In case you haven’t noticed that I haven’t been writing about the Pope

Last updated on: September 23, 2015 at 9:38 pm by Jane the Actuary

In case you haven’t noticed that I haven’t been writing about the Pope 2015-09-23T21:38:47-06:00 Jane the Actuary

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Eh.

I dunno.

I’m just not all that excited about it.

I don’t want to be a George Will-type or the others that pass through my twitter feed saying that the Pope is a Peronist and if he had his way, the entire world would have as cruddy an economy as Peron brought Argentina. I think that read in a favorable light, the Pope is simply pointing out the other half of the story: it is true that greed, a.k.a., the profit motive behind the desire to build a better mousetrap has led to, well, lots of better mousetraps; on the other hand, as Christians, we are called to share with others. Tom Monaghan, the Domino’s founder, struggled with this tension, for instance.

And I’ve been told that if I read Laudate Si, I’d find that it’s not at all the irrational environmentalist screed that opponents characterize it as.

So fine.

But it’s like this. We’ve got a new archbishop in Chicago. He’s fine, I suppose, doing his archbishopy things. But from day one, he announced that his priority was politics, specifically promoting amnesty for illegal immigrants and opened borders for future arrivals, which made me skeptical of his interest in solving the problems that the Archdiocese of Chicago faces, such as perennial school closings, and the broader challenge of the loss of faith of so many American Catholics, and the need to evangelize. It feels as if welcoming in Mexicans and other Latin Americans, then advocating for them politically, is an easy way out, and much the same as Democrats aiming at boosting the numbers of Hispanics as sure-fire boosts to their constituency. Never mind the native-born Catholics leaving the church; it’s too hard to try to re-convert them or to improve catechesis and parish life so the next generation stays, at least, so let’s bring in some replacements.

And now the media is full of “never mind that the Pope is mostly speaking Spanish; a large and ever-growing portion of his flock is Spanish-speaking, anyway,” and predictions that “the Pope will use his time here to promote ‘immigration reform.'” And there are so many reports gleeful in anticipation that the Pope is going to give Republicans their comeuppance at his speech in Congress. Not to mention all the times the media reports one outlandish thing he says after the next, even if, considering the full context, they’re not that outlandish after all, and besides that, all the times that people are convinced that the Pope is going to up and change Catholic doctrine into, well, Episcopalianism.

Now, I know that the Pope’s message is more complex than the media portrays. I know it’s unfair. But I’m not a part of the Francis Fan Club. As much as others swoon over him, I just can’t get excited. It takes a lot of work to get past the media narrative, and even then, there’s just not an emotional draw, as with John Paul II, whom we saw when we had “newlywed” seating at a Papal Audience (the only ones closer were the disabled and the newlyweds in wedding gowns), and whose funeral generated wall-to-wall coverage in Germany. Heck, Benedict XVI even visited Munich when we were living there, and I could have asked for tickets to the open-air mass, as they were being made available through all the parishes, but I chickened out as it seemed too chaotic an event, and watched it on TV instead.

So there it is. To those of you overflowing with Popemania, sorry to be such a wet blanket. But: meh.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 22, 2015

Clock-boy's story gets odder - with more overreaction

Next Post

September 24, 2015 Slate gets it wrong on the Holocaust

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Actuarial/Retirement Issues Politics Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 December 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I am patient and kind. I do not envy or boast. I never fail and endure all things. What am I?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Faith Hope Love Grace