Stop Fawning Over Pope Francis at the Expense of Women and Gay Rights

[Drahthaardogs]

35. You are wrong about him being able to change doctrine. A Pope CANNOT change Church doctrine.

That is NOT his job. He does not have the authority. When you post things like this, it shows how little you actually understand about the RCC.

I also find the whole "Pope Francis won't let gay people get married" argument perplexing. Hell, Pope Francis won't let divorced straight people get married again in the Church (and do not tell me about annulment because THAT is NOT divorce in the Church). He will not let people co-habitating get married (unless they lie to their priest of course).

The Church is the Church and the Catechism does not change. They do not let anyone have premarital sex, be it hetero or homo sexual. It is considered a mortal sin. Marriage is reserved for baptized Roman Catholics (or a RC and another with a dispensation from the Bishop) and they get to do it ONCE. In addition, sex is for pro-creation more or less.

You are correct, Francis has changed NOTHING in the form of Doctrine. He can't. However, what he can do, is decide where the Church will put its focus under his rule.

To that end, saying "The Church is obsessed about gays, abortion, and sex and needs to move on to other things" and "let's focus on poverty, social justice, and the poor."

That's an improvement in my opinion AND is a deviation from Benedict who spent much of his Papacy trying to preserve the "Old Church and the Old Ways" as much as possible. Even Latin masses had a resurgence under Benedict.

So, much like a President only has the power to set policy and NOT create or abolish laws, Francis in bound the same way. He is changing the focus of the Church under his Papacy.