Pope stuns church with pastoral approach to sexual, moral issues
Pope Francis rocked the Catholic Church and surprised the wider world with a free-ranging interview in which he envisioned a church that is not “obsessed” with a few sexual and moral issues and is more pastoral, less clerical and less doctrinaire.
Amid the widespread praise for his remarks—“Catholic is the new cool,” tweeted National Journal’s Ron Fournier —and some pointed criticism from the pontiff’s right flank lurks a critical unanswered question: Can Francis make his vision for the church a reality?
More than detailing a list of reforms or policy changes he hopes to make—which may yet happen, after time and extensive deliberations—the pope on September 19 was sketching out a pastoral vision for the church and modeling a way for clergy to speak and relate to their flocks.
