Pope Francis’ Honeymoon is Over

How little they know the Catholic faith! The Catholic rules on contraception and abortion, male and female roles, marriage, divorce and homosexuality are all integrated with what we believe about God, humanity, redemption, heaven, hell and “the whole thing.” These rules and values were not the result of a legislative process or an executive order nor can they be changed by a legislative process or executive order. Those who make these criticisms clearly do not understand very much about Catholicism or the real powers of the Pope. The Pope is not an innovator but a defender of the faith.

In the Catholic Church reform usually comes from the ground level, not from the top. Ordinary laypeople, priests and bishops get on and do radical things to serve God. They are the ones in the trenches making Catholicism work. This is truly radical in a world that is used to everything working from the top down. The Pope is the servant of the servants of God. He is there to facilitate and enable the real work of the church to take place.

Think of it like this: the players are out on the field playing the game. The referred is there to make sure the game is played according to the rules. That is the role of the Pope and the CDF. Why then do people get so upset that they actually do their job and make sure the rules are obeyed? When you play baseball and you run to first and are tagged out and the referee calls you out do you stomp over and blame him for making the call? Do you yell and protest that he is being harsh and unyielding? Do you call for both teams to come together and “dialogue”? No you take the call and go to the dugout and continue to play the game.

So it is with the rules and restrictions of Catholicism. The Pope makes these calls and with the bishops of the church enforce the rules the best they can not to make life hard for everyone or to be nasty and unpopular, but because they want everyone to get on with playing the game. The rules help the game to be played successfully. This is what popes do. It’s their job. The real work is being done in a million parishes around the world by countless priests, sisters, monks, nuns and dedicated laypeople.

People like Anna March haven’t got a clue what the Catholic faith is really about and they treat the Pope like some sort of political figure–a president or prime minister in whom they can focus all their unrealistic immature expectations and on whom they can place all the blame when their idealistic visions of a brave new world do not come to fruition.