Just days now from Pope Francis’ arrival in the United States, the media is filled with analyses of what his papacy has meant inside and outside the Church.

“Some secular liberals are still gushing. Feminist Catholics and sex abuse survivors? Not so much. Conservatives don’t like his de-emphasizing abortion. Conservative Catholics in Congress won’t welcome blunt talk on climate change or putdowns of unfettered, winner-take-all capitalism. Everyone says his words of openness and mercy have not translated into a single doctrinal change. And they are right.

“But the so called ‘Francis Effect’ lives on for those of us dissenting Catholics who feel welcomed by a pope for the first time in half a century. It’s pathetic, I suppose, that so little – an all-talk, no-action gesture of acceptance — can mean so much. But consider the contrast.”

By Margery Egan, Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this column.