Avlon: Pope Francis’s Lessons for the GOP

[UrbScotty]

Pope Benedict always seemed to be the Dick Cheney of pontiffs. The longtime Vatican insider and master of papal politicking was beloved by conservative theologians for reaffirming strict doctrine and famously arguing that a smaller church of more devout believers would be more desirable than what might be called a “big tent.”

In contrast, Pope Francis is the ultimate outsider, the first South American pontiff in centuries, reflecting and embracing the demographic changes transforming the Catholic Church. He is an unapologetic believer in building a big tent, telling bishops in Rio, “We cannot keep ourselves shut up in parishes, in our communities, when so many people are waiting for the Gospel. … Let us courageously look to pastoral needs, beginning on the periphery, with those who are farthest away, with those who do not usually go to church.” This is a pope who remembers what so many self-styled conservatives often forget: that the essence of evangelism is winning new converts.

...

But what does any of this have to do with the Grand Old Party? Much of the modern Republican Party is seems content preaching to a smaller and smaller choir. They seem, unfairly or not, more concerned with the head than the heart. Absolute faith in the power of tax cuts takes the place of alternative plans to alleviate poverty or expand the ranks of the middle class. This is not just a problem with communication; it is a problem with policy content that appeals outside the base.

Efforts to connect with young voters or the Hispanic community are fought by self-styled conservatives instead of embraced. And the overwhelming emphasis on opposition rather than proposition leads to a negative perception that has driven public approval of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to record lows. A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that “just 22 percent of Americans “believe the GOP is interested in unifying the country in a bipartisan way, versus 45 percent who say the same about Obama.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/28/pope-francis-s-lessons-for-the-gop.html

[meow2u3]

1. RW heads are exploding because of Pope Francis

Francis' message of inclusion and populism is driving the RW neo-Pharisees up a tree--and I love every minute of it!

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

2. Inclusivity is the way to grow an organization

James Joyce defined Catholicism as "Here comes everybody". The Republicans would do well to heed the lesson.

For both Pope Benedict and the Republicans, ideological purity seems to be paramount. That is not the way to win friends, influence people or solve problems.

[Kingofalldems]

3. I guarantee EWTN no liking Francis at all

Especially that suspected (by me) GOP operative Arroyo.

[No Vested Interest]

4. I'm with you on your opinion of EWTN and Arroyo (he of the unfortunate permanent

smirk).

I enjoyed watching parts of the Pope's visits to Brazil, broadcast live by EWTN.

However, I did not always appreciate the narrative provided by EWTN's analysts.
Those narratives provided by Vatican Radio were well done, balanced, professional, while those by the EWTN hosts, both lay and clerical, seemed to be skirting the issues FRancis laid out, and referring back to Benedict and John Paul II.

[47of74]

6. Aren't most of their regulars GOP operatives?

[47of74]

5. Centuries?

My apologies, more like ever.

Francis was the first not to come from Europe in well over a thousand years - there were Popes who came from northern Africa and western Asia. Places such as Syria, modern day Turkey, and maybe Lebanon. I came across this map of non European Popes;

http://www.geographictravels.com/2013/02/map-of-non-european-popes.html

[okasha]

7. Francis is the first Pope

from the Americas, ever.

[No Vested Interest]

8. I think that fact is reflected in his demeanor.

Nothing elitist about him.

[okasha]

9. I think part of that is "just him"--a part of his personality--

and part of it is that even though John Paul II and Benedict disavowed it, liberation theology is pretty much in the air and water in Latin America. You can't get away from it unless you "Don't drink the water, don't breathe the air!"

[No Vested Interest]

10. Good point.

[IrishAyes]

11. And it just keeps me saying forever

that Archbishop Romero would've made a fine Pope. However, he's made an even finer martyr to the cause.