2014 was the most progressive year for the Catholic Church
Love thy neighbor
Catholicism 2.0(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Written by
Paul MosesProfessor, Brooklyn College/CUNY
5 hours ago
The new tone he is trying to achieve is a lucid response to the concerns that have chased many people, especially the young, away from the Catholic Church. The logic seems clear:
•Church leaders’ chilly public use of the term “disordered” for homosexuality has been replaced by the pope’s call for the church to help families better accept their gay and lesbian children—following on his famous remark, “Who am I to judge?”
•With strong evidence that people are turned off if religious leaders come across as partisan, the pope has avoided the US bishops’ focus on fighting gay marriage and abortion and instead encouraged a broader agenda by emphasizing inequality, which, as he tweeted, “is the root of social evil.”
•The carte blanche for bishops to abuse their authority was revoked as prelates such as Germany’s “bishop of bling,” Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, were removed from power, with the promise of more to come as Francis deals further with the clergy sexual abuse scandal.
•After leaks, paranoia and corruption allegations swirled through the Vatican, Pope Francis has cleaned up the Vatican Bank, assailed clericalism, shamed other prelates with his simple lifestyle and taken unprecedented steps toward creating transparency by participating in a string of revealing media interviews.
http://qz.com/310652/2014-was-the-most-progressive-year-for-the-catholic-church/
