#92: Has Pope Francis Changed the Church?—Ross Douthat

Catholics have always understood that the Church teaches eternal verities. It goes like this: Jesus Christ was, and is, God; he founded the Church on Peter the rock (Matt 16:18): and gave the Church the gift of infallibility, the protection against error on matters of faith and morals.

Throughout the first 265 popes, there has been development and “change” in the sense of accidental or external change, but the papacy of Pope Francis seems to be very different. The changes appear to be more substantial than accidental: the controversial inclusion of “climate change” in the encyclical Laudato ‘Si in 2015; the confusion contained in section 8 and footnotes of Amoris Laetitia, the Apostolic Exhortation of 2016; the controversial inclusion of “climate change” as though it were settled science in the encyclical Laudato ‘Si i 2015; and scandal after scandal, like the Vatican Bank financial battles, the Chile bishops’ fiasco, and the revelations of the letter by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò—about which Pope Francis refuses to comment.

New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat sat down to talk about all the above. His new book is titled, To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism.

 

In this episode you will learn:

• In what sense the Church can change and not change
• How Pope Francis acquired his reputation as a political pope
• How then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio governed the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires as the key to understanding how he governs the universal Church
• The vexing implications for the constant sense of flux and confusion that exist today
• Whether Douthat things the Pope should resign

 

Resources recommended in this episode:

• To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism by Ross Douthat
• Sacrilege: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church by Dr. Leon Podles
• Lost Shepherd: How Pope Francis is Misleading His Flock by Philip Lawler

 

Question of the week

How has this pontificate affected your daily life, if at all?

 

 

Comment below or on our Facebook page

“Like” us on Facebook HERE

Sign up to the waiting list for our upcoming premium site Coffin Nation. You’ll be the first to be notified!

Tweet to Patrick HERE

 

Don’t forget to Subscribe to the show in YouTube, as well as the full length podcast available in iTunes and other podcast directories, while you are there, please leave an honest review.

Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. Thank you!

            

 

 

 

Please share it using the social media buttons below.