Pope: Church at risk if stance on gays and abortion are not balanced
Pope Francis has warned that the Catholic Church's moral edifice might "fall like a house of cards" if it does not balance its divisive rules about abortion, gays and contraception with the greater need to make the church a merciful, more welcoming place for all.
Pope Francis has warned that the Catholic Church's moral edifice might "fall like a house of cards" if it does not balance its divisive rules about abortion, gays and contraception with the greater need to make the church a merciful, more welcoming place for all.
Six months into his papacy, Francis set out his vision for the church and his priorities as pope in a remarkably candid and lengthy interview with , the Italian Jesuit magazine. It was published simultaneously in other Jesuit journals, including magazine in the US.
In the 12,000-word article, Francis expanded on his ground-breaking comments over the summer about gays and acknowledged some of his own faults. But his vision of what the church should be stood out, as it contrasted sharply with many of the priorities of his immediate predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Francis said the dogmatic and the moral teachings of the church were not all equivalent.
"The church's pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently," Francis said.
"We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel."
Rather, he said, the Catholic Church must be like a "field hospital after battle," healing the wounds of its faithful and going out to find those who have been hurt, excluded or have fallen.
"The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules," he lamented. "The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all."
The admonition is likely to have sharp reverberations in the United States, where some bishops have already publicly voiced dismay that Francis has not enforced church teaching on abortion, contraception and homosexuality.
Francis acknowledged he had been "reprimanded", but said it was "not necessary to talk about these issues all the time".
