Fr. Dwight Longenecker5. Conservatives are Strongly Pro-Life and Pro-Family – When Pope Francis says the issues of same sex marriage and abortion and sexual morality should not be talked about so much the conservatives doubt his commitment to their pet causes. When he celebrates Mass in Uganda at the shrine of young men who were martyred for their resistance to homosexuality, conservatives wonder why the Pope didn’t use this opportunity to address this issue. When he visited the United States they were disappointed that he didn’t address the issues more specifically in his address to Congress.
6. Conservatives Don’t Like Islam – Maybe they are uninformed and bigoted, but the fact is, most conservatives have no love for the Islamic religion, nor do they have much inclination to learn and be open minded. For them Islam is a religion of wild eyed fanatics who want to take over the world with Sharia law and anybody who doesn’t acknowledge that danger and reach for their weapon is naive to the extreme. Therefore when Pope Francis visits mosques and cozies up to Imams they shake their head in dismay.
7. Conservatives Don’t Like Communism – Conservatives Catholics are happy about the church’s “preferential option for the poor” and realize that helping the needy is an important work of mercy. However, they don’t like liberation theology or anything that smells like it. They worry that Pope Francis’ friendships and sympathies are a little bit too close for comfort to the liberation theologians. When he speaks constantly about the poor and unjust economic systems, when he makes pronouncements on global economics and political systems they worry that he’s mouthing Marxism instead of the gospel.
8. Conservatives Stress Individual Responsibility – When Pope Francis scolds the world about global economic, ecological and political systems that are corrupt and destructive, conservatives cringe. They see the problem as being one of personal virtue and personal responsibility. They wonder why the Pope doesn’t focus more on evangelization of individuals and conversion of souls in order to bring about change. They worry that he is more concerned about changing this world than preparing souls for the next. They wonder why he doesn’t talk about Jesus Christ and the need for personal redemption and salvation more.
9. Conservatives Think Ecumenism is a Waste of Time – Conservatives realize that a pope has to be a diplomat of sorts and make smiles to everyone he meets, but they don’t have much time for ecumenical dialogue with Protestants who sneer at Catholicism. When the Pope dithers in his response to a Lutheran woman who is married to a Catholic about inter communion they don’t see a gentle pastor sympathizing with a difficult situation. They see a Pope who doesn’t know what he’s talking about giving shallow sentimental advice rather than a clear, decisive and challenging answer.
10. Conservatives Like Traditional Worship and Devotions – They believe Pope Francis is a good man, but when he seems to sneer at praying the rosary, condemns traditionalists as “fundamentalists” and warns nuns of being grouchy old maids they can’t help feeling that he is not on their side. Surely the Pope wants more prayer and more reverent worship of God. If so, shouldn’t he support those who love these things in his own church?
Those who criticize the conservatives for criticizing Pope Francis should do them the courtesy of trying to understand why they are nervous. They should give conservatives the benefit of the doubt.
Conservatives, for their part, should take a deep breath, avoid extremist language and disloyalty to the Successor of Peter. If they don’t like their pastor they should thank God that they were never supposed to put their faith in the Pope in the first place and take the opportunity to draw closer to Jesus and Mary, grow deeper in their faith and live out that faith more joyfully in the world.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In