The questions are predictable and so is their reasoning:
Holy Father…
–Why shouldn’t women be priests?
–Abortion is a fact of contemporary life. The Church needs to recognize that at times abortion is a correct, morally good choice. Don’t you agree, Holy Father?
— Birth control can be achieved these days through preventive medications or the morning after pill. Catholics should regulate their conceptions just as they do with other important components of their lives. Surely you can see the need for the Church to get with the times?
— Homosexuality is not a mental illness. Why not simply recognize homosexual practices as an alternate life style?
Holy Father, these days homosexuality is not an issue. Nobody cares. It’s time the Church stopped condemning gays.
–All religions whether Christian or not are pretty much the same when it comes to core teachings, i.e., Love one another;
Teach others to love; Don’t sin: Life will continue in some way after death, etc. Why can’t the Catholic Church admit this and strive for unity of all religions?
Pope Francis has not ducked any of these important questions, nor has he suggested changes in Church teaching. What he has insisted upon is a change in attitude for the entire Church, especially bishops and priests. Pope Francis wants his Church to go out and seek those who do not measure up to our high principles. He wants us to take people where they are at and love them, not judge them.
That is an entirely different matter than changing the moral stance of the Church in regard to these issues.
Pope Francis recently spoke to the clergy of Rome and told them to get out of their sacristies and go find the sheep who
live on the periphery of the Church. He reminds us to show them that the Church loves them where they are at in their spiritual and moral lives.
Several times recently, Pope Francis has reminded us that we priests may get dirty working on the fringes of society. It’s O.K. for shepherds to smell a bit like the sheep, if we are to be authentic shepherds.
Stay tuned for further developments from this remarkable, smiling Pope.