Reader Question- The Pope's not Perfect.

It seems like every time I turn around, I see some article about something great Pope Francis has done. He can't really be that good, right? -Max
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Thanks for writing in, Max, and you're not wrong. Everytime I see a headline or a link that talks about the Pope, I expect to have a heartwarming story on the way, and being a cynical child of this age, this often makes me wonder when the other shoe will drop.

To be clear up front, I probably don't have a great deal of theological common ground with Pope Francis. He's old school, South American Jesuit, and while no one has made a huge deal of his theological stances, that probably means we'd end up on different sides of any number of issues. I believe I remember reading that he does NOT support gay marriage, and I also read an article about his uses of female imagery in the priesthood that indicated that he's got a whiff of the Patriarchy about him as well. The simple fact of the matter is that the College of Cardinals, which elects Popes, is very conservative these days, and so not very likely to put up anyone who even sniffs the definition of liberal theology.

(If you ever get a chance, read up on how Francis came to be Pope. It's fascinating. Short version, Jesuits are never supposed to pursue higher office in the Church. To be a Jesuit is to be a ground level priest. But Jesuits are also told to obey the calling of the Church. Every step from street priest to Pontiff was done at the behest of others. This is a guy other people have wanted in charge for a LONG time.)

So why does Pope Francis seem to have all the upworthy articles? Because regardless of theological ideology, Francis seems to believe that his first and highest calling is to model love for the church, and to care for his charges. I don't know if the Cardinals were expecting that. I certainly wasn't. It has caught everyone off guard.

This isn't simply a matter of it being a big deal that a member of the clergy isn't being horrible. He's actively going the other way... insisting that a handicapped onlooker take a ride in his Popemobile, or telling a Muslim woman she was beloved by God. The most recent story I heard told of a Trans Man who had been driven out of his home parish by the priest. Francis heard about this, invited the man and his fiance to the Vatican, met him, hugged him, and assured him that, yes, he was loved and had a place in the Family of God.

Really.

I think the reason this can trip us up so much is that we have become so not used to it. Politics, regardless of where they live, have become bloodthirsty, with every step, every word carefully tilted towards the "war effort" in some ideological battle. So we get thrown off, look for the trick. The most terrifying thing might be that Francis is EXACTLY what he presents himself as.

He's never claimed to be some paragon of liberal ideology. His theology, so far as I have seen, is fairly uniformly conservative. But that same creed of obedience that every Jesuit takes has also formed Francis in a very particular way... he cares for people. Not in broad, long reaching theological strokes, but as individuals, based on their individual needs. And every person he looks at he sees as the image of God, a human being worthy of love and respect.

He doesn't EVER waver on that, from what I have seen. He doesn't hide behind the theological big picture. He doesn't make rationalizations about tough love. He just loves. And for an institution like the Catholic Church, that message from the top is earth shattering.

It makes me wonder about the Priest who originally drove that trans man out of the local church. Because another theological quirk of conservative Catholicism is Papal Obedience. So here you are, some local priest, driving a trans man out of the church, calling him "the devil's daughter." And then the Pope himself invites that Trans-man to the Vatican, hugs him, and in so doing smacks you down. You screwed up, Father. Royally. You can't attack people by hiding behind theology. Not with this Pope.

It's easy to get behind someone you always agree with, and it is also normal to want to assume that someone who seems to be a great person shares your ideology. But we have gotten so used to having to throw down with anyone who doesn't jive with us ideologically that to have someone who seems SO conservative still be such a paragon of compassion has, to put it lightly, thrown a decent chunk of liberals on their ear.

We have an analogue for this, whom I have discussed before. Fred Rogers was a Presbyterian Minister, and likely leaned conservative. The Internet is all abuzz with memes that claim his supposed dirty secrets but the possibility that seemed impossible turned out to be true... he matched his on air persona, was every inch the good, caring, decent person he appeared to be, and inspired generations of children.

So no, I do not believe that Pope Francis is perfect, or right about everything. But I do also believe that he shows us how love and respect for fellow human beings trumps theological talking points, how caring for people is more important than teaching the correct ideology.

Mr. Rogers changed the world through a PBS television spot. With Pope Francis' platform, I will be fascinated to see what he can achieve. Sure, he's not perfect. But when you think about it... that makes him kinda perfect.