The Pope Just Handed Kim Davis A Huge Win

[Tommy_Carcetti]

177. If you noted in my post, I said "in this one particular situation."

When it comes to the issue of abortion, it appears as though he's willing to take a more outspoken path on it. But I don't think he feels that Kim Davis is worth his time and effort, so he put out a generic statement about civil disobedience and called it a day.

Personally, I'm not going to be apologetic for the fact that I am a practicing Catholic. That I do attend mass almost every week. That doesn't mean I don't differ with some aspects of the Church's public policy positions. I don't agree with their position on contraception. I'd like to see ordination of women. I'd like to see ordination of married people. I don't know if I will see the church shift on those matters in my lifetime. Maybe, maybe not. I don't see those issues being so injurious to my faith that I stop attending mass, regardless of my dissent.

No, we shouldn't expect the Church to start conducting sacramental gay weddings in our lifetimes. No, we shouldn't expect the Pope to suddenly become an abortion rights advocate. What I do see with this current Pope, however, is a realization that wherever you may stand on those particular issues, they don't necessarily become a be-all, end-all of what it means to be Catholic, which certain staunch conservative Catholics I think were trying to twist the entire faith into being. So while a 180 is not to be expected on certain topics, a certain level of de-emphasis is a step in the right direction. So if the Pope doesn't want to go all the way and call Kim Davis a numbskull, fine. Kindly and subtly dismissing her is still a good thing in my book. So yeah, good on him.

The Pope is who the Pope is. The Church is who the Church is. It isn't an American organization, nor is it a liberal or a conservative or a Democratic or Republican one. And last I checked, no one's card checking me at church or asking me what I think about contraception or the ordination of women or married people before they let me in the doors, so I'm just going to continue keep on keeping on in that respect.