Homily

I'm going to do something a little different today because of something that happened this past week. As many of you may know, the Pope recently gave an interview to the priest who is the editor of an Italian Catholic journal. The interview was published last Thursday and that's when the bomb went off. Reporting on the interview the New York Times ran the headline: "Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control"

Lord, have mercy. And then the article begins:

"Six months into his papacy, Pope Francis sent shock waves through the Roman Catholic church on Thursday with the publication of his remarks that the church had grown 'obsessed' with abortion, gay marriage and contraception, and that he had chosen not to talk about those issues despite recriminations from critics."

His surprising comments came in a lengthy interview in which he criticized the church for putting dogma before love, and for prioritizing moral doctrines over serving the poor and marginalized. He articulated his vision of an inclusive church, a “home for all” — which is a striking contrast with his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, the doctrinal defender who envisioned a smaller, purer church.

Francis told the interviewer, a fellow Jesuit:

“It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently...."

The pope’s interview did not change church doctrine or policies, but it instantly changed its tone. His words evoked gratitude and hope from many liberal Catholics who had felt left out in the cold during the papacies of Benedict and his predecessor, John Paul II, which together lasted 35 years. Some lapsed Catholics suggested on social media a return to the church, and leaders of gay rights and gay Catholic groups called on bishops to abandon their fight against gay marriage.

There is so much to say here, but so little time to say it, so I have to be brief. I can only talk about a couple of points.

First, the published interview is over 12,000 words long, and what does the NY Times and many other media entities take from all of that? Only the small section where the Holy Father talks about sexually related issues. As others have pointed out the people who are truly obsessed with sexual matters are those people in the press and other news agencies. That's all they're interested in.

The pope talks about his past, his priesthood, the Jesuit order, some saints, Church government, thinking with the Church, the Church's healing mission and many other thought-provoking topics and I enjoyed reading it. But the media has no interest in any of those topics, because the only items that interest them are contraception, abortion and gay marriage.

Using this same NY Times article, the Register-Guard put it on the front page of Friday's edition with the headline: "Put Love before Moral Doctrine, Pope Tells Church." And it is obvious to me that whoever wrote the headline doesn't understand that you cannot separate love from morality, you can't put love before morality. The commandment to love God and our neighbor is moral imperative; it's at the foundation of Christian morality. The people at the Times would likely be surprised to learn that serving "the poor and the marginalized" is also a part of the Church's moral doctrine. They think the word doctrine equals restriction, lack of freedom and a stifling of the spirit. They don't understand that doctrine can teach us our obligations to love and to serve.

Second point: Never, never, ever believe what you read or hear, printed or spoken, about what the pope says as the secular media report it. And you can't even always trust religious news reporters. Go to the source, read it for yourself and don't let the press give your their spin on it.

Example: Friday's NY Times headline: "Pope Says Church Is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control."

Now the very next day the pope is speaking to a group of Catholic gynecologists in Italy and he talks to them about the grave evil of abortion.

As far as I can tell, the NY Times did not even report on this speech. But the Washington Post did.

Saturday's Washington Post headline: "Pope Blasts Abortion in Olive Branch of Sorts after Denouncing Church’s Obsession with Rules."

Their article begins:

"Pope Francis offered an olive branch of sorts to the doctrine-minded, conservative wing of the Catholic Church on Friday as he denounced abortions as a symptom of today's 'throw-away culture' and encouraged Catholic doctors to refuse to perform them."

Notice how the Post colors this speech. One day its front page coverage gives us the impression that sexual morality is no longer going to be considered very important in Church life. The very next day, when it's clear that this is not the case, it's only because the Bishop of Rome has to make peace with what the Post calls "the doctrine-minded conservative wing of the Church." It's a shrewd political move, not simply a consistent teaching of Christ's Gospel; because, like so many other media outlets the Post cannot put truth before its own doctrines. Please never trust what newspapers or other sources of information want you to believe, especially if it doesn't sound right. Go to the source, and don't allow yourself to be knocked off the track by a few blurbs in the press.

Third point: It is true that Pope Francis did make the comment that we should not be "obsessed" by rules and regulations. And here is my problem with the pope: What does he mean by that? Who does he think is doing that? It is just not clear. There are several other comments he make in the interview that I also do not understand. And, in the past he has made other statements that are not clear, and that's when the press jumps on them to try and tell us that this pope is an up-to-date, modern guy who wants to change things and make peace with western culture and society, and drop all that old, rigid, doctriney stuff. I don't know why the pope has this knack for using expressions that can be easily misunderstood, or that are vague and easily open to different interpretations. Granted that even very clear words can be twisted and misused by others, but he sometimes says things that I think are confusing and imprudent. So there. And who knows? Maybe he doesn't always like the way that I preach either.

So please keep these thoughts in mind because I don't want to feel I need to explain the pope's words to you on a regular basis, or have to talk about how the press tries to spin those words to fit their agenda, nor about how he makes it easy for them to do this. I am sure it will happen again and again, and I don't want to be "obsessed" by it. But if you really want to learn more about the Holy Father just go and read the interview. If you Google "Pope Francis interview" it should come up first on the list. And looking at all the headlines that are below that, when you are finished reading, ask yourself if those headlines truly reflect the interview that you just read.

May the Lord bless us, and Pope Francis too.