‘Troublemaker’ pope reshaping church

‘Troublemaker’ pope reshaping church, but drawing some skepticism....

Pope Francis greets the crowd as he arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Dec. 11. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

WASHINGTON (CNS) — As early on as it is for the pontificate of Pope Francis, his statements and actions already have given guidance for how simple changes can improve the world, said panelists at Georgetown University.

In the latest in a series of conversations hosted by the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life Feb. 3, two journalists and an expert on church management considered the effect of the “Francis factor” on politics and public policy.

Much of the discussion built upon an observation from the previous session of the initiative, in December, when columnist Michael Gerson, an evangelical who was a speechwriter and adviser to President George W. Bush, called Pope Francis “a troublemaker with a plan.”

John Carr, moderator and the initiative’s director, mentioned some of the pope’s recent actions that might suit the “troublemaker” description, including telling the 19 priests and bishops he named cardinals in January to “leave the entourage at home,” and not to plan big parties to celebrate.

“What’s the point of being a cardinal?” quipped Carr, who previously was secretary of the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Kerry Robinson, executive director of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, said the pope is a troublemaker “for those who want nothing to change.” She later said one type of change she hopes is possible under Pope Francis is to expand and elevate the role of women. She said her organization has been encouraging staff of Vatican offices to identify leadership roles in the curia that may be held by women.

There are many high level posts “that don’t violate canon law or doctrine” which could raise the profile of women in the church, and address one area of harsh criticism about the nature of the institution, Robinson said.

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, author of books including “Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics,” said Pope Francis “is obviously a troublemaker.” Less than a year into the pontificate, “he has revolutionized the papacy in ways I would not have thought possible a year ago.”

More amazingly, said Douthat, is that the pope has accomplished this without major doctrinal changes, and primarily with symbolic measures.

Douthat, who has written several columns expressing skepticism about the level of adulation Pope Francis has received, suggested that if Pope Benedict XVI had done the same things, news media would not have covered them in the same way.

The remaining panelist, John Allen, former Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and now associate editor for the Boston Globe, said one reason for differences in how Popes Francis and Benedict have been covered by news media is that by the time he was elected pope, “the narrative was already in place,” for the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. As longtime head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope Benedict’s image as the stern, doctrinaire German, “the Rottweiler,” wasn’t easily shaken.

But as a little-known archbishop from Argentina who had never worked at the Vatican, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio presented a blank slate, Allen said. And his many actions that contrast with images of a distant, formal pope have challenged aspects of the status quo.

Allen said that in choosing Cardinal Bergoglio, the conclave last March was “the most anti-establishment papal election in a century.” He said the choice represented not a decision to change doctrine, but to change “management style,” in a church that has been reeling from high level crises including the handling of sexual abuse cases, banking irregularities and leaks of sensitive information by Pope Benedict’s butler.

Read more:http://www.catholicsun.org/2014/02/05/troublemaker-pope-reshaping-church-but-drawing-some-skepticism/