The Latest Episode of the Francis Follies
NEW OXFORD NOTEBOOK
We love receiving correspondence from our readers. Believe me, it’s true! Need proof? Check out the lengthy letters section in this (or virtually any) issue. Unfortunately, we don’t have the capacity — in terms of time or manpower — to respond to or print all or even most of the notes, letters, and emails we get. Nevertheless, we do appreciate hearing what our readers think, even — and perhaps especially — when their opinions are strong and contrarian, and they take us to task for our various missteps or oversights.
One reader, for example, recently sent in a heartfelt handwritten note with her renewal, chastising us for “giving Pope Francis way too much leeway.” He is “a man who has thrown the Catholics of China under the bus, is trying to eradicate the Latin Mass, and so many other things,” wrote Dolores DiMento of Fallbrook, Calif., “including being unclear about what he actually believes!” She wanted to register her “disappointment” in the NOR for failing to address what we might call the ongoing Francis Follies.
We hear you loud and clear, Dolores!
There’s a simple reason for our reticence. We have resisted the urge to parse the many questionable utterances that issue from the Pope’s mouth — we could fill virtually every issue doing so — because the exercise would be exhausting and not a little discouraging.
Microfocus on the Francis Follies quickly leads to an acute case of Francis Fatigue.
You May Also Enjoy
When Pope Francis told millions at the 2013 World Youth Day to "make a mess," he was also describing the modus operandi of his papacy.
Pat Buchanan warned in 1999 about expanding NATO to include Ukraine: “By moving NATO onto Russia’s front porch, we have scheduled a 21st-century confrontation.”
The effort of the Church to come to terms with the modern world too often assumes that contemporary culture is neutral when, in fact, it is closed to the transcendent.