What Is Pope Francis Thinking? - Is He In Over His Head?

Okay, I know that I use this space and your time to reflect a bit on the daily reading/  Today's reading at mass speak about how John the Baptist fulfills the prophecy regarding Elijah returning before the Messiah comes.  The readings are self-explanatory and I have already written all I care to about John the Baptist.  Today, I want to speak about Pope Francis and his leadership and where he has brought the church to during his reign. 

WHERE MY LOYALTIES ARE

I am a faithful Catholic and I have believed and continue to believe that where Peter is, there is the Church.  To believe anything else would, in effect, be slapping Jesus in the face and telling Him that He is not able to protect His Church as He said He would. I do not desire to ask him to step down.  The care and feeding of one retired pope is enough for one generation. I believe that when it comes to faith and morals and any definitive teaching from the chair of Peter that Francis makes will enjoy the benefit of being infallible. Outside of that which is promised by Jesus and delivered by the Spirit, I question some of the things he has done, said, and not done, and not said.  

HIS LEADERSHIP STYLE

I wish I had the words to describe the leadership style of Pope Francis because as best as I can tell is that he does not have one. He makes spur of the moment pronouncements on airplanes and at audiences that seem to come out of nowhere and often require the Sala Stampa to rush to fill in the vacuum that his words create.  He seems to speak without considering the consequences of what he has said. He incites liberal clerics to float liberal ideas and he seems to give them informal approval but he never explains what his thoughts are on the subject.  He leaves questionable pseudo-teachings to hang in the air being held up by nothing more than skyhooks. 

CHINA 

If I could have a private conversation with Francis, I would ask him straight out about the China "deal" he brokered. I would ask him if he was out of his flipping mind or if this deal were the first signs of senile decay creeping into his thought process.  To make a pact with the communist government of China defies all logic.  Okay, religion is not logical but statecraft is and the Church gets nothing from signing this deal with the devil. The Jesuit martyrs shed their blood in vain.  The underground Church, which is completely loyal to the Vatican and is passing on the true beliefs of the Catholic Church to its members has been betrayed.  Two bishops have been asked to step down by Francis to be replaced by bishops that belong to the "patriotic association church."   The store has been turned over to the shoplifters. Has the persecution of the Church in China ended with the signing of this secret protocol?  Heavens no.  Churches are still being demolished and priests have been taken into custody.  We got nothing, absolutely nothing, except a photo op and a page two story in some papers.  Francis, what were you thinking?  

COMMUNION AND THE DIVORCED AND REMARRIED

Francis has made some informal pronouncements regarding the receipt of communion for persons who have divorced and remarried but have not obtained an annulment of the first marriage.  Traditionally, people in this state are not supposed to receive communion until they have gone through the annulment process which goes back to the first marriage and states that there were canonical reasons that the marriage covenant that was entered into by the parties was not sacramental in nature and therefore in the eyes of the Church, it did not as a sacrament exist, but only was a marriage in the civil sense of the term.  Francis said in an impromptu fashion that there could be a path other than annulment to rehabilitate these couples in the interest of charity.  The song was taken up by bishops and embellished and fleshed out, especially by Cardinal Casper and it was at this point the Holy Father stopped speaking about it.  Diverse opinions were all over the place and some bishops started to welcome divorced and remarried people to the altar to receive communion.  Other bishops, scandalized by the prospect of this event, sent a question to Francis asking for clarification.  That was about a year ago, I believe, and Francis has been silent about it while the Church stews and argues amongst itself and those of us who have undergone getting an annulment are asking ourselves, "Why?"   Sometimes when a leader is silent on a subject, it speaks volumes.  In this case, however, the silence of Francis is just that, silence and the Church bubbles and fizzles waiting for guidance.  Let me know when that guidance comes and if it is in line with traditional Catholic Doctrine. Actually, let me know if Francis says anything about this.

SEX AND THE SINGLE PRIEST 

Perhaps there is no place where the inept leadership of Francis has done more harm than in the continuing, never-ending, always entertaining (to the enemies of the Church) sex scandal.  I am not sure if Francis is keeping up to date with what is happening in this part of his domain. He has done very little to combat the abuse a certain minority of church employees have committed over the last fifty or sixty years.  The investigators keep finding more and more as they go back further and further.  By ones and twos he is accepting the resignation of a bishop here and defrocking a priest here and there and he is speaking about protecting youth ad nausium.  Francis, wake up and smell the coffee.  The youth are protected, at least in the United States. For example, as a choir member at my church, I have to submit to a background check every year because it is possible that my ministry may bring me into contact with children once or twice in that year.  I had to take training on how to comport myself around youth.  I have to be aware that I should never be alone and out of sight with a young person unless a second adult is with me.  No, Francis, the youth are pretty much protected.  The scandal is that bishops and cardinals have developed the long black line of protection and silence that keeps the perpetrators happily plying their trade as they move them from church to church hoping against hope that the mentally deficient priest can conquer the personal devils that dwell within him and will not offend again.  Here again, we have silence where there should be commands and we have actions that are too little and too late to make a difference.  It is a shocking truth that the Church in America is in danger of being convicted of being a continuing criminal enterprise because of the ill-advised actions that were taken by the magisterium in America over the years.  Imagine, the same laws that put Gambino in jail might be used by America's pro-Protestant regime to punish the American Church.  Payments made to victims over the years were nothing more than hush money and the money came from the faithful and their donations so it was a fraud perpetrated against us, the pew-dwelling public.  Francis is right to condemn what has happened but his words ring hollow because they are not being followed through with action.  Even a Cardinal that had been sanctioned by Pope Benedict, who decreed that the cardinal  should spend the rest of his life out of the spotlight and live a life of prayer and penance for the crimes he had committed was rehabilitated by Francis and rose steadily in the ranks until now he is a major embarrassment to the Church once again. This mess was completely avoidable as Francis knew or should have known the circumstances that were attached like a devil's tail to this criminal.  Finally, there is the possibility that Francis himself engaged in the Wack a Mole game of priest transferring when as a prelate in his native land.  How can he dispense justice when he himself may be guilty of the same crime?  

CONCLUSION

I hear you breathing a sigh of relief.  Michael the Lesser has gone off on a tangent.  If you have read this far, thank you.  I admire Francis.  He is a gentle soul with a humble heart and does many good works of charity.  When he visited Korea, he was driven around not in a limo, but rather in the backseat of a KIA soul - a working man's car.  He visits prisons and has no problem engaging in dialogue with people of other denominations or faiths.  He is an example of how a man should be, a friend and servant to all.  That being said, I have to say I do not think he is a good pope.  It will be left to history as to what his reign will wreak upon the Church for good or bad.  I know that the church will survive even the papal reign of Francis.  I am saddened that a papal reign that started with such great promise has ended up stuck in muck and mire that for the most part are of his own making.  If I could speak to Francis, to give him a one on one evaluation, I would congratulate him for being such a good example of humility and I would castigate him for being such a silent and lackluster leader.   PRAY FOR OUR HOLY FATHER THAT HE RECEIVES SOME INSPIRATION AND STEPS UP AND BEGINS TO PILOT THE BARQUE OF PETER, WE NEED HIM TO DO THAT, WE CAN LOOK TO NO OTHER AT THIS TIME.