Editorial: Pope Francis championed original Christian message of tolerance and compassion

1 month ago 79

It’s said that when everybody’s mad at you, you’re probably doing things right. Pope Francis, who died Monday of complications of a stroke at age 88, had detractors across the entire ideological spectrum. However, the pontiff also held widespread respect and admiration as he worked to make the Catholic Church more inclusive and regain respect after decades of scandal.

We join Rio Grande Valley faithful, and all who mourn the loss of the first Hispanic — in fact, the first non-European — pope in the church’s 2,000-year history, and express gratitude for the example he set for a world that has been growing ever more divided.

Conservatives said Pope Francis, was too liberal. Liberals complained he wasn’t enough of a reformer. But the pontiff’s message of tolerance and compassion was right for our troubled times.

He angered many by reaching out to formerly ostracized people such as the LGBTQ community. He allowed priests to bless same-sex unions, and to offer sacraments to people who were divorced.

Embracing people who have struggled for acceptance was the hallmark of this pope, and furthered the example of Christ himself, who reached out to lepers, prisoners and exiles.

Such actions drew criticism from many who supported the church’s previous exclusion of many people from receiving the sacraments and other formal outreach.

Many also complained about his attacks on capitalism and advocacy for environmental issues. The latter, however, should have been no surprise. The pontiff, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on Dec. 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, chose as his namesake, and as his example, St. Francis of Assisi, perhaps the first well-known environmentalist and champion of wildlife. Following this example, the pope strongly advocated for pollution reduction, green energy and other issues, suggesting that the mistreatment of the earth is sinful.

Even so, the pope remained a traditionalist. While he offered more leadership roles to women, he declined to open the church to female priests or allow priests to marry. He continued the church’s opposition to abortion without exceptions, even as he allowed priests to absolve women of the sin of abortion during confession.

This frustrated many who had hoped his liberal views might go further.

Despite the changes he made to make the church more inclusive, many had hoped Francis would be more of a reformer. He assumed the papacy in March 13, as the church was struggling to deal with a worldwide scandal of priests accused of sexual abuse, reports of fiscal improprieties at the Vatican and other misdeeds. Although he offered more transparency in investigations and actions regarding accused priests, some believed the process was not as wide-ranging, or the punishments as severe, as they should have been.

That might have been consistent with Francis’ predominant message of tolerance and forgiveness. It’s a message that perhaps is most needed as political and social debates have grown increasingly hostile.

In the end, Pope Francis likely was the right pontiff for these times. May the College of Cardinals receive divine guidance in selecting his successor.