The late Pope Francis gets more than a passing grade from me. Actually, he gets an A+ in his rating for tolerance and understanding. It is not easy being Catholic these days. The church in recent years has been bleeding from really what are self-inflicted wounds. The things that Holy Mother Church, as we were taught to call her, was mixed up in have astounded me. This, from me who was taught in school by the Irish Christian Brothers under the old and crazy denominational education. At home I was encouraged by my family NOT to hang around with Protestants. What a world that was.

Sundays these days still find me at Mass because the Church tells me I have an obligation to go to Mass on Sundays and on other select “Holy Days of obligation”. Christmas Day, All Saints Day, Good Friday, etc. I can’t name them all. I do note with interest that even as I go that the pews seem to be filled mostly with old people. There are some encouraging signs from the immigrant community that has come to us in Newfoundland but basically the “mass crowd” are an elderly bunch.

Be that as it may there are still bright days for us in this world and there is hope. I tell you all that so I can make my point about the late Pope Francis who was obviously a very decent man. I liked and respected Francis because when he was elevated to Cardinal in Argentina, he did not take on the trappings of office. He continued to drive not a Cadillac but a Fiat. His papacy also showed a major move in the Catholic Church’s attitude towards the LGBTQ community. There has been under Francis a major shift in the direction of acceptance and inclusivity. Pope Francis supported civil unions and blessings for same sex couples. That doesn’t mean the formal position of the Church has changed and Francis didn’t stand up with his arms raised in defiance. He did turn all our heads though when he famously said about gay people, “Who am I to judge?” For the head of the Roman Catholic Church, it was a very compassionate stance, and he earned my respect. It was also a very Christian thought.

It reminded me of years ago, in 1967, when Pierre Trudeau on the matter of a bill in the House of Commons that would revise Canada’s abortion laws said, “The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation.” Pierre Trudeau got my vote on that because in what was a controversial matter he was standing for tolerance.

As this is being written now in May the College of Cardinals is meeting in Rome to choose a successor to Pope Francis. It is early days but there has been much speculation as to where the cardinals will turn. I wish them well. My hope is that they do not seek to maintain the iron grip of the papacy on the worlds Catholics. My hope is that there is less doctrine and more of an attitude that comes from:  “Who am I to judge?”

You can contact Jim Furlong at [email protected]