Traditionalists want to be told how to think. Also called brainwashing. The Pope has created them a problem by endorsing thinking for yourself rather than blindly following rhetoric. Previous Popes demanded one only know what they were told to think. Only that works for orthodox types who traditionally also hate innovation and change.
From the Washington Post of 14 October 2013:
Quote:
"Conservative Catholics question Pope Francis's approach"
The wary traditionalists became critical when, in an interview a few weeks ago, Francis said Catholics shouldn’t be “obsessed” with imposing doctrines, including on gay marriage and abortion. Then earlier this month, Francis told an atheist journalist that people should follow good and fight evil as they “conceive” of them. These remarks followed an interview with journalists this summer aboard the papal airplane in which the pope declared that it is not his role to judge someone who is gay "if they accept the Lord and have goodwill."
Never mind that the pope has also made clear his acceptance of church doctrine, which regards homosexuality and abortion as sins and bans women from the priesthood. Behind the growing skepticism is the fear in some quarters that Francis’s all-embracing style and spontaneous speech, so open as it is to interpretation, are undoing decades of church efforts to speak clearly on Catholic teachings. Some conservatives also feel that the pope is undermining them at a time when they are already being sidelined by an increasingly secular culture. ...
Now many of the same traditionalists are attempting to reconcile Francis's seemingly open statements with this sense of what it means to be Catholic. The conclusions they reach vary greatly.
Some report praying deeply on the matter and finding that struggling with the dissonance has strengthened their connection to their faith. They are sharing widely online essays with names like "Pope Francis is killing me," and "Why Pope Francis makes me uncomfortable."
|