Religion in the News
Despite the widespread support for the new Pope many people believe that he may not be as revolutionary as once thought. Even though Pope Francis has taken many steps that have never been taken by such a high status figure of the church, there are many places where he has stuck to his roots. Pope Francis has spoken up about issues of global economic inequality, and has given recognition to the role of women as well as provided acceptable explanation as to why women can’t be priests, or even the pope. But, one thing that many were hoping for Pope Francis to change was the churches view on birth control and abortion. This has been a long-standing issue among women, not only those of the Catholic faith, however the Pope has simply stated that we must “not obsess” about these issues. There has been no talk of the historic error that the Church made by casting negative light on these life choices. It is possible, Pope Francis only said this because that is as much as he can say, he is in a delicate position of power in which not everyone will support every decision he makes and this means he must tread lightly with such issues.
This article does not lead me to believe that the Pope is in any way less than the revolutionary he has been described as. Even though many people are desperate for change and have been waiting for a long time, it isn’t going to be a change that happens overnight. The Church has remained relatively static for hundreds of years, and the steps taken by Pope Francis although small, are a big deal and should be celebrated. Martin Luther was a man who changed the face of the church hundreds of years ago, and it took time for him to take radical initiative. Pope Francis is taking personal risk to promote change, and people should be grateful.
