When Pope John Paul II died, I felt I had lost a father. When Pope Benedict XVI resigned, I felt I had lost a great teacher.
When Pope Francis was elected, I rejoiced. Without knowing anything about him, I knew that, of course, the cardinals who had elected him could say, like the apostles, “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit, and ours too.”
However, in the months that followed, I began to miss the careful, measured, precise language of the previous Popes. I also began to hear reports that Pope Francis was “relaxing” some of the Church’s more difficult teachings.
For example, he was quoted as saying that while abortion is an “absolute evil,” avoiding pregnancy is not, and that of two evils that can afflict a marriage – avoiding pregnancy and transmitting a deadly disease – avoiding pregnancy is the “lesser.”
The secular media took that to mean that contraception can be lawful – because “the world” assumes without question that, in a marriage, contraception is the only way to avoid pregnancy.
I paid no attention until someone asked me about it. Then I looked up precisely what the Pope had said and found that it agreed perfectly with what the Church had always taught.
One of the purposes for which God ordained marriage is the procreation of children. Accordingly, in marriage, it is objectively a bad thing, and subjectively a great hardship, to give up the possibility of having children. However, if sexual intercourse would transmit disease, it may be necessary to renounce children – not by practising contraception, but by avoiding sexual contact.
One of the things many people, including non-Catholics, liked immediately about Pope Francis was his more casual style. However, I began to realize that “the world” was, apparently, misinterpreting it.
Another example occurred when the Pope, asked whether he would give Communion to homosexual people or the divorced and “re-married,” said that he would give Communion to anyone who approached him, and asked, “Who am I to judge?”
The secular media took this to mean that the Pope approved the practice of homosexuality and “re-marriage” after divorce.
In fact, all Eucharistic ministers give Communion to anyone who approaches, for none of them can judge the spiritual state of a would-be communicant. Even people who are openly living together without marriage may not be sexually intimate, as priests know from counselling and confession.
The Church’s teaching is that if we want to receive Communion, we must be in a state of grace, but it is up to us – not the Pope or a Eucharistic minister – to make sure that we are.
Finally, most recently, I read Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Desiderio Desideravi, and I was so impressed that I have incorporated numerous quotations from it into my course The Catholic Faith in Plain English.
We do not have to analyze everything the Pope says, but we must realize that “the world” tends to misinterpret it to suit itself, as St. Paul warned in both his letters to Timothy. The solution is to consult not the secular media, but Vatican News, founded by Pope Francis in 2017, which (partnered with Vatican Radio, L’Osservatore Romano, and Vatican Media) provides multimedia news of the Catholic Church worldwide and the activities of the Pope.
It is the duty of Catholics, says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, to “obey and submit to the Church’s leaders, holding them in respect and affection.”
The Letter to the Hebrews says the same: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over you as men who must render an account. So act that they may fulfill their task with joy, not with sorrow, for that would be harmful to you.”
I thank God for Pope Francis, Pope Benedict, Pope John Paul, and all the other Popes back to St. Peter. We can trust Christ, who said he would be with us until the end of time, and the Holy Spirit, who Christ said would lead us into all truth.
“Where Peter is, there is the Church,” St. Ambrose said; “where the Church is, there is Jesus Christ; where Jesus Christ is, there is eternal salvation.”
