A Liberal Pope?
A shocking case of denial highlights the problem that Catholics – and Pope Francis – have with history.
By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian, 19th November 2013
He’s a pin-up for liberals and progressives, “the obvious new hero of the left.” So says the Guardian’s Jonathan Freedland of Pope Francis(1), and it’s true that most of the surprises have been good ones.
His statements denouncing capitalism are of the kind that scarcely any party leader now dares to breathe(2,3). He appears to have renounced papal infallibility. He intends to reform the corrupt and scheming curia(4). He has declared a partial truce in the war against sex which his two immediate predecessors pursued (while carefully overlooking the rape of children) with such creepy fervour.
It’s worth noting that these are mostly changes of emphasis, not doctrine. Pope Francis won’t devote his reign to attacking gays, women, condoms and abortion, but nor does he seem prepared to change church policy towards them. But it’s not just this that spoils the story. There is a strange omission, which puts the Pope on the wrong side even of John Paul II(5). It’s his failure so far to engage with or even acknowledge the past horrors over which the Church has presided.
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http://www.monbiot.com/2013/11/18/double-erasure/
