The Francis Revolution is underway. Not everyone is pleased.
Four
months into his papacy, Francis has called on young Catholics in the
trenches to take up spiritual arms to shake up a dusty, doctrinaire
church that is losing faithful and relevance.
He has said women must
have a greater role — not as priests, but a place in the church that
recognizes that Mary is more important than any of the apostles.
And he
has turned the Vatican upside down, quite possibly knocking the wind out
of a poisonously homophobic culture by merely uttering the word "gay"
and saying: so what?
In between, he has charmed millions of
faithful and the mainstream news media, drawing the second-largest crowd
ever to a papal Mass. That should provide some insurance as he goes
about doing what he was elected to do: reform not just the dysfunctional
Vatican bureaucracy but the church itself, using his own persona and
personal history as a model.
"He is restoring credibility to Catholicism," said church historian Alberto Melloni.
Such enthusiasm isn't shared across the board.
Francis'
predecessor, Benedict XVI, had coddled traditionalist Catholics
attached to the old Latin Mass and opposed to the modernizing reforms of
the Second Vatican Council. That group greeted Francis' election with
concern — and now is watching its worst fears come true.
Francis has
spoken out both publicly and privately against such "restoratist
groups," which he accuses of being navel-gazing retrogrades out of touch
with the evangelizing mission of the church in the 21st century.
His
recent decision to forbid priests of a religious order from celebrating
the old Latin Mass without explicit authorization seemed to be
abrogating one of the big initiatives of Benedict's papacy, a 2007
decree allowing broader use of the pre-Vatican II Latin liturgy for all
who want it.
The Vatican denied he was contradicting Benedict, but these
traditional Catholics see in Francis' words and deeds a threat. They
are in something of a retreat.
"Be smart. There will be time in
the future for people to sort what Vatican II means and what it doesn't
mean," the Rev John Zuhlsdorf warned his traditionalist readers in a
recent blog post. "But mark my words: If you gripe about Vatican II
right now, in this present environment, you could lose what you have
attained."
Even more mainstream conservative Catholics aren't thrilled with Francis.
In
a recent interview with the National Catholic Reporter, Philadelphia
Archbishop Charles Chaput said right-wing Catholics "generally have not
been really happy" with Francis.
To be sure, Francis has not
changed anything about church teaching. Nothing he has said or done is
contrary to doctrine; everything he has said and done champions the
Christian concepts of loving the sinner but not the sin and having a
church that is compassionate, welcoming and merciful.
But tone
and priorities can themselves constitute change, especially when
considering issues that aren't being emphasized, such as church doctrine
on abortion, gay marriage and other issues frequently referenced by
Benedict and Pope John Paul II.