Criticism of Pope Francis

has been flowing freely in our local on-line comments.

A great deal of it has, if the writers are honest, come from people who do not attend church and claim to have no religious beliefs. Other criticisms come from people who like to claim they are religious, perhaps Catholic, and like to say he is "wrong" and goes against "the word of God" in some of his statements.

It seems he is not supposed to be any sort of "activist". He is not supposed to be any sort of "reformer". He is not supposed to be "political".

Jesus was an activist and a reformer. He was political, very political. He spoke up and gathered crowds around him. The Romans regarded him as a dangerous radical. What you believe about Jesus apart from that is your affair. Right or wrong? That is up to you too.

There are stories about Pope Francis which suggest he is simply another human being. He is not perfect and would never consider himself to be perfect. It is said that the morning after he had been elected as the next Pope he found two Swiss guardsmen outside his bedroom door. He is alleged to have sent them off to breakfast and then lined up along with everyone else for his own breakfast. It is said he waited his turn in the queue to pay for his stay. He allegedly asked, "What have you done to me?" He did not want the job - and that may have made him the best person for it.

Unlike his predecessor he is said to have gone on living a simple life. He does not have his own cook or a bevy of servants looking after him. It is also well known that his "minders" have been concerned about his past habit of going out into the night in Rome and mixing with the general population, of talking not just to people but with people. Children went to him naturally.

Yes, he is political. He is perhaps even a radical in some things. He has views which are not always acceptable to old style conservative Catholics. He would like to have done much more but, contrary to opinion, he does not have the power many believe he has. There is a bureaucracy there which he has had to fight. Too many of those who work in the Vatican are used to having their own way and their own well paid positions.

I know someone who has worked there. It will surprise some people to know he is not a Catholic but he does know a great deal about the workings of the Vatican. He says the present Pope is respected, even by many of those who disagree with him. 

We need to think beyond Christianity or any form of religion and look at an old, sick man. We may not share his beliefs. We may not agree with him but does he deserve some of those vile comments? I think not. He is clearly more tolerant of them than they are of him when he says,

“Every religion is a way to arrive at God…Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Christian—they are different paths." 

And I know agnostics and atheists who respect him as a person rather than as a pope for that.