He is who he is, but I hope he does shine a light on poverty - make the likes of Ryan squirm

[Tom Rinaldo]

Catholics have been a major force for social justice in the past, still are in some instances in some places. The thing I belatedly came to appreciate about the Catholic Church is that, compared to a lot of what passes for Christianity lately, it is not obsessed with sweeping the words of Jesus, as relayed in the Gospels, under the rug. Catholics openly acknowledge Christ's teachings on the poor and the least among us - that hasn't always gotten locked away so that fire and brimstone can rule the center stage.

I don’t see the Catholic Church becoming less oppressive toward gays, not going to happen under this Pope though perhaps he may oppose expressions of overt hatred toward the GLBT community - maybe. It will continue to be regressive on gender issues also, and will retain its currently defined "pro-life" theology etc.

But on poverty, there things could get interesting. We shall see how ardent if at all this new Pope Francis will be regarding economic inequalities and compassion toward the oppressed, and the need for Christians to take real action to lift up the least among us. If he focuses on that aspect of Catholicism , and if his message resonates, it could make Republicans in this country a little bit more uncomfortable in the ongoing budget priorities fights that our politics have fixated on.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Tom, I agree. Probably not much change that we'd like except towards the poor.

There might be a small ray of hope here.

[Fresh_Start]

2. Its my hope that he prioritizes caring for the poor

and sadly I agree he is who he is and both the GLBT and females will continue to have a difficult time.
But I'll take some progress on at least one front versus the status quo.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Can he excommunicate Ryan for failing to follo Catholic teachings? Didn't they

want Kerry excommunicated for being pro-choice?

[Tom Rinaldo]

6. I don't think Kerry was excommunicated

I think he was barred from taking communion within an archdiocese by one Bishop, but I may be wrong about that.

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. It doesn't matter who doesn't take it seriously

What matters is who does take it seriously. You are no doubt not among those who do but that isn't the point. If the Pope starts centering Catholic teaching more on ministering to the poor and downtrodden there are those in this world who would be influenced by that message. And even for those who find the Church irrelevent, hypocritical, both or worse, the terms of public debate shift when a significant religious leader moves the subject of discussion onto anotber topic, for better or worse.