When it comes to Pope Francis, is it time to turn the corner?

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Nov 22, 2016

CatholicCulture.org has tried to be both accurate and forthright in reporting and commenting on the words and actions of Pope Francis. We have tried to treat Francis as sons; to give Francis the benefit of every doubt; to recognize the complexity of the issues he addresses; to acknowledge the possibility of differences among Catholics of good will; and to interpret his remarks, ideas and initiatives in the best possible light. But we have also been forced to admit the Pope’s shortcomings, and in particular the confusion he causes when the faithful compare what the Church has always asked of them with what Pope Francis asks of them.

This has been a source of pain for many deeply-committed and well-informed Catholics. Moreover, the entire problem has been exacerbated by Pope Francis’ unfortunate tendency to dismiss his critics—or even merely those who ask for clarifications—as “rigid”, “nasty”, and suffering from “psychological problems”.

I do not intend to recap all of the unfortunate controversies. Suffice it to say here that it is not “proselytism” to want to bring non-Catholic Christians into the Church so that they can enjoy the full range of God’s gifts for our salvation; and it is not “rigid” or “legalistic” to affirm, as we say to God in the Act of Faith, that we believe “all the truths which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because you have revealed them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.”

Contrary to what Pope Francis often implies, Catholic teaching on faith and morals is not a matter of “laws” or “rules” but of the conformity of the mind with reality, which is the definition of truth. When Pope Francis calls names, therefore, we can barely restrain ourselves from deploying the famous defensive strategy most of us used as children. I mean the little poem that begins “I’m rubber and you’re glue.”

Unfortunately, at a certain point, our serious concern about Pope Francis can become a preoccupation—an unhealthy preoccupation. We can become so tied in knots that we feel as if we cannot get on with our lives, and especially with what God calls us personally to do, until the “Francis problem” is settled. But such a preoccupation serves no good purpose. In fact, it is a dreadful temptation. Satan desires nothing more than for us to become so engrossed by what we frequently perceive as the Pope’s recklessness that we forget our own vocations, our own Catholic mission, our own apostolates.

The danger of Catholic paralysis

Worrying about the daily confusion and sorrow Pope Francis introduces into our lives can impede us from working on our first priority—which is living our Catholic life in Christ as fully as we possibly can. With only exceedingly rare exceptions, we are in no position to offer correction to the Holy Father. Therefore, it will do us little good to engage in endless arguments over what is wrong, whose fault it is, and how the problems posed by the current papacy might be resolved. And not only will this do us no good, but it can be a significant source of scandal to others, most of whom will have little or no awareness of the issues at stake.

I’d like to suggest that it is time to turn the corner on Pope Francis. Most of us have no cards to play in the game of improving the papacy. But we do have our own callings, our own God-given talents, our own opportunities to engage in the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, to teach the truth and to foster the good. When we can use something Pope Francis has said or done in our own Catholic service, then we should—all the better! But when we cannot take our inspiration from Pope Francis, we can still reference Our Lord and the Church He founded. We do not need to come up against Francis and grind to a halt. That’s what I mean about turning the corner.

CatholicCulture.org will neither stop reporting the news nor cease to analyze key issues. But going forward, I strongly suspect we must all focus more on the good to be done than on the obstacles that make it more difficult to do. Insofar as Pope Francis preoccupies us, he has become a distraction. Therefore, we must refocus our own energies. We will find that we can do this without any danger of disobedience, since neither evil nor falsehood will ever be imposed on us by the Magisterium—and very few of us take our assignments directly from the Pope. If we are prudent, all of us can get on with our particular Catholic missions, however God calls us to serve, with no need to cast aspersions on anyone.

I admit that there is no way to hide from these problems, and we should want to keep informed. The point here is that we should be able to take them in stride without losing our serenity. There is far, far more to the life of the Church than can be hindered or helped by any one person, even if that person is the Pope. There are so many ways we can serve Christ, so many ways we can witness to His goodness and love, so many possibilities to which the only obstacles are in our own hearts. We need to pray; we need to discern God’s will; and we need to act.

Our Lord warned that no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God (Lk 9:62), yet It seems to me that a paralytic preoccupation with Pope Francis is a kind of looking back. I believe this is something we must consider with the greatest possible care. In the battle between good and evil, when our own preoccupations prevent us from moving forward, then we really are looking back. And when this happens, it is not Christ who wins.