Pope Francis has changed the narrative

                          and it is a breath of fresh air

Only six months have elapsed since Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis I, but what he has done in that time has been simply incredible. If nothing else, he has changed the narrative of the Catholic Church, the story about what Catholicism is supposed to mean. 

The words that have entranced many in the church -- and even those outside of it -- were
found in a 12-thousand word piece in America Magazine, a Jesuit publication. Francis's interview with a fellow Jesuit priest, Father Antonio Spadaro, reinforced what he has been saying and doing since he became pope in March. <http://americamagazine.org/popefrancis>

The pope emphasized that the church had been too strident in espousing opposition to abortion, same-sex marriage, and contraception. “It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. . We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.” 

Those on the left have been rejoicing at his words and deeds over these past six months, and some are even considering returning to the church that has been held hostage since 1978 by two rigidly conservative popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. 

By taking the name Francis, the first pontiff to do so, the pope has been following the path carved out by Francis of Assisi. St. Francis was a humble man, a champion of the poor and downtrodden, a person who worked hard to provide for those who have little. 

Perhaps using that example, Pope Francis disdains the accoutrements of the job, deciding to not wear the elaborate garments that Benedict used in his papacy, ones that took his right-wing followers back to the pre-Vatican II Twentieth Century. Instead, he saw the public in a simple white cassock in his first appearance as pontiff. 

New York Times columnist, Frank Bruni, a Catholic, wrote that what Francis said was not as important as the way in which he delivered his message. "It was the sweetness in his timbre, the meekness of his posture. It was the revelation that a man can wear the loftiest of miters without having his head swell to fit it …" 

That is what has amazed some people about Francis: his humility. He has refused to stay in the opulent papal living quarters, instead living in the Vatican guesthouse, which is relatively spartan. 

Conservatives are pointing out that Francis has not changed any of the churches teachings -- yet. Abortion is still wrong, same-sex marriage is still forbidden, as is contraception, although the latter could change under Francis. 

Nevertheless, those on the Catholic right in the U.S. are seeing these headlines after publication of this America Magazine piece: "Pope Francis's stunning blow to conservatives" (The Guardian) and "Pope Francis is a flaming liberal" (Slate). 

The National Catholic Reporter, a liberal-leaning publication, talked about Philadelphia Cardinal "arch-conservative" Charles Caput's comments about Francis earlier this year. Conservatives "have not been really happy about (Francis's) election," he said succinctly. 

Caput inflamed many Catholics in the U.S. Presidential election of 2004 by saying that politicians who favor abortion should be denied communion. However, he did not advocate the same for those who oppose capital punishment (like five of the Catholics on the U.S. Supreme Court), which is also outlawed by the church. 

The shame of the Catholic Church under John Paul and Benedict has been their failure to deal with the sexual-abuse crisis. That has been the greatest black mark against Roman Catholicism in the past 500 years. 

John Paul ignored it, and Benedict, as the leader of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, failed to effectively confront the crisis. 

Perhaps the greatest symbol of the ignorance of John Paul to the abuse crisis is what he did with Cardinal Bernard Law, another arch-conservative. Law resigned as archbishop of Boston in disgrace in 2002 after evidence of his shipping pedophiles from one church to another in an attempt to avoid the law became public. While John Paul did remove Law, he later brought him to Rome and give him a cushy Vatican job as archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica. 

This was a man who only walked free because the statute of limitations in Massachusetts had expired. That appointment was galling to the many abuse victims of the church. 

With Francis, the new breath of fresh air, Bruni summarizes his excitement at the thought of what he has done thus far. " For too many years I watched the chieftains of the church wrap themselves in lavish pageantry and prioritize the protection of fellow clergy members over the welfare of parishioners. They allowed priests who sexually abused children to evade accountability and, in many cases, to abuse again."

In essence, that is the church that Francis intends to change.

Song of St. Francis of Assisi

Make me a channel of your peace

Where there is hatred let me bring your love,

Where there is injury your pardon Lord,

And where there's doubt, true faith in you.

Make me a channel of your peace, 

Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope, 

Where there is darkness only light,

And where there's sadness ever joy.

Oh master grant that I may never seek, 

So much to be consoled as to console,

To be understood as to understand, 

To be loved as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
In giving of ourselves that we receive,

And in dying that we're born to eternal life. Amen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOvQLMfppN8&list=WLB20E708780295B87