American Catholics agree with the new pope that judging gay people is not a winning issue for the church

From Towleroad: 

A Quinnipiac University poll released this week found that over two-thirds of U.S. Catholics agreed with Pope Francis' recent statement that the Catholic Church should not focus so much on social issues like homosexuality, abortion and contraception. 
Reuters reports:

Sixty-eight percent of American Catholics agree with comments the Pope made to that effect in an interview published in the Jesuit magazine Civilta Cattolica, while 23 percent disagreed, according to the poll. There was little difference in opinion between observant and less-observant Catholics, women and men, and among age groups, the poll found. 

American Catholics also like their new pope, with 89 percent having a "favorable" or "very favorable" opinion, and only 4 percent voicing an unfavorable opinion, the poll found.

Frank Bruni captures this moment in the history of the Roman Catholic Church: "The Pope’s Radical Whisper"

This is from one NYTimes op-ed column worth reading:

"It's about time. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church has surveyed the haughty scolds in its ranks, noted their fixation on matters of sexual morality above all others and said enough is enough. I’m not being cheeky with this one-word response. Hallelujah. [snip] He didn’t right past wrongs. Let’s be clear about that. Didn’t call for substantive change to church teachings and traditions that indeed demand re-examination, including the belief that homosexual acts themselves are sinful. Didn’t challenge the all-male, celibate priesthood. Didn’t speak as progressively — and fairly — about women’s roles in the church as he should. But he also didn’t present himself as someone with all the answers. No, he stepped forward — shuffled forward, really — as someone willing to guide fellow questioners. In doing so he recognized that authority can come from a mix of sincerity and humility as much as from any blazing, blinding conviction, and that stature is a respect you earn, not a pedestal you grab. That’s a useful lesson in this grabby age of ours." 

- Frank Bruni, writing for theNew York Times.

CNN"s Chris Cuomo takes on the wildly homophobic Bill Donohue, president of the right-wing Catholic League, who is in denial that the new pope is scolding people like him

Pope Francis' words yesterday represent a sea change for the Catholic Church. While he didn't change its dogma (yet), he reminded everyone of its purpose: as a champion for love

As a long-time gay activist and a former Catholic, I am still reeling from the importance of the Pope's words in his newly released interview.  His words mark the end of the orthodox John Paul II era as much as the election of Barack Obama ended Reaganism.  

Socially-divisive priests like San Francisco's Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone have been put on notice by this new pope.  No longer can they treat LGBT people as "intrinsically disordered," second-class citizens, who are regularly castigated against from the pulpit. Instead, Pope Francis' words suggest that Cordileone and his ilk have neglected their core spiritual mission of creating a warm and welcoming environment for all Catholics, while spending most of their time lobbying for "small-minded rules" in the political square. The rabidly anti-gay animus of the conservative Catholic hierarchy has cost the church of millions and millions of followers, like my once-very-Catholic family. 

I feel that Francis is calling the RC church to return to the core message of Christ: the power of unconditional love (and providing a welcoming refugee from the suffering of the world).  This is a winning formula that meets timeless human needs. Modern people want a church that opens up their hearts and lifts them up -- not judges or controls them.  

A few months ago, I saw a segment on BBC TV in which they interviewed one of Pope Francis' spiritual mentors. I forget the elderly priest's name but it was clear that he was a big admirer of Pope John XXIII, the convener of Vatican II. So I am not completely surprised that Pope Francis is turning out to be the most reformist pope since John XXIII and just may be able to save the RC church from irrelevancy. 

Clearly, Francis' ascendancy marks the end of John Paul's cold-hearted theo-con era. Like with American politics, change is happening in Catholicism...and not a moment too soon.  -- Joe

I may be sick at home with a bad cold, but Andrew Sullivan's initial analysis of the Pope's interview makes feel better

From Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish:

Well, if the theocons hadn’t got the message by now, they can only blame themselves. The new interview with Pope Francis is a revelation. This Pope is not the Pope of a reactionary faction obsessed with controlling the lives of others – a faction that has held the hierarchy in its grip for three decades. He is a Pope in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, a Pope with a larger and more humane perspective than the fastidious control-freaks that have plagued the church for so long. I need to read and absorb the full interview – it’s 12,000 words long – before I comment at any greater length. But here are the key phrases that are balm to so many souls:

“This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people. We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.”

And this with respect to the near-pathological obsession of the theocons with abortion, gay rights, and culture war politics:

“The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently. 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.”

For me, obviously, it was wonderful to hear the true spirit of the Gospels with respect to homosexual persons:

“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person.”

Why must we always consider the person rather than abstract theological certitude? Because that is what Jesus did. And Jesus, quite obviously, is breathing life back into His church.