In Response to "Pope Francis is a Weak Leader"

Catholic365 writer Amelia Monroe Carlson published an article on October 26, 2023 titled “Pope Francis is a weak leader. She asserted some of the not-inconsiderable anger and frustration lay Catholics feel at the current state of leadership in the Church. The specific focus of this piece was targeting Pope Francis’s so-called acceptance, or inclination towards acceptance, of the LGBTQ movement in the Catholic Church. I would like to take the opportunity to offer a refutation to her article, and the driving premise behind it.

The first issue with Ms. Carlson’s piece is that she took a quote by the Holy Father out of context. The origins of the quote begin with a statement (dubium) from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in 2021, which reads as follows: “It is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex. The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing, since the positive elements exist within the context of a union not ordered to the Creator’s plan.” (https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/pope-gives-yes-and-no-answer-to-same-sex-blessings)

In the summer of 2023, another set of dubia was written in the Holy Father’s own name as an extension of the 2021 writings. The section that Ms. Carlson is quoting from the larger context is italicized. This quote reads, in part, as follows: “For this reason the Church avoids any kind of rite or sacramental that could...give the impression that something that is not marriage is to be recognized as marriage. In dealing with people, however, we must not lose the pastoral charity that must permeate all our decisions and attitudes. The defense of objective truth is not the only expression of this charity, which is also made up of kindness, patience, understanding, tenderness, and encouragement. Therefore, we cannot become judges who only deny, reject, exclude. For this reason, pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or more persons, that do not transmit a mistaken conception of marriage.” (see above link for quote)

What the Pope Is Saying

The Holy Father is shedding light on the fact that we as a body collective in the Church have not done enough to reconcile people who have fallen away from the Church through the homosexual lifestyle. There are a lot of horror stories floating around the Church of people driven from their families, from their parishes, and from various Catholic social circles because of their practice of a sinful lifestyle, and homosexuality is a big sin involved in this exclusion.

The point the pope has long tried to make, and which is continually ignored by his detractors among the faithful and among the secular world, is that the Church needs a new way to approach these people. This is not a prelude to – gasp – allowing the Church to celebrate same-sex unions. Instead, what the Holy Father is saying is that something must be done to convince those living in homosexual relationships to come back to the fold. If we continue to treat people living in a homosexual lifestyle like lepers, we are never going to bring them back to the Church and to the active practice of the faith. If we Catholics believe what we preach about the Church being a hospital for sinners rather than a museum for saints, we should be striving to examine every possible measure by which to bring them back into the sheepfold.

When the pope says that there must be an investigation conducted into “whether there are forms of blessing...that do not transmit a mistaken conception of marriage,” that right there is a refutation of the point that Ms. Carlson is attempting to make. The Holy Father’s objective is to provide graces by which the people living the LGBTQ lifestyle can have their hearts turned back to the Lord, without conveying those graces in a way that suggests the Church is endorsing the lifestyle that they are leading. His rationale is the same for the LGBTQ community as it is for people actively engaged in lifestyles of heterosexual fornication or adultery.

What the Holy Father Is Not Saying

Pope Francis is in no way, shape, or form trying to get the Church to legitimize same-sex relationships. He is not suggesting that the Church could create a rite by which homosexual couples could receive a blessing, because that is in direct contradiction to his comment of avoiding blessings which “do not transmit a mistaken conception of marriage.”

He is also not suggesting that the Church is going to suddenly stand aside and cease its opposition to laws and actions in various places around the world that promote this lifestyle. For all of the good that the CDF – acting as the mouthpiece of Pope Francis in 2021, since it required his blessing to publish the dubia – talked about those relationships having, its statement says in very clear language that that good is insufficient to endorse the relationships in the collective whole.

Beware News Misdirection and the Trappings of the World

There are a number of people, both inside and outside of the Catholic Church, that desire to see Pope Francis fail. They will look for any and all excuses to justify undermining his authority and the statements he makes on the faith.

All of these people have one thing in common: they have allowed, whether they realize it or not, the intentions of the world to enter into their hearts and corrupt them. The Church has had plenty of bad popes throughout its history, but the level of vitriol and animosity towards the Holy Father from the ranks of Catholics themselves is astonishing. It is almost as if we have collectively forgotten that the world has a vested interest in seeing us fight among ourselves. Why? Because Jesus promised Peter that the Church would not fail, and such a strength frightens the devil. Because the devil cannot bring down the Church herself, he resorts to going after her members, trying to pick them off one by one in hopes of undermining the foundation.

If you hear rumors of things Pope Francis was saying, or was claimed to have said, do yourself a favor for your own peace of heart. Check your sources, and ensure that the pope is not being quoted out of context. Do not fall victim to the terror and uncertainty that plague so many other places in the world that lack the assurance of faith in Jesus Christ. Above all, remember that Jesus promised the Church would not fail. Even if Pope Francis turns out to be a bad pope in the long run – and the “evidence” of him being a bad pope is highly disputable – the Church has survived plenty of bad leaders before.

And to you, Ms. Carlson, I make this plea. Do not let your heart be troubled by the rumors and sorrows of the world. Pope Francis is not seeking to undermine the institutions of the Church that I know you love deeply and fiercely, with all your heart. Trust in the Lord, and continue to pray for the Holy Father, and all will be well.