Pope Francis, Wayward Shepherd

National Review ^ | February 6, 2020 | Daniel J. Mahoney

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Pope Francis, Wayward Shepherd

In the first year or two of Pope Francis’s pontificate, conservative-minded Catholics made heroic efforts to place the perplexing ways of the new pope in continuity with the thought and deeds of his immediate predecessors. It was said that he had been a forceful critic of liberation theology, at least in its Marxist expressions, that he was a man of traditional piety, that he spoke about the machinations of the Evil One with surprising regularity, and that his style — brash, critical of established ways, anxious for dialogue with the modern world — was a refreshing way of bringing Christian orthodoxy to bear on the modern world. But there were early signs that challenged this reassuring consensus. Francis seemed suspicious of the most faithful Catholics — they were, in his estimation, rigid, obsessed with the evils of abortion and sexual sins, closed to the need for a Church open to humanitarian activism and a de-emphasis on dogma and even truth. 

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As the estimable Father Raymond J. de Souza pointed out in the November 28, 2019, issue of the Catholic Herald, Pope Francis has a soft spot for leftist leaders who oppress civil society in the name of social justice and solidarity with the poor. The recently deposed Bolivian leader Evo Morales was, de Souza writes, “the Holy Father’s favorite leader in the Americas,” which “was passing strange, as [Morales] was a tyrant.” Francis met with the demagogic Morales six times in six years and considered the man to be his friend. In an act never adequately explained by the Vatican, de Souza notes, when the Argentine pope visited Bolivia in 2015 he accepted from Morales a crucifix adorned with a hammer and sickle. 

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Ping

[marktwain]

Great essay.

Unfortunately, it accurately describes what Pope Francis has been doing.

The author works hard to ease the blows, but the reality is damning.

Everything in the essay matches what I have read elsewhere.

[G Larry]

Very important to either read the entire article OR, use the “Listen” link!!!

[Mastador1]

Odd, the analogy I would use for our current pope would not be shepherd, it would be wolf in sheep’s clothing.

[Buckeye McFrog]

The recently deposed Bolivian leader Evo Morales was, de Souza writes, “the Holy Father’s favorite leader in the Americas,” which “was passing strange, as [Morales] was a tyrant.”

Well Frankie's gotta learn it from somewhere.

[Goillini]

This pope is a dangerously naive, narcissistic man. He, like Pontious Pilate, searches for truth when it is already standing right before him.