[Uncle Miltie]

Without diving into Vatican p old it is too deeply, is it fair to say the pope is a thorough lib?

[Uncle Miltie]

Politics. Darned phone

[livius]

The Pope is a thorough lib, but he is also not a very smart or well educated man, and like many such people, has a huge ego that is gratified by publicity. He is being manipulated by many people more leftist than he, and, strangely enough, has brought a lot of VII Golden Oldies back onto the stage. Many of them are actually already retired, but the VII Geezers’ Club of Theological Failures seems to be his go-to group.

Interestingly enough, he has two opponents: a few hyper-brilliant and hyper-learned people like Burke, and then the regular layfolk in the pews. Pope Francis was popular to begin with because he had a sort of warm and fuzzy approach, but now that the fangs have come out, many just average pewsitting people I know are way less enthusiastic and are actually very concerned about the Faith.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I'll not spend the time digging out all the cut-and-pastes, but believe me when I say you can find him saying almost everything, and not in a calm, on-the-one-hand, on-the-other way, either, but passionately.

Passionately, and at the same time vaguely. Open to various interpretations --- which makes some think, are these gaffes? Or deliberately crafted ambiguities?

This leaves people saying he's either a fool or a knave.

At the present moment --- still watching and listening --- I don't think it's as accurate to call him a liberal as to call him an enigma.