Pope Fracis is a "Talk Among Yourselves" Pope


In the 90's, comedian Mike Myers played a character on Saturday Night Live in drag. The regular skit today would be a parody the "The View." The Myers character was a stereotypical Jewish woman with a heavy New York Accent. Whenever there was a pause of difficult issue his character would say to the audience, "Talk among yourselves." For some reason it was a big laugh line.

"Talk among yourselves" is the strategy of Pope Francis. I suppose any Pope at any time in history has dealt with bitter factions in the denomination. Many feel it is the Pope's task to come down on one side or the other of disagreements and that would forever be the teaching of the Catholic Church. The Pope seems to see that as a dead street for Catholicism. Why push out factions that want to stay in the church and argue? The better route, as he sees it, is to forge on into the future in disagreement.

While it has been reported countless times over many years, another poll has been published showing majority support among Catholics for gay marriage, abortion rights and married priests. This may or may not be in keeping with the liberal bills being put before voters but it is obvious the vast majority of those in the pews do not agree with the religious bureaucrats in Rome. While the poll shows lots of disagreement, it also shows the Pope remains popular and approved of by the majority of Catholics. 

As we've discussed here often, the Pope has a practice of $hit-canning Bishops and priests who push the conservative envelope too far. Publicly calling abortion a sin is a ticket to retirement. The "sins" of gay marriage and abortion were favorite topics of former Pope Benedict. There has been a 180 turn on what is discussed in public.

Another strategy of the Pope's not unlike many governance bodies is to talk things to death. Instead of talking about the "sin" of gay marriage and abortion they can be talked about as subjects of debate. The world-wide "Synods", sort of people from the pews talking and church officials listening, appears to be a never- ending process. Frustrating to conservative and liberal alike, but smart.

I hope this Pope can hang on for several more years and put a finger in the eyes of stuffed shirt clergy and lay people. 

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