….the pope is genuinely progressive—but in attitude, not in fundamental Catholic teachings. Washing and kissing the feet of a dozen inmates—two of them Muslim—and eschewing the Apostolic Palace for a two-room apartment are departures from his predecessor that emphasize the idea that the church’s role is to come to the people, not uphold the moral fortress of the church and wait for people to come to it.
None of those reforms are “liberal” in political terms, and deep-rooted questions like gay marriage are simply not up for debate in a church that is inherently conservative by secular standards. Francis has reaffirmed that only a man and a woman can marry, and has opposed gay couples adopting children.
Yet coverage in the language of US-style categories persists. In March, the pope’s comments in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that some civil unions could be tolerable to the church for the purposes of gaining political rights such as healthcare led to the headline “Church could support civil unions” by CNN. At a recent meeting of bishops on family issues where Pope Francis tried to change the church’s official stance (ultimately unsuccessfully) to accept the “gifts and qualities” of gay people, the BBC’s headline read “Victory for Pope Francis on gay issues.”
“In the secular press in particular, most of us are at heart political writers. Regardless of what our particular discipline may be, politics is our mother’s milk,” said Allen. “So it’s just natural for most journalists, most commentators, to bring political categories to bear.”…
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