A wolf in Pope’s clothing? Francis is not the progressive man he has been made out to be

independent.co.uk

There’s more than meets the eye to the man behind the cloth

So Catholics and religious apologists have been jumping for joy at recent sympathetic words from Pope Francis on homosexuality, contraception and abortion and even the possibility that we atheists could be granted an entry visa to that place we don’t actually believe in.

But is this papal compassion for real or is Francis just a better spin doctor than his predecessor?

The first worrying sign is that hard line Catholics are not angered by Francis’s words. Last week I debated this on Voice Of Russia radio with Peter D. Williams of Catholic Voices, a man who opposes gay marriage and has likened abortion to the transatlantic slave trade. The latest comments from Pope Francis have neither shaken him nor changed his views.popind

Instead he glibly points out that these are conciliatory words and do not signal any change in policies or doctrine.

Any hope that the comments might have been a precursor to a real change - to a Catholic church that welcomes gay marriage, gay adoption and women priests - were roundly dashed a few days later when an Australian priest was excommunicated for holding liberal views on those exact issues.

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