One and Half Popes and Doctrine

I read an article on the Fox News website about the ceremony where Pope Francis elevated nineteen new Cardinals to the College of Cardinals, the body responsible for electing a new Pope. His predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict was also present at the ceremony. It was quite an interesting article but there was something that struck me quite powerfully about the article. The writer made reference to the fact that the crowds that were coming to listen to Pope Benedict daily when he was in office were one-third of those that now come to listen to Pope Francis. I believe the intention of that particular piece of information (or was it a fact check?) was to show how unpopular Pope Benedict is in contrast to Pope Francis. This is in light of the fact that the writer in the same article remarked that people present cheered when they saw Benedict.

                        

There is a tendency in human beings for comparison even though the Bible tells us that the people who do this are not wise. One of the most obvious means of comparison is numbers. Therefore a person in an office who attracts more people to his sermons or meetings is deemed more popular and from that position we believe that he must be more effective. However I tend to see things differently. I believe the fact that Benedict drew smaller numbers of people than Francis says a lot more about the people than it does about Benedict.

There have been several reports in the mainstream media about Pope Francis comments. These comments have been analysed, dissected and analysed some more in the mainstream media. From their analysis of his comments one would be forgiven for thinking that he was about to abolish all the doctrines of the Catholic Church. It seems the mainstream media have got this idea between their teeth and their running with it so much so that it culminated with him being on the cover of TIME magazine as their man of the year. And it seems a lot of Catholics seem to have this idea as well. So it seems that while a lot of them see Benedict as a strict and unbending conservative, Francis is the flexible and conciliatory liberal. Hence the great love.

G. K. Chesterton said that the Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting, rather it deemed to be hard and so left untried. I have always said I do not believe in labels when it comes to Christianity. You are either a Christian or not. I do not believe you’re a conservative Christian or a liberal Christian. I also reject the terms fundamentalist unless by that you mean someone who believes in the Bible. I believe the Bible is the final authority on all things that has to do with the faith Christ gave us. Like C. S. Lewis said, doctrines were given to us as maps by men but these men had deep relationships with God. I believe we live in a fallen world with fallen minds which need renewal in the word.

I admire Benedict. He felt trapped in a position that was not allowing him fellowship was God which he missed deeply. So he gave up his position and all the trappings and stepped aside for someone else who could handle everything so much better. I do not believe the fact that Pope Francis is drawing bigger crowds reflects badly on his predecessor. I believe some of the people who come to see Francis are already living the liberal lifestyle they want him to endorse. They want him to endorse their own beliefs and make them happy and comfortable by breaking down doctrines that have served the Church for centuries. We’ll wait and see if he’ll oblige them. Although I wouldn't hold my breath.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.