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Pope Francis Convenes Vatican Synod on Family and Sex

by snorsenaf Posted on April 30, 2014

Mother Jones

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Hmmm. Is Pope Francis about to convene Vatican III? Not quite, but we’re getting something along similar lines later this year:

On Pope Francis’ orders, the Vatican will convene an urgent meeting of senior clerics this fall to reexamine church teachings that touch the most intimate aspects of people’s lives….The run-up to the synod has been extraordinary in itself, a departure from usual practice that some say is a mark of the pope’s radical new leadership style, and a canny tactic to defuse dissent over potential reforms.

….Within a few months of his election last year, Francis directed every diocese in the world to survey local attitudes on family and relationships and report back to the Vatican, a canvassing of a sort that few of the faithful can recall previously….The exercise reflects Francis’ desire for less centralized and more responsive decision-making, mirroring his own self-described evolution from a rigid, authoritarian leader as a young man into one who consults and empathizes.

….Taking the public temperature also brings tactical advantages. Nobody at the Vatican will be surprised to learn that vast numbers of Catholics disobey its ban on premarital sex and birth control, or that some are in gay partnerships. Setting down those realities irrefutably on paper, however, could strengthen a bid by Francis to soften the church’s official line and put pressure on bishops inclined to resist, including some in the United States and many in Asia and Africa, conservative areas where the church has been growing.

The story is careful to say that no one expects any large doctrinal changes from this synod. Catholic teaching on gay marriage, divorce, women priests, and contraception will likely remain unchanged. Still, even baby steps would be welcome. Stay tuned.

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Pope Francis Convenes Vatican Synod on Family and Sex

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The pope is writing a big green manifesto

by ManieFerrell Posted on January 26, 2014

The pope is writing a big green manifesto

By

neneo / Shutterstock

The first clue that Pope Francis might be a greenie came when he chose to name himself after Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment.

We’ve also learned that he likes riding buses and doesn’t like fracking.

Soon we’ll find out more about his views on environmental protection. The Associated Press reports:

Pope Francis has begun drafting an encyclical on ecology.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the document was still very much in its early stages and that no publication date has been set.

More from Reuters:

Since his election in March, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics has made many appeals in defence of the environment.

His latest on Jan. 14 was in his so-called “state of the world” address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, when he said, “God always forgives, we sometimes forgive, but when nature — creation — is mistreated, she never forgives.”

In a speech about two weeks after his election on March 13, the pope said he had taken his name after St. Francis of Assisi because he “teaches us profound respect for the whole of creation and the protection of our environment, which all too often, instead of using for the good, we exploit greedily, to one another’s detriment.”

If he calls for climate action, Francis will be following in the footsteps of his predecessors. As Susie Cagle explained in Grist last year:

Ex-Pope Benedict XVI, aka Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, used his papal platform to promote social and political action in response to global warming, and even added an electric car to the popemobile fleet. His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was also a proponent of climate action. And other Catholic leaders have spoken out about the need for a response to the impending “serious and potentially irreversible” effects of a warmer planet.

Now if Francis would just drop his sexist opposition to birth control and abortion rights (and ditch the homophobia, and crack down on pedophilia …), then we might start liking the guy.

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The pope is writing a big green manifesto

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