The Pope Who Goofed

The Pope Who Goofed July 1, 2016

Which is OK, according to this article.  That Pope Francis continually says things that befuddle some, outrage others, and give hope to yet another segment of the population, is apparently no big deal.  Fair enough.  Let’s face it, people who love the Pope or love where they believe he is going are going to give him a pass.  Those who don’t like the Pope or don’t like where they believe he is going are going to be critical.  Welcome to human nature 101.

What we need are those who sincerely like, even love, the Pope, but are willing to step out and criticize him when they feel he is in the wrong.  And given his rather informal, shoot-from-the-hip style, that should be more than just once every 14th month with an “r” in it.  Unfortunately, that demographic is a rather exclusive club.

As a former pastor, I can tell you that there were usually four groups in every congregation.  Those who didn’t care, who weren’t exactly the model for how you wanted your congregation to be identified.  Those who didn’t like you, and waited for you to burp wrong so they could pounce.  Those who liked you, and short of you ax murdering kids during a children’s sermon would give you the benefit of ten doubts.

And then you had those saints who tried to keep it real.  They might like you or not, though they respected the vocation.  They were helpful, not too critical, but willing to sit down and say when they thought you were wrong.  Ah, those were the ones you remember with great gladness.  So as I see Catholics pounce, yell, criticize daily, defend, praise, smack away criticism or proclaim they don’t care, I can’t speak for Pope Francis.  But in my much smaller context, I know exactly which group I most valued.  And I can’t help but wonder if, at the end of the day, he might feel the same way.


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