EXCLUSIVE: Kenneth L. Woodward’s Rapid-Fire Reflections on Francis in America

4. Yes, I know the Pope is a Jesuit (and I went to a Jesuit High School, which means I am a Jesuit lifer) but why were there no Dominicans, Franciscans or Redemptorists, not to mention Paulists, doing media commentary. The landscape was a Jesuit jungle. Do you really expect a Jesuit to say a critical word about a fellow Jesuit, esp. if the fellow is pope? Mercy no. Yes there were others, George Weigel on CNN insisted that Pappa Francesco was pushing “the new evangelism” which just happens to be Weigel’s hobby horse, and perhaps the title of one of books.

Also the lovely Maria Shriver, talking about her pastor whom she insisted on identifying as “Monsignor.” Only a Kennedy would think church titles important. Poor Christ Cuomo: Messed up on basic parts of the Mass, which on all maters Catholic seems to run in the family. Patriarch Mario, a very old fashioned Catholic in his day, never did quite figure it out.

5. Re pope’s visit to the Little Sisters of the Poor. Long a laugh line for sports columnists –eg, Alabama is playing Wofford this week, which is like playing the Little Sisters of the Poor, Well, I used to see these women, mostly African-American, sleeping on my morning commute train from Westchester Cty because they had been up all night emptying bed bans and finally had a chance to rest. So screw the political interpretation of this viisiit. I hope il papa did it because of the work they do, not their tiff on contraception. These women are what the religious calling is all about, the very anthisis of the 
Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which is all about themselves.

6. Very nice of the Pope to visit a prison. But in doing so he said nothing about the need for Catholics in this ministry. He could have, but didn’t, urge Catholics to make this a priority in the way that Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationlists do to the shame of Catholics. Ask my wife, Betty, who has labored long and well at Sing Sing. So much for the “Francis Effect,” a bogus media trope if I ever heard one. NCR editors, are you listening? Yes, we should pray for Francis, as he asks, mainly because he may be reading his written and other clippings.

7. Re the pope and clerical child abuse. I know families that have been irredeemably crucified by abusing priests. But I also know of priests who have been jailed for false accusations against them and others whose ministries have been ruined by SNAP, which gets a free ride from the press and lives off of grievances false as well as true. I doubt the pope gets this but I hope he will. In any case, I enjoyed meeting him in Rome a year ago and he does indeed need all the prayers he can get. He has taken on a lot of burdens, including oursized expectations. I worry that he comes across as a warm fuzzy, which is assuredly not, and is loved for the same reason the Dalai Lama is, for appearing to be that kind of figure Americans love most: a nonjudgmentalist,

You might be curious where you can expect the media coverage to turn . . .  after the papal visit.

I have also picked up breaking news from Poland on the Polish prelate who decided to have a coming out party right before the Synod.

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