Pope Francis's book reveals a radical progressive in the making

[cbayer]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/15/pope-francis-book-radical-progressive

Book written as a cardinal shows a man with a profound social conscience and professing a genuine belief in interfaith dialogue


Pope Francis discusses the divine and the mundane in his book On Earth and Heaven. Photograph: Olycom SPA / Rex

Giles Tremlett in Madrid
guardian.co.uk, Friday 15 March 2013 12.33 EDT


In his own words, Pope Francis comes over as a clever, thoughtful and skilful mixture of social conservative and radical progressive who preaches zero tolerance of pederast priests but whose own behaviour during the terror of Argentina's military juntas remains decidedly blurred.

In his latest book, On Earth and Heaven, the man then known as Jorge Bergoglio, discusses the divine and the mundane with the prominent Jewish rabbi Abraham Skorka in a series of conversations published in 2010.

Bergoglio appears as a man with a profound social conscience, expressing admiration of some atheist socialists and professing a genuine belief in interfaith dialogue – to the extent that some radical Catholics accuse him of heresy.

He is critical of those who covered up the paedophile scandal that has done so much damage to the church he now leads.

more at link

[pinto]

1. I sincerely hope his "poor Church, for the poor" & his recognition of other faiths, non-believers -

"I told you I would willingly give you a blessing. Since many of you do not belong to the Catholic Church and others are non-believers, from the bottom of my heart I give this silent blessing to each and every one of you, respecting the conscience of each one of you but knowing that each one of you is a child of God. May God bless all of you" - presages a more open Church bureaucracy.

It'll be interesting to see how he addresses social issues as Pope.

[freshwest]

2. He sounds in tune with a broader view of different people.

[cbayer]

6. He does. This statement is amazingly inclusive. Another hopeful sign.

[freshwest]

8. And an end to pedophilia, that seemed to be off limits to discussion before. 'Zero tolerance.'

[cbayer]

9. I hope not only for zero tolerance, but for light to be shined into the darkest corners.

[freshwest]

10. One of these articles I posted here says he will be purging a lot of people. I suspect they are the

ones who didn't agree with his 'zero tolerance' stance on sexual abuse. It's an essential reform. Next may be because of an emphais on Francis of Assisi, a return to helping the 'least of these.'

I have found Catholics to be the most reliable allies advocating for the poor, sick, disenfranchised and disabled, especially those marginalized to the point of treating them as disposable by other groups in society.

The emphasis on seeing all life on Earth as valuable will be very important in a world with a changing climate, more people and less resources. The austerity that is being advocated is not about starving the helpless, but forcing those who reaped unjust profits to quit their persecution of the poor. It is a start. And humanity is going to need all the help it can get from any source.

[cbayer]

11. I hope he also purges those who have been involved in the coverups.

Catholics do provide enormous resources for those most in need and often fill the holes that the government leaves open.

That is where the RCC needs to focus itself at this point if it has any hope of regaining some credibility.

[freshwest]

12. I think if the man in the article who knew him for years is right, that's exactly what will happen!

[cbayer]

3. The more I learn about him, the more hopeful I become that he could lead

the RCC in a new direction. I would be happy just to see the emphasis switch away from politics and towards issues of social justice and christian mission to help those most in need.

[pinto]

4. Agree.

"emphasis switch away from politics and towards issues of social justice and christian mission to help those most in need"

And it's not as if there aren't Catholic groups already doing work in those areas. I'm sure he's aware of that.

[cbayer]

5. Apparently he has been one of them.

He has lived very simply and appears to have dedicated himself to the poor. I hope this is all true.

[lovemydog]

7. If he remains humble

and focuses on social justice rather than other nonsense, then he could help impact the world. I trust he has read and / or been influenced by some Latin American liberation theologists like Paolo Freire.

[SpartanDem]

13. 'writing off gay marriage as "an anthropological reverse".'

Sure playing down the social issues and puts more emphasis on economic justice would be very welcome. But as long as that is his stance on marriage equality he's no "radical progressive".

[cbayer]

14. Agree. He certainly is not with respect to GLBT equality.

[okasha]

15. Certainly there is room for improvement.

But given that he is well ahead of the last two Popes on economic and environmental justice, zero tolerance for pedophiles and curial reform, I'm cautiously optimistic that he can change his mind on gender issues.