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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPope's (female) Foot-Wash a Final Straw for Traditionalists
VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis has won over many hearts and minds with his simple style and focus on serving the worlds poorest, but he has devastated traditionalist Catholics who adored his predecessor, Benedict XVI, for restoring much of the traditional pomp to the papacy. Francis decision to disregard church law and wash the feet of two girls a Serbian Muslim and an Italian Catholic during a Holy Thursday ritual has become something of the final straw, evidence that Francis has little or no interest in one of the key priorities of Benedicts papacy: reviving the pre-Vatican II traditions of the Catholic Church.
(snip)
Virtually everything he has done since being elected pope, every gesture, every decision, has rankled traditionalists in one way or another.
The night he was chosen pope, March 13, Francis emerged from the loggia of St. Peters Basilica without the ermine-rimmed red velvet cape, or mozzetta, used by popes past for official duties, wearing instead the simple white cassock of the papacy. The cape has since come to symbolize his rejection of the trappings of the papacy and to some degree the pontificate of Benedict XVI, since the German pontiff relished in resurrecting many of the liturgical vestments of his predecessors.
Francis also received the cardinals pledges of obedience after his election not from a chair on a pedestal as popes normally do but rather standing, on their same level. For traditionalists who fondly recall the days when popes were carried on a sedan chair, that may have stung. In the days since, he has called for intensified dialogue with Islam a gesture that rubs traditionalists the wrong way because they view such a heavy focus on interfaith dialogue as a sign of religious relativism.
The rest: http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/2013/03/29/pope-foot-wash-final-straw-for-traditionalists/FUkH78BhqQjR4IdQE8Ye4K/story.html
...itty bitty teeny tiny baby steps...but steps nonetheless...
katmondoo
(6,457 posts)I don't expect a woman to be a priest but I am thrilled to be recognized as a woman in the Catholic Church. If you are a traditionalist
and are "rubbed the wrong way" well I have been rubbed the wrong way for many years by the attitude of the Popes and priests toward women.
randome
(34,845 posts)It's not a coincidence that both these power structures are in crisis mode.
And one of the wedges that is bringing them down is gay rights, even if not directly. Gay rights set the mood and people begin questioning other things.
It's all related.
socialindependocrat
(1,372 posts)They are pissed because he chooses humility as his robe.
He speaks to the people.
He is a simple person.
and they are mad because he does not promote the pomp
but chooses to lead by example.
He needs to give a sermon on humility.
I saw him on TV the other day and I felt like sending money to the church and
I'm not even Catholic. He's inspiring!
jsr
(7,712 posts)happynewyear
(1,724 posts)This past Palm Sunday they were looking for 24 people to sign-up to have their feet washed. I'd never heard of such an event at this Church. I did not sign up myself but others had done so.
I'm liking Pope Francis I a lot more than some of the prior popes we've had.
& a Happy Easter to you Pope Francis I!