December 2, 2013

We should perhaps temper our enthusiasm about Pope Francis a bit. . .

. . . Yes, the things he has said and written regarding social and economic justice seem like a breath of fresh air, but in reality, the principles he articulates in Evangeli Gaudiam stand solidly in the same line of thought as Rerum Novarum, the encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII in the late 19th C., and of Populorum Progressio, the 1967 encyclical issued by Pope Paul VI. If anything was a theological innovation (and arguably not one for the better), it was the conflation of the Church's long-standing institutional and social conservatism with political and economic conservatism, of which the Church had traditionally kept a wary (and wise) distance. Thus, Pope Francis should be seen as guiding the Church back to its long-standing and traditional commitments to social and economic justice.

But It is a mistake to expect a great deal of movement on those vexing cultural questions (e.g., abortion, birth control, homosexuality, ordination of women, etc.), at least not anytime in the near future. The Pope cannot act alone. He needs the support of at least a plurality of the College of Cardinals. Unfortunately, both of Francis' predecessors made a point of packing that body by appointing relatively young cardinals who shared their theological-cum-political outlook. And just to bring everybody back to Earth a bit, here is another passage from Evangeli Gaudiam, which I think most folks here will agree sounds like the same old Catholic same old:

That is pretty clearly a shot at, or an attempt to trivialize, the issue of marriage equality.