Pope Francis has issued the second post-synodal exhortation of his pontificate. Christus vivit (Christ lives) was published on Tuesday. It argues that the sex abuse crisis, a history of sexism and a focus on a handful of moral issues can keep young people away from the Church. The Church must listen, the Pope writes. “A Church always on the defensive, which loses her humility and stops listening to others, which leaves no room for questions, loses her youth and turns into a museum.”
There was no single point which dominated the responses. At catholicherald.co.uk, John Hayward noted that, although the passages about doctrinal “obsession” might attract controversy, “the truly striking chapters are those in which the Holy Father speaks with the directness and simplicity which are his greatest strengths. He addresses young people with what he calls his ‘Great Message’: the Love of God the Father, made visible in the new life won by Christ.”
The media were struck by the passages which refer to “male authoritarianism” as a historic problem in the Church, and which argue for women’s rights and for “reciprocity” between the sexes. “Pope Francis says Catholic Church should support women’s rights,” was the Washington Post’s summary. ABC News went with the headline “Pope: Women have ‘legitimate claims’ for justice, equality”.
At LifeSite, Maike Hickson suggested that “The fundamental change that Pope Francis seems to hope for is a certain removal of the Catholic identity for the sake of greater openness and dialogue”. For instance, he proposes that Catholic educational institutions should “welcome all young people, regardless of their … personal, family or social situations”.
At Crux, John Allen wondered why the 1,000-word section on abuse did not use the expression “zero tolerance”. “If the Pope is now planning to avoid a term he himself helped to cement,” Allen wrote, “then somebody will need to explain why – otherwise, people may be tempted to think this reconsideration is actually a retreat.”
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