The Crisis That Changed Pope Francis

 

Paul Vallely / October 23, 2014 9:52 AM EDT

…..Francis does not want to be a pastoral autocrat in the way that previous popes have been philosophical or theological dictators. He wants to change the way the church goes about making decisions, to turn it from a monarchy into a body in which pope, prelates, priests and people constitute a collegial communion.

Change on the march

He got what he wanted. There was free and fierce debate between liberals and ideological conservatives (the most strident of whom, US Cardinal Raymond Burke, has been going round claiming that the pope is about to sack him from his post as the Holy See’s most senior canon law judge). Pastoral conservatives have divided between the two sides. Yet the vote on welcoming gays failed by just two votes to get the two-third majority.

Change is clearly on the march. A series of documents were drawn up – an interim report, small group reports and a final report which was less welcoming to gays and the divorced than Francis wanted. These are now the subject of a year’s intense debate. Then there will be a larger Synod on the family next October after which the pope – who concluded by warning against “hostile rigidity” by traditionalists  and “destructive good will” by liberals – has the final word.

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