CBS’s 60 Minutes is the premier television interview program in the United States. Over the years, it has held conversations with politicians, heads of state, royalty, celebrities, actors, athletes, and other people of note. This past Sunday, May 19, it aired an interview with Pope Francis, the first time that 60 Minutes has interviewed a Roman Pontiff.
Pope Francis appears to enjoy giving interviews, and he is very good at giving them. He has a common touch in his manner of expressing himself, employing words and phrases that catch the imagination of his listeners. He comes across as one who understands and can speak to ordinary men and women. In so doing, he elicits an affectionate response. This was evident in the 60 Minutes interview. He smiles. He makes people laugh. He can even tell a good joke. He endears people to himself. People cannot help but love Pope Francis, and this is a good thing.
That said, there is also another trait that has become apparent when the topic of the Catholic Church in the United States arises. On this subject, one can be assured that Pope Francis will offer some criticisms. He perceives the American Catholic Church as conservative – particularly many of the American Bishops. This concern again became evident in the 60 Minutes interview.
When asked by Norah O’Donnell about the criticisms he has encountered from American Catholics, Pope Francis first stated that a conservative is someone who “clings to something and does not want to see beyond that.” Conservatism has no future. It only has a past to which it tightly cleaves. In this light, Pope Francis made two further inter-related points. He emphatically stated that to be closed to change is “suicidal.” This suicidal mindset appears to rest on the presumption that, if one is not open to the contemporary work of the Holy Spirit, one dies as the Church continues to develop.
Moreover, to be suicidal means that a conservative shuts himself up into a “dogmatic box.” Francis admits that the Church’s doctrinal and moral tradition must be “considered,” but it cannot hinder further development. The dogmatic box may be filled with the Church’s traditional doctrinal and moral teaching, but if the box remains locked, the doctrines and moral teaching that are contained within it serve no useful purpose. They become dead doctrines, and so become incapable of addressing the needs of today.
When asked about the blessing of homosexual couples, Pope Francis insisted that homosexual couples are not blessed as couples, but the individuals are blessed. The Church cannot bless the homosexual union, it can only bless the individuals who are in that union.
To most people, this appears to be a distinction without a difference. If a minister is standing before two men or two women who are holding hands and pronounces a blessing over them, he is not simply blessing them as individuals, he is blessing them as a couple, a couple who commit homosexual acts. To think otherwise would be a charade. To bless them as an active homosexual couple is blasphemous, for one cannot attempt to bless a sin as if it was morally virtuous.
Many have noted the irony that Pope Francis cozies up to the likes of New Ways Ministry and Fr. James Martin, S.J., who actively affirm and foster homosexual lifestyles. Yet he never praises the courage of those who have homosexual tendencies and live a chaste life. It’s as if such a virtuous life is unimaginable.
Such an attitude implies that Jesus did not save us from sin and that the Holy Spirit is powerless when it comes to living a holy life. Sin still reigns supreme, and Satan continues to rule the world. This attitude must be disheartening to those with a homosexual tendency who strive to live a holy life. It also insults their integrity.
Now, no doubt there are conservatives who are suicidal in their wanting to keep closed their cherished dogmatic box. To be conservative in the true sense of the term, however, is to preserve and foster what is true and good and needs preserving and fostering. Thus, American Catholics, bishops, clergy, and laity alike, who desperately want to preserve the traditional ecclesial teaching and tradition concerning the moral law are not suicidal but are the real hope for the future.
From their unlocked dogmatic box, they bring forth life-giving, saving doctrines – that God, in his love for us, has sent forth his Son into the world so that the world would no longer live in the darkness of sin. In addition, those who believe in the risen Jesus as their Savior and Lord live in the light of his saving grace.
Likewise, through Baptism, one’s sinful nature is put to death, and one rises up as a Spirit-filled new creation in Christ. One is no longer a slave to sin but is set free from the wiles and domain of the devil. Moreover, in the sacrament of Confession, the priest, in the name of Jesus, absolves all sin and the sacrament provides the specific grace needed to reject the temptations against the virtue of chastity.
Authentic Catholic conservatives are the hope of the Church’s future in America, for they open wide the doctrinal box of faith.
One may be saddened by Pope Francis’s view of the American Catholic Church as sterile in its propensity to lifeless dogmas, for what he perceives is not true. While the Church is struggling here, it is far stronger than any of its counterparts in Western Europe.
Because of this strength, one wonders whether this is not the reason why Pope Francis so frequently criticizes it – though falsely. The Church in America, along with the Church in Africa, stands against Pope Francis’s attempt to conform the Church into the likeness of his own ideology.
So, we must pray for Pope Francis, as he continually exhorts us to do. And we must pray for the Catholic Church in the United States – that it will always remain strong in the faith, and so give glory to Jesus – the Father’s Spirit-filled incarnate Son.
