be called a heretic for saying homosexuality is not a crime. I'm sure there are other sins that are not crimes. Here is the world of the Pope: don't say one positive word about homosexuality or abortion. The church must not be seen as anything but 100% correct. The worst thing a Pope can say is, "There are two side to this issue."

Pope Benedict wrote several books and I suppose many internal papers. While I would not waste a penny on his writing. The quotes I have read were shallow and had nothing to do with anything important. He was clever at appealing to conservative Catholics and that was the extent of his talents. 

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