The Catholic Church is changing—and the gates of reaction shall not prevail against it

“Indeed, says the US Catholic paleo-conservative (Pat Buchanan), the Pope may be ‘speaking heresy,’ which would imply that Francis is ‘not a valid pope.’

“Yet how does this high-octane indignation square with widespread reports at the end of last week (Oct. 17) that a liberal Pope had been defeated by doctrinaire traditionalists in his attempts to make the Church more welcoming to gays and divorcees? The fortnight-long Extraordinary Synod on the Family ended with headlines like: ‘Pope snubbed’ and ‘Liberal Hopes Dashed.’

“The answer is that, as the dust settles, what has become clear is that, for all the hoo-ha made by conservative cardinals, the overall outcome has been a remarkable advance for those who want the Catholic Church to be more compassionate and inclusive. The vociferous minority who tried to box the Pope into a corner, on gays and divorcees who remarry, may have won one small battle. But they are losing the wider war.”

By Paul Vallely, The Independent — Click here to read the rest of this story.

Next on Pope Francis’ agenda: curia reform, personnel moves, a revamped synod

“Pope Francis told bishops attending the recent Synod of Bishops on the family to speak their minds freely and boldly during the two-week-long assembly. And so they did, at least a good many of them. (There were also some who held back, hedging their bets, perhaps as they wait in joyful hope for the coming of the next pontificate.)

“This freedom of theological speech has been, until now, a faded memory in ecclesiastical Rome, and it opened quite a lively debate on issues that had long been closed off to candid discussion throughout the church. Now the debate has begun. And it will continue.”

By Robert Mickens, Editor-in-Chief, Global Pulse, in National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this story.