{"id":6463,"date":"2015-09-17T12:58:56","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T18:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/?p=6463"},"modified":"2015-09-17T12:58:56","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T18:58:56","slug":"i-love-pope-francis-there-i-said-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/2015\/09\/i-love-pope-francis-there-i-said-it\/","title":{"rendered":"I Love Pope Francis (There, I Said It)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

When I heard Pope Francis was going to visit the United States I told my wife \u201cif he comes to California we are going right?\u201d I said it with the enthusiasm I usually reserve for Led Zeppelin reunion rumors and Roger Clyne concerts. She responded with \u201cof course I love this Pope too!\u201d Sadly my favorite pontiff will only be visiting the Northeast this time around, but I\u2019m still excited about his visit. <\/p>\n

\"Used<\/a>
Used by Permission from iStock<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pope Francis is not perfect, he\u2019s very far from it. I think he\u2019s still majorly behind on women\u2019s rights, gay rights, reproductive rights, and a whole host of other things. But the Catholic Church embraces change at a glacially slow pace. Some of his small gestures, by Catholic standards, are like giant leaps into the 19th Century. It\u2019s easy for an outsider to look at Francis and say \u201che\u2019s not doing enough\u201d or \u201che still advocates this,\u201d and there\u2019s some truth to that, but I also think we all have to carry reasonable expectations when it comes to a Pope. <\/p>\n

Perhaps the best thing this Pope has done is taken the Catholic Church back to the words of Jesus. It\u2019s most likely that the man who became Christ to billions of believers began his life in humble circumstances and preached a message of love and acceptance. I think that\u2019s something Francis has done, and it\u2019s one of many reasons I love this Pope. Here are some reasons I \u2764\ufe0f Pope Francis.<\/p>\n

Francis Has Made the Office of Pope Humble Again<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes it\u2019s the little gestures that mean a lot, and Francis has made a lot of those little gestures. One of the first was choosing not to live in the papal apartments generally used by the Pope. Instead Francis chose a much more humble abode<\/a>. A Pope is not a king or an emperor or someone who should have a 20-room house (look into this Evangelical assholes who don\u2019t understand the Jesus of the New Testament<\/a>).<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read in some places that Francis has stopped the use of the popemobile, which is not quite accurate. Francis has ditched the Mercedes-Benz-bulletproof-popemobile in favor of an open-air version from Hyundai<\/a>. It\u2019s not quite riding on a donkey, but it\u2019s a good 21st century equivalent. <\/p>\n

Pope Francis Believes in Climate Change<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Francis\u2019s recent encyclical on the environment<\/a> was an amazing statement by a Pope who believes in both God and science. I think it speaks for its self<\/a>: <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. In many parts of the planet, the elderly lament that once beautiful landscapes are now covered with rubbish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNever have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last 200 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not God. The Earth was here before us and was given to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to strengthen the conviction that we are one single human family.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love that Pope Francis sounds very much like my environmentally aware friends!<\/p>\n

The Pope, Like Me, Has a Caffeine Problem<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I like my religious leaders to have weaknesses and traits that remind me of myself, and the Pope is no exception. Francis is a daily drinker of yerba mate<\/a>, a caffeinated drink with slightly more kick than a cup of tea (but less than a cup of coffee). The Pope generally sips the drink from a straw and often does so in all sorts of social situations. Because of the straw it often looks like Francis is walking around with a strange looking pipe.<\/p>\n

This Pope isn\u2019t adverse to other slightly stimulating substances. On a recent tour of South America he was treated to a glass of trimate<\/em><\/a>, a tea made from anise, chamomile, and coca leaves. Coca leaves are a mild stimulant and are used to make cocaine, and were outlawed in 1961 by the United Nations (though they still remain popular in countries like Bolivia). In addition to a little extra energy, drinking trimate is said to help with altitude sickness. <\/p>\n

Francis is Making Progress on Gay Rights<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I think that some of Francis\u2019s statements over the last few years have been misinterpreted. I remember being excited by this comment from the Pope back in 2013<\/a>: \u201cIf someone is gay, who searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?\u201d That statement was not a complete game-changer but I believe it opened the door in the Catholic Church. Now there are rumors that Francis will push for a blessing for gay couples<\/a> to be conducted by priests in the Church. It\u2019s not a complete endorsement of gay marriage, but it\u2019s a start. <\/p>\n

The Pope is No Fan of Capitalism<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Bible spends a lot of time talking about the poor and Francis gets it. It\u2019s been fun watching the heads of right-wing talking heads explode every time Francis tees off<\/a> on capitalism, wealth redistribution, and the failures of trickle-down-economics:<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labor is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral obligation. For Christians, the responsibility is even greater: it is a commandment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[S]ome people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacra\u00adlized workings of the prevailing economic system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to one of his needs alone: consumption.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Pope-RollingStone\"<\/a>The Pope Was on the Cover of The Rolling Stone<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sure this is a stupid one, but I still think it\u2019s amazingly cool that the Pope has now shared a space with such luminaries as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Carole King, NWA, Pearl Jam, The Doors, and Pink Floyd. He\u2019s not quite the rock and roll Pope, but he\u2019s damn closer than any of the previous ones. <\/p>\n

Reaching Out to Non-Believers <\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I did not ask Jesus to die for me nor do I think Jesus dying on a cross has anything to do with the future of my soul. However, it\u2019s refreshing to see a Pope attempt to bring people together instead of drive them apart. \u201cSin, even for those who have no faith, exists when people disobey their conscience,\u201d the Good Father wrote nearly two years ago now<\/a>, and those comments were taken to mean that a good atheist might be eligible for the Christian Kingdom of Heaven. I think it speaks to the idea that good deeds and good work can be accomplished by anyone regardless of faith or lack thereof. <\/p>\n

So much of what Francis says seems more linked to how we act than to how or what we believe. There\u2019s a place in Francis\u2019s world for those who aren\u2019t Christian, and that world can be just as godly<\/em> as that of a believer. Francis has been doing more than not casting the first stone, I think he\u2019s been gathering them up and hiding them in those now unused papal apartments. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pope Francis is not perfect, and far from it, but I think he’s been a game-changer for the Catholic Church. I can say without shame that I love this Pope! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":493,"featured_media":6466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[744,188,743],"class_list":["post-6463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-i-love-pope-francis","tag-pope","tag-pope-francis"],"yoast_head":"\nI Love Pope Francis (There, I Said It)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pope Francis is not perfect, and far from it, but I think he's been a game-changer for the Catholic Church. 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