Book indicates pope is a moderate realist
Available today on bookshelves everywhere, of both the physical and virtual sort, is Image Books’ English translation of On Heaven and Earth, a dialogue between Argentine Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Pope Francis, published while he was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires.
In a word, it’s well worth the read.
The book first appeared in Spanish in 2010, and it’s invaluable as a guide to the thinking of the pope across a wide range of issues -- from Capitalism and globalization to interreligious dialogue and feminism, even matters of leadership style.
“The bad leader is the one who is self-assured and stubborn,” the pope writes at one point. “One of the characteristics of a bad leader is to be excessively normative because of his self-assurance.”
Those lusting for a bumper crop of new papal norms, in other words, may be in for a few lean years.
“This type of rigid religiosity is disguised with doctrines that claim to give justifications, but in reality deprive people of their freedom and do not allow them to grow as persons,” he says. “A large number end up living a double life.”
Francis acknowledges that he’s felt the sting of that rigidity himself, especially in criticism of his pastoral style over the years.
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/book-indicates-pope-moderate-realist
