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| Philadelphia archbishop: Pope Francis is not as liberal as Americans think | Philadelphia archbishop: Pope Francis is not as liberal as Americans think |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Americans eager to hear Pope Francis liberalize tenets of the Catholic Church “risk being very disappointed” by his historic visit to the United States, the archbishop of Philadelphia told the Guardian ahead of the pope’s stay in his city. | Americans eager to hear Pope Francis liberalize tenets of the Catholic Church “risk being very disappointed” by his historic visit to the United States, the archbishop of Philadelphia told the Guardian ahead of the pope’s stay in his city. |
| Related: Pope Francis in Cuba: pontiff holds mass in Holguín's Revolution Square - live | Related: Pope Francis in Cuba: pontiff holds mass in Holguín's Revolution Square - live |
| In an interview, Archbishop Charles Chaput said that although the pope’s plain-spoken style contrasts with that of his predecessors, the church’s teachings have not changed. “His vocabulary and emphases are different, like his personal style of leadership,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean a change in content. People risk being very disappointed if they imagine it does.” | |
| Chaput is no stranger to the culture wars – he is an outspoken proponent of immigration reform and a critic of abortion – he also repeated a criticism of Barack Obama’s administration that he made earlier this year: “The current White House is the least friendly to religious freedom in our history.” | |
| In fact, Chaput appears in public to be diametrically opposed to Pope Francis in many ways. In 2013 Francis said that church’s leadership should spend less time harping on controversial issues, saying they should devote greater attentions to the poor and “cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently”. | In fact, Chaput appears in public to be diametrically opposed to Pope Francis in many ways. In 2013 Francis said that church’s leadership should spend less time harping on controversial issues, saying they should devote greater attentions to the poor and “cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently”. |
| Chaput told the Guardian the church had never lost sight of the poor and insisted on the importance of such issues: “If there’s an ‘obsession’ in the way we do our work, it’s not an obsession with sex. That problem belongs to the media and the general culture.” | Chaput told the Guardian the church had never lost sight of the poor and insisted on the importance of such issues: “If there’s an ‘obsession’ in the way we do our work, it’s not an obsession with sex. That problem belongs to the media and the general culture.” |
| Chaput went further, condemning “the kind of bourgeois barbarism Planned Parenthood has made famous – chatting about the price of unborn baby body parts over lunch with a good wine”, an allusion to a covertly filmed conversation of an official with the reproductive rights group discussing medical research of fetal remains. | Chaput went further, condemning “the kind of bourgeois barbarism Planned Parenthood has made famous – chatting about the price of unborn baby body parts over lunch with a good wine”, an allusion to a covertly filmed conversation of an official with the reproductive rights group discussing medical research of fetal remains. |
| “The right to life is foundational,” Chaput said. “Without it, all other rights are compromised.” | “The right to life is foundational,” Chaput said. “Without it, all other rights are compromised.” |
| Related: Pope Francis’s Philadelphia prison visit highlights crisis in US justice system | Related: Pope Francis’s Philadelphia prison visit highlights crisis in US justice system |
| Although American Catholics are presenting a unified front for the pope’s visit, Chaput has previously hinted at disputes within the church. Early on in Francis’s papacy, Chaput told the National Catholic Reporter that the right wing of the church “generally have not been really happy about his election, from what I’ve been able to read and to understand. | |
| “He’ll have to care for them, too, so it will be interesting to see how all this works out in the long run.” | “He’ll have to care for them, too, so it will be interesting to see how all this works out in the long run.” |
| Conservative Americans seem to agree, according to a July poll that found the pope’s popularity plummeting among them, even before he declared that women who have had abortions could be forgiven if they repent. The Vatican later clarified that the church does not condone abortions. | Conservative Americans seem to agree, according to a July poll that found the pope’s popularity plummeting among them, even before he declared that women who have had abortions could be forgiven if they repent. The Vatican later clarified that the church does not condone abortions. |
| For years the population of US Catholics has gradually declined, according to researchers, in line with a broader trend of Americans walking away from religious institutions in favor of atheism, agnosticism and, especially, a category of “no affiliation”. | For years the population of US Catholics has gradually declined, according to researchers, in line with a broader trend of Americans walking away from religious institutions in favor of atheism, agnosticism and, especially, a category of “no affiliation”. |
| Like Americans of other faiths, research also shows that US Catholics have grown more accepting than most church leadership, and are more open toward gay people and divorced people, two groups that Francis has urged Catholics to treat with greater compassion. | Like Americans of other faiths, research also shows that US Catholics have grown more accepting than most church leadership, and are more open toward gay people and divorced people, two groups that Francis has urged Catholics to treat with greater compassion. |
| The growing fault lines among Catholics occasionally appear in surprising places. Chris Christie, a Catholic Republican running for president, loves the music of a fellow in faith and avowed Democrat, Bruce Springsteen. Convert Jeb Bush last week chatted across a couch with the lifelong Catholic and nine-year satirist of all things conservative, Stephen Colbert. | The growing fault lines among Catholics occasionally appear in surprising places. Chris Christie, a Catholic Republican running for president, loves the music of a fellow in faith and avowed Democrat, Bruce Springsteen. Convert Jeb Bush last week chatted across a couch with the lifelong Catholic and nine-year satirist of all things conservative, Stephen Colbert. |
| Chaput warned that Americans should not misinterpret Francis’s calls for mercy and compassion: “The church is built on God’s mercy. But real mercy is always tied to truth, and truth isn’t always welcome, especially when it comes to issues like wealth and sexuality. | |
| “What people hear from Francis is a difference in tone, not content. The difference is important, but not for the reasons some people may want.” | “What people hear from Francis is a difference in tone, not content. The difference is important, but not for the reasons some people may want.” |
| Chaput said that the demographic changes in the US, where Latinos increasingly outnumber white people and where fewer young people relate to organized religion, mean “the church obviously needs to adapt her methods of preaching and teaching. But the substance of her message can’t change”. | |
| Asked about Francis’s overtures to disaffected Catholics, Chaput said that in the parable, “there’s one lost sheep and 99 safely in the herd. Conditions today are quite a bit more complicated.” | |
| The pope’s visit also coincides with the escalating tempers of a presidential election season that has five Catholic Republican candidates, one Catholic Democrat and a Catholic, pro-choice vice-president debating whether to enter the race. | The pope’s visit also coincides with the escalating tempers of a presidential election season that has five Catholic Republican candidates, one Catholic Democrat and a Catholic, pro-choice vice-president debating whether to enter the race. |
| Francis’s “interaction with the White House, Congress and ordinary people should be interesting”, Chaput said. “If he can bring a little sanity and grace to our discourse, that will be a blessing.” | |
| Related: Americans are ready to hear Pope Francis – but will they listen? | Related: Americans are ready to hear Pope Francis – but will they listen? |
| Researchers attribute the changes in US Catholicism in part to immigration and ageing: Hispanics have bolstered the population even as new generations have continued to grow disaffected by Catholic teachings on specific issues, the child sex abuse trials, and more generally by religious institutions. Since 1990, the number of people identifying with no religion in particular has almost doubled to 46 million, largely at the expense of Catholicism and mainstream Protestantism. | |
| A 2011 study conducted by Charles Zech, director of the Center for Church Management at Villanova University, found that many people took issue with priests whom they thought were “pompous” or “distant”, and with the church’s stances on contraception, divorce, gay marriage and other issues. | A 2011 study conducted by Charles Zech, director of the Center for Church Management at Villanova University, found that many people took issue with priests whom they thought were “pompous” or “distant”, and with the church’s stances on contraception, divorce, gay marriage and other issues. |
| Zech said that one respondent to the survey said: “Every time I ask my priest about a church teaching I get a rule, I don’t get a conversation or explanation.” Francis’s more “pastoral” approach was a welcome new tone, Zech said. | |
| Chaput said Christians have “the obligation and the privilege” to do more in politics, even though “politics isn’t the most important thing in life. It’s not even close. But it can’t be ignored. Politics involves the use of power. Power always has moral implications.” | Chaput said Christians have “the obligation and the privilege” to do more in politics, even though “politics isn’t the most important thing in life. It’s not even close. But it can’t be ignored. Politics involves the use of power. Power always has moral implications.” |
| He added that Catholics have often fit in well in the US despite decades of distrust, but suggested that assimilation may have diluted elements of faith: “American Catholics love their country for good reasons. But success often comes at the cost of downplaying some part of Catholic belief or practice.” | He added that Catholics have often fit in well in the US despite decades of distrust, but suggested that assimilation may have diluted elements of faith: “American Catholics love their country for good reasons. But success often comes at the cost of downplaying some part of Catholic belief or practice.” |
| Americans like Pope Francis – a September poll found that 66% of all Americans have a good opinion of the pontiff – a reflection of how Americans’ religious beliefs are shifting, often in line with political trends. | Americans like Pope Francis – a September poll found that 66% of all Americans have a good opinion of the pontiff – a reflection of how Americans’ religious beliefs are shifting, often in line with political trends. |
| The archbishop attributed part of Francis’s appeal to his origins in South America, saying “he’s never been part of the carnage and confusion of Europe’s ideological wars, or North American moral debates”. | |
| The pope “didn’t know much about our country before preparing for this trip”, Chaput said, but he predicted an enthusiastic welcome. Francis “communicates as a man unburdened by fear” and “has an informal, spontaneous style”, Chaput said: “qualities Americans like very much”. | The pope “didn’t know much about our country before preparing for this trip”, Chaput said, but he predicted an enthusiastic welcome. Francis “communicates as a man unburdened by fear” and “has an informal, spontaneous style”, Chaput said: “qualities Americans like very much”. |