Poor Pope Francis. No matter what the guy says or does (or doesn’t say or doesn’t do), people are bound to use it to further their own ideological arguments. Francis’ openness to dialog and his willingness to frankly discuss touchy subjects has been taken up by those who call for change in the church as ammunition in their arguments. And for those who worry that Francis is complicating their own agenda, he’s become a common target, held up as an example of exactly what the church needs to avoid.
In the wake of the Synod on the Family, Francis bashing seems to be reaching new heights. Cranky Cardinal Raymond Burke has seemingly taken every opportunity to criticize the pope, even granting an interview to Buzzfeed of all places, in which he said Francis has “done a lot of harm.” Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island, who has in the past expressed his disappointment in Francis, wrote on his diocesan website that the pope has succeeded in “making a mess.” Coincidentally, Tobin praised Burke in the same post, calling him a “principled, articulate and fearless spokesman for the teachings of the church” while condemning Francis for putting the church in “danger of losing its courageous, counter-cultural, prophetic voice.”
Robert Mickens writes at Commonweal of an unnamed bishop saying Francis’ much talked about Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel”) could have been written by a simple peasant. Mickens cites an article in the Italian daily La Stampa that talks about “enemies of the pope” who do not criticize him with respect, but who “go as far as to denigrate him.” La Stampa’ s Vatican Insider also reports that Cardinal Gerhard Mueller may or may not have snubbed the pope publicly after a tiff between the two (Mueller denies the snub, though he doesn’t dispute reports of an argument).
But fear not—you need not be a high ranking church official to take shots at Francis. Just ask Pat Buchanan, who threw his support behind Francis’ critics and warned that the pope is dangerously close to heresy. “And as it is Catholic doctrine that the pope is infallible,” Buchanan wrote, “that he cannot err when speaking ex cathedra on faith and morals, this would imply that Francis was not a valid pope and the chair of Peter is empty.” So not only can you criticize the pope, but you can suggest that if he isn’t on your side then his papacy may not even be legitimate.
The arguments from Catholics in the camp of Burke and Buchanan are nothing new, except that now they have adopted Francis as the face of their fears. But the pope isn't the one creating divisions or introducing radical ideas, he's simply bringing to the surface internal debates that have long existed and putting those arguments out in the open. Clearly that makes some people very uncomfortable. Perhaps that's because it shatters the illusion that the church is a unified body whose teachings are clear, unambiguous, and never changing, as opposed to a church that evolves in its understanding and application of age old teachings.
Francis seems to know what he's doing, and so far, he doesn't seem rattled by the criticism. He appears to be more concerned with improving the church than winning popularity contests, and suggestions that he's a heretic who is dooming the church aren't making him change course. Don't expect the personal shots at Francis to stop any time soon, but don't expect the pope to get too worked up over them either. After all, I hear he's not one to judge.
Flickr image cc by Republic of Korea/photographer Jeon Han
