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Actually he hasn't been "all over the place" on abortion and homosexuality.

He did state that “it was not necessary to talk about these issues all of the time”."

And how right he was about that! You will remember the context of this statement: Pope Francis explained that "The church's pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently."

The key word here is "disjointed." If we try to teach these life-giving principles in a fragmentary way, not showing how they are related to a much larger, holistic vision of the holiness of God--- why then, it's just a bunch of incomprehensible shalt-nots.

And the key, as Pope Francis said --- in that same talk --- "The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you."

If we neglect the proclamation of Christ, people will brush off disjointed "shalt-nots." They must first be drawn to Christ, our Life-giver,our Savior.

IN one of the weekday Gospls from last week, Christ first said to Zacchaeus, "Today I will come and dine with you." AFTER that, Zacchaeus said, "I will give half of my property to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone, I will repay them fourfold." Zacchaeus had to encounter the love of Christ FIRST. Then he was eager, he was joyful to fulfill the requirements of the moral law.