海角大神

Pope Francis again signaled a remarkable shift of priorities for the world鈥檚 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, saying in an interview released Thursday that the church鈥檚 moral edifice would 鈥渇all like a house of cards鈥� if it did not prioritize the proclamation of the saving love of God over its current emphasis on dogmatic and moral teachings.

鈥淲e cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage, and the use of contraceptive methods,鈥� the pope said in an extensive and candid interview published in Jesuit journals in 16 countries, including in the United States. 鈥淭he church鈥檚 pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.鈥�

鈥淧roclamation in a missionary style focuses on the essentials, on the necessary things: This is also what fascinates and attracts more, what makes the heart burn,鈥� continued the pope, who startled observers in July by saying, when referring to gays who seek God in good faith. 鈥淎 beautiful homily, a genuine sermon must begin with the first proclamation, with the proclamation of salvation.鈥�

The current pontiff鈥檚 emphasis on the 鈥渇reshness and fragrance of the Gospel鈥� is a dramatic shift, many observers believe, from that of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. A professional theologian who had previously been prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly called the Inquisition), the man earlier known as Joseph Ratzinger had long been in charge of maintaining the doctrinal purity of Roman Catholics.

Benedict had also suggested the church might need to become smaller and purer to contend with modern secularism and materialism 鈥� frequent topics of his sermons and writings. And Catholic bishops in the US have often focused their public statements on condemnations of explosive social issues like homosexuality and abortion.

Francis, by contrast, has brought a renewed and aggressive focus on evangelization, social justice, and parish ministry 鈥� each of which are important parts of his religious order, the Society of Jesus, whose members are known as Jesuits. Pope Francis, an Argentine of Italian heritage, is the first Jesuit pope, as well as the first pope from the Americas.

鈥淭he interview brims with Pope Francis' fundamental optimism about human beings 鈥� and his confidence in our ability, individually and collectively, to discern what is good and what is of God,鈥� says J. Patrick Hornbeck, chair of the department of theology at Fordham University in New York.

鈥淭his is in stark contrast to what he views as a legalistic attitude toward people,鈥� Professor Hornbeck continues. 鈥淭his is fundamentally Jesuit: It reflects what Francis would have learned from his earliest days in the Jesuits 鈥� namely, the great confidence that Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, has in God's work through human beings.鈥�

Francis鈥� change in tone and emphasis has many of the 75 million Catholics in the US applauding after what they see as years of the church's decline.

鈥淐ertainly the vast majority of US Catholics will enthusiastically welcome the remarks of Pope Francis,鈥� says Michele Dillon, chair of the sociology department at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H. 鈥淐atholics have for many decades now made up their own minds about the morality of contraception, gay relationships, marriage [and] divorce, and the moral nuances presented by the difficult challenges posed by abortion.鈥�

鈥淢any in the church will be surprised 鈥� and additionally, some bishops and the conservative Catholic minority will be alarmed 鈥� that Francis combined abortion, contraception, and gay sexuality in the same statement denouncing the obsession of the church with these issues,鈥� continues Professor Dillon, a practicing Catholic who is also president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.

Even so, the pope鈥檚 words do not indicate a change in the church鈥檚 basic moral teachings about these matters, but merely a renewed focus on other aspects of Catholic teaching, which Francis considers more essential.

鈥淣othing in what the pope said in this newly released material counters Roman Catholic church doctrine but, rather, he sets it all in a new key 鈥� a pastoral key,鈥� says Bruce T. Morrill, the Edward A. Malloy professor of Catholic studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tenn. 鈥淭he beautiful priority for Pope Francis is pastoral love and care for real people where they are at. The unifying doctrinal source is the Gospel, the lived-message of people and God encountering each other through listening, compassion, service, and then teaching that 鈥榮peaks鈥� in the given context.鈥�

Hornbeck agrees: 鈥淎 constant theme in the interview 鈥� and in his pontificate more broadly 鈥� is mercy,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t is a word that recurs throughout the text.聽He says repeatedly that the church must 鈥榟eal the wounds鈥� 鈥� including wounds imposed by the church's ... 鈥榮mall-minded rules,鈥� 鈥� he says, quoting the pope鈥檚 words. 鈥淚t is because of this emphasis that the pope emphasizes that there is a hierarchy of doctrines and that the proclamation of the Gospel should come first.鈥�

Yet, in addition to the wounds Francis spoke of, many Catholic theologians and members of the laity see the past few decades of the church as modeling a top-down hierarchy that refused to engage the lives of parishioners 鈥� something Francis seems intent to change.

鈥淸The] pope is living the example, practicing the pastoral work, of being directly with the people so as to know and listen to [them], rather than simply to teach and tell them,鈥� says Father Morrill, who is also a Catholic priest and member of the Society of Jesus. 鈥淭he latter, in my estimation, has been the tactic of the majority of US Catholic bishops for the past couple decades, and one can readily see how ineffective [and] unpersuasive they have been, not only in wider society but among Catholics themselves, who have been falling away precipitously.鈥�

鈥淧olling and interview data for decades have found the laity expressing their dismay at how irrelevant, if not insulting, has been so much of the preaching to which聽they've been subjected,鈥� Morrill continues. 鈥淎 renewed 鈥榤ystification鈥� of the sacramental rites 鈥� primarily the mass 鈥� is another top-down, clerically centered, if not obsessed approach that, after more than a decade, has not shown much pastoral fruit.鈥�

鈥淩ules, of course, will still have a place,鈥� says Peter Ellard, director of the Reinhold Niebuhr Institute of Religion and Culture at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y. 鈥淏ut a focus on them leads to 鈥榮mall mindedness,鈥� he says. This is an amazing statement for a pontiff.鈥�

鈥淭he most astonishing thing to me is that his predecessor was indeed focused on following rules, on highlighting doctrine, on placing strict adherence to moral teaching above just about everything else,鈥� says Mr. Ellard. 鈥淭he message seems clear: Francis has another idea. It is truly an exciting time.鈥�