There are very few news headlines lately that don't make me angry. Anything from Trump to the deterioration of our planet to a rhino being beaten to death in a zoo to the escalation of the war in Syria really boils my blood. But the headlines that bother me the most, the ones that really dig in beneath my skin and sink their hooks into my living flesh, aren't the ones about death and fear and pain.
They're about Pope Francis.
Every time I see Pope Francis making headlines as the savior of humanity because he said a very general thing, I die a little more inside. Because every new normalizing headline that endears this "darling" Pope to the people is another headline that helps exonerate the damage the Catholic Church has done.
I get it. A Pope who takes selfies with his teenage fans is pretty rad. And the things he says are great; I'm glad he doesn't believe in stoning women for adultery or condemning the LGBTQIA community to hell or forcing women to carry children they don't want to term. All of that is great. But it's not extraordinary.
It's not extraordinary for a person to say: "hey, maybe we shouldn't be interfering in other people's lives and telling them what to do or how to live or telling them that the decisions they make are wrong." He's not a saint for being a decent human being. It's not quirky or amazing or revolutionary, the things he says. He is not Jesus reborn, the second coming of Christ. He is not God's gift to humanity. He is a person. A man who has progressive beliefs.
But that does not make him special or better than anyone else.
And it especially does not mean that the Catholic Church is suddenly all whole and healed. They have not become a progressive and safe institution overnight because one man has a couple of decent thoughts.
Do not think that because there is a Pope who is not as big a jerk as he could have been that the Catholic Church is suddenly an okay institution to accept and normalize. Do not forget the centuries of corruption and hatred and bigotry the Catholic Church has spread like a poison throughout society. Do not forget the countless number of Cardinals who still believe women should be stoned for adultery and that the LGBTQIA community is going to hell and women should be forced to carry children to term regardless of what they want.
Do not let a seemingly charming man who says nice things make you forget the pain and suffering his religion has brought to us all. Do not give a person credit for being a good person, as if it's an incredible feat achieved by none.
