Pope Francis and Change in the Roman Catholic Church

[rug]

1/6/2014 at 14:27:09
By Steven Jonas

Steven Jonas, MD, MPH, MS, is a Professor of Preventive Medicine at the School of Medicine, Stony Brook University (NY) and author/co-author/editor/co-editor of over 30 books on health policy, health and wellness, and sports and regular exercise. In addition to being a Trusted Author for OpEdNews, Dr. Jonas is a columnist for BuzzFlash.com/Truthout.org, Managing Editor and a Contributing Author for The Political Junkies for Progressive Democracy (http://thepoliticaljunkies.org/); a Senior Editor, Politics, for The Greanville Post; a Contributor to The Planetary Movement; a Contributor to Dandelion Salad(http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com), and a Contributor to TheHarderStuff newsletter.



Pope Francis has been taking some pretty remarkable positions, for a Pope at any rate, during his first year in office. Indeed, in the context of the Roman Catholic Church they could be considered radical.

For example, he has opened the door to gay Catholics, he has acknowledged that there is a sort of "gay lobby" within the Vatican itself, he has said that atheists might well be welcomed into heaven. He has also been engaging in some fairly substantive house-cleaning and reorganizing, like bouncing more than one reactionary Cardinal from places of influence on policy making and politics within the Church hierarchy. Finally, and most remarkably, he has ripped into contemporary capitalism, to the extent that Rush Limbaugh (not a Catholic) felt it necessary to engage him in an extensive bout of red-baiting. Funnily enough, several recent Popes, even including Benedict XVI (no radical, for sure) have criticized modern capitalism, but this Pope has done it in a context of possibly making changes in Vatican policy, as, for example, towards Liberation Theology. So what is going on here? Is this just a Cardinal who happened to get elected Pope striking out on his own? I don't think so.

It must be assumed (although we have no way of knowing) that votes are not taken blindly in the College of Cardinals. We must assume that Cardinals do not vote for their candidate for the next Pope simply because they like him personally, or he comes from a Hemisphere that has never had a Pope before, or speaks Spanish as his first language. The Pope is one of the most powerful political figures in the world. Therefore it is only logical that those voting know of the several candidates' politics (and of course their economics as well). If these suppositions are correct, that could very well mean that this Pope was chosen by a majority of the College to bring real reform to the Church (which happens to have undergone real reform a number of times in its history). If that is true, that would mean that Pope Francis has a powerful bloc within the Church behind him and will continue to push forward with his reform agenda.

Indeed, in order to deal with changing realities over time, the Church has changed policies numerous occasions over its long history, from the time of the Council of Nicaea in 325, which following the conversion to Christianity of the Roman Emperor Constantine, a) brought the Church fully out into the open, beyond persecution, and b) made it a political partner with the Roman Empire. Over time came, for example: St. Augustine, who among other things codified the doctrine that the "Jews killed Christ," so that anti-Semitism became a driving force for the Church and Church policy over so many centuries; St. Thomas Aquinas who, of course with colleagues, introduced an element of rationality into church doctrine; the Crusades, which made the Church into a major military power for a time; the focus on the use of torture on so-called heretics for centuries, starting well before the Reformation, which "anti-heretical" process then led to Church-sponsored massive civil wars in Europe for 150 years.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Pope-Francis-and-Change-in-by-Steven-Jonas-Abortion_Abortion_CHANGE_Capitalism-140106-607.html

[IrishAyes]

1. Some church leaders will tell us policy doesn't change because eternal truth doesn't change.

From where I stand, that's not how it appears. So when they say there will NEVER be female priests, I tend to snicker up my sleeve. But then I always was a brat.