{"id":21747,"date":"2013-03-22T12:20:52","date_gmt":"2013-03-22T16:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=21747"},"modified":"2016-09-30T16:59:23","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T20:59:23","slug":"francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/","title":{"rendered":"“Francis cannot be captured by political categories. He transcends them.”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Robert Moynihan has his take<\/a><\/strong> on Pope Francis\u2019 important remarks to the diplomatic corps today:<\/p>\n

What Francis said today was critical, and should be read carefully by all who want to understand \u201cwhere he is coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, the \u201cpundits\u201d \u2014 and really, all of us \u2014 have been \u201ccircling\u201d Pope Francis, like the group of blind men circling the elephant, one touching the rope-like tail, one the smooth, sheet-like ear, one the hard, ivory tusk, all \u201cseeing\u201d only a small part\u2026 none seeing the whole.<\/p>\n

One pundit notes the Pope\u2019s simplicity, his actual poverty, his love for the poor, and says (wrongly): \u201cHe is the people\u2019s Pope, the Pope of the poor, so\u2026 he is a liberal, he may very well be a social revolutionary, a \u2018liberation\u2019 Pope\u2026 and perhaps also breaking with Church teaching on sexual matters\u2026\u201d Another pundit notes that Francis has strongly defended Church teaching on the family, on sexual morality, and says (wrongly) \u201che is a conservative, he won\u2019t \u2018rock the boat\u2019 at all\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis cannot be captured by these political categories.<\/p>\n

He transcends them.<\/p>\n

As Jesus transcended all categories, reaching out to sinners \u2014 and all are sinners \u2014 but also, asking them not to sin. Loving the sinner, but not the sin\u2026<\/p>\n

As Pope Benedict transcended all categories. Ceaselessly reminding all of us that our destiny transcends all worldly categories, that we are made for eternity, not just for time\u2026<\/p>\n

Perhaps it is time that we should all say that there are not \u201cconservative\u201d and \u201cliberal\u201d or even \u201ctraditional\u201d and \u201corthodox\u201d Catholics at all, just simply \u201cCatholics\u201d in a universal Church, stretching backward to the first days of the Church and forward to the end of the world in time, and global in space, unable to be described rightly by these secular categories.<\/p>\n

So today, Pope Francis, powerfully, set his course, transcending the \u201cleft\u201d and the \u201cright\u201d and pointing all of us toward higher things.<\/p>\n

It was the first, great \u201cprogrammatic\u201d discourse of his pontificate.<\/p>\n

His central thrust today was: (1) don\u2019t try to confine me, or reduce me and my message, to worldly categories; and (2) don\u2019t try to separate me from my predecessor, Benedict.<\/p>\n

These messages were powerful, fundamental and\u2026 needed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Photo: CNS\/Tony Gentile, Reuters<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Moynihan has his take on Pope Francis\u2019 important remarks to the diplomatic corps today: What Francis said today was critical, and should be read carefully by all who want to understand \u201cwhere he is coming from.\u201d So far, the \u201cpundits\u201d \u2014 and really, all of us \u2014 have been \u201ccircling\u201d Pope Francis, like the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1413],"class_list":["post-21747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pope","tag-pope-francis"],"yoast_head":"\n"Francis cannot be captured by political categories. He transcends them."<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Robert Moynihan has his take on Pope Francis' important remarks to the diplomatic corps today: What Francis said today was critical, and should be read\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Francis cannot be captured by political categories. He transcends them."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Robert Moynihan has his take on Pope Francis' important remarks to the diplomatic corps today: What Francis said today was critical, and should be read\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-22T16:20:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-30T20:59:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/files\/2013\/03\/20130322nw610-575x341.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Francis cannot be captured by political categories. He transcends them.\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-22T16:20:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-30T20:59:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\"},\"description\":\"Robert Moynihan has his take on Pope Francis' important remarks to the diplomatic corps today: What Francis said today was critical, and should be read\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Francis cannot be captured by political categories. He transcends them.”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\",\"name\":\"The Deacon's Bench\",\"description\":\"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\",\"name\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Francis cannot be captured by political categories. He transcends them.\"","description":"Robert Moynihan has his take on Pope Francis' important remarks to the diplomatic corps today: What Francis said today was critical, and should be read","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Francis cannot be captured by political categories. He transcends them.\"","og_description":"Robert Moynihan has his take on Pope Francis' important remarks to the diplomatic corps today: What Francis said today was critical, and should be read","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2013-03-22T16:20:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-30T20:59:23+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/files\/2013\/03\/20130322nw610-575x341.jpg"}],"author":"Deacon Greg Kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deacon Greg Kandra","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/","name":"\"Francis cannot be captured by political categories. He transcends them.\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-03-22T16:20:52+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-30T20:59:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970"},"description":"Robert Moynihan has his take on Pope Francis' important remarks to the diplomatic corps today: What Francis said today was critical, and should be read","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/03\/francis-cannot-be-captured-by-political-categories-he-transcends-them\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Francis cannot be captured by political categories. He transcends them.”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970","name":"Deacon Greg Kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Deacon Greg Kandra"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}