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.

Check out this story of a Liberian warlord-turned-evangelist known as General Butt Naked

Watch Film Tells Story of Warlord-Turned-Evangelist Known as General Butt Naked on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Given my two posts below, what about forgiveness

"Dom Christian enunciated the deepest meaning of forgiveness. We forgive not only because God asks it of us, not only because we must find released from the burdens of hatred and revenge, but because we recognize that we are not innocent, that we, too, as Dom Christian wrote, are accomplices 'of the evil that seems to prevail in the world around.' ...

In the end, we must forgive, as Christ forgave from the cross, because we cannot allow ourselves, or our world, to be swept away in waves of hatred and sin. Standing fast for the good, accepting evil rather than returning it, is the only way the tides of injustice can be turned. We choose life rather than revenge, because choosing life can never be postponed. We can’t hate first and choose life later."

--Terrance W. Klein

The discrimination between the action and the person

When patience is combined with the ability to discriminate between the action and the one who does it, forgiveness arises naturally.

Dalai Lama

Hat-tip: Doug Powell