A couple takes on Pope Francis

And the fact that not everyone is a card carrying member of the Pope Francis fan club.   The articles are here and here.

As a non-Catholic, most of the harshest statements I heard about Pope John Paul II came from Catholics.  Many non-Catholics I knew admired him.  When JPII died in 2005, I even knew a KJV only Baptist preacher who admitted John Paul might be in heaven.  Wow.  For him, that was quite a stretch.  But from the Catholics I knew, most who were left of center, the love just wasn’t in the air.  Not all were bad, and several admitted to being sad when he died, even if they disagreed with him.  Others, however, were not so kind.

When I began my long journey into the Church, I began visiting various Catholic blogs.  The topic of Catholics who were against Pope John Paul, and then Pope Benedict, was certainly touched on.  But it was never a major conflict.  As often as not, the focus was on why they opposed the popes, rather than the fact that they opposed them.  That is, the issues the disagreed with that caused their animosity.  Not that there weren’t debates.  But the Catholics who criticized the popes were never called out as some brand of sub-Catholic disgraces to the faith, immersed in pope hatred and Church hatred.  Even the ones who made it clear they wanted the Church to change from its wicked, evil ways weren’t portrayed – as a general rule – that way.  Had they been so, I might have had second thoughts about continuing into the Church, if barbs and insults were hurled at people simply for disagreeing with a pope.  After all, Catholics worshiping popes isn’t exactly a rare stereotype, and nothing says worship more than attacking and assailing anyone who dares say anything less than adoration and praise for something.

But thankfully, unless people went overboard and really spewed the pope hate, folks who disagreed with JPII or Benedict were debated, not called names and accused of being haters.  Which is a big contrast from what it is today.  For a man who is not perfect and above criticism, there seems to be no ability to criticize him without being labeled a Francis hater, Pope Hater, Church hater, or any one of a dozen brands of ‘hater.’  I suppose it’s par for the course nowadays.