The surprisingly devout (and liberal) Catholic, Stephen Colbert has fun with Pope Francis

Andrew Sullivan sums up Colbert nicely:

I’m biased, because I have gotten to know the man a little over the years, and have barely missed a single show since he started, but I have to agree with Jessica Winter that, in an era in which Catholicism, until very recently, has seemed positively callous, distant and authoritarian,  Stephen Colbert is “the greatest thing to happen to American Catholics since Vatican II”: 

He provides day-to-day proof that devout Catholicism can coexist with critical thinking, irreverence, a guiding belief in equal rights, and a fundamentally anti-authoritarian worldview – by, for example, dishing on the papal doctrine of social justice for the poor with Colbert Report chaplain Jim Martin (editor of America magazine), or breaking character during a congressional panel on rights for migrant farm workers by paraphrasing Scripture: “Whatever you did for the least of my brothers, you did for me.” Colbert is America’s Sunday school teacher and “Catholicism’s best pitch man,” as Patheos.com’s Matt Emerson put it in a beautifully argued 2011 piece. But until now, what he’s been pitching hasn’t necessarily been what the Vatican has been selling.

That’s all changed now. Catholics have a pope who loves the poor, embraces critical thinking, and has a delightful sense of humor – the same holy trinity of virtues that Stephen Colbert, the new America’s Catholic, exemplifies. 

And what Colbert does is talk to a generation that has largely turned off any public statements from the American Catholic hierarchy. The Millennials have been a lost generation to Christianity – because, in my view, the most prominent representatives of Christianity are simply from a different universe than those building lives and loves in the 21st Century. Colbert shows that Catholics can be hilarious and serious, ironic and yet deeply sincere.

And this is the real Stephen Colbert, out of character, testifying in front of Congress, on behalf of the poor. That's real Catholic values, not that mean Pope Benedict shit.

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

Pope Francis' message of unconditional love today will make life better for millions of young gay people. That's progress

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.