What It Means To Be Catholic In 2014
A quarter of Americans identify as Catholic, but their views vary dramatically. NPR's Rachel Martin talks with three Catholics about their views on faith and politics, one year into the new papacy.
March 23, 2014 8:00 AM
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
While in Europe, President Obama will stop at the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis, who recently marked his one-year anniversary as leader of the Catholic Church. The pope has gotten a lot of attention for refocusing the church on concerns like global poverty and playing down hot-button social issues - abortion and gay marriage. To understand how Francis' papacy has affected the American church, we reached out to our listeners on Facebook. We spoke with three Catholics with different perspectives: 33-year-old Jeannie Ewing from Indiana.
JEANNIE EWING: For me and my generation, I think there are a lot of us who identify more with a traditional Catholic practice. I don't really identify with the progressive way of thinking or believing theologically.
MARTIN: Twenty-nine-year-old Julian Villareal from Texas.
JULIAN VILLAREAL: Francis being Latin American, he's, I feel, turning the church's attention to the Americas to the global south because that's where the church is going to grow.
http://www.npr.org/2014/03/23/293255049/what-it-means-to-be-catholic-in-2014
7:23 audio at link.
