June 21, 2016
Source: Bigstock
But whenever this particular pope says something bizarre, I”ve taken to replying, “The Catholic Church isn”t my problem anymore.” Except that my stint in the minors taught me that popes (and I”ve lived through a few of them) are frequently (and comically) misquoted by hostile, illiterate journalists.
So last week, did Francis really declare that ““the great majority” of Catholic marriages are religiously null because people don”t understand the concept of a lifetime commitment”?
Since this is the Vatican we”re talking about, the usual tiresome confusion about translations and transcripts abounds. But while it pains me to agree with this particular pope on anything”and wow, is this guy confused“isn”t Francis, in this particular instance, obviously onto something?
The number of Catholic marriages that are only provisionally “Catholic” is surely quite sizable. Most Catholics don”t consider artificial contraception a sin, and have pretty relaxed attitudes about divorce. And I”m just going to, shall we say, go out on a limb and guess that a lot of them practice oral and even anal sex, too.
But I”m still not prepared to join Team Francis, let alone “come home“ quite yet. On the topic of corny old expressions, my situation doesn”t quite fit Groucho’s dictum about club membership. I”d actually be delighted to rejoin, but can”t promise to abide by its rules just now. And that’s my problem, not theirs.
I know: A pretty old-fashioned notion, right? Maybe the most Catholic thing about me.
