slate | The new head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has given his first
long interview. In three sessions with Father Antonio Spadaro, editor of
the Jesuit publication La Civiltà Cattolica,
Francis outlines his thinking on a series of issues, from poverty to
homosexuality to women in the church. What does the interview tell us?
It tells us the pope is a liberal. He’ll pull the church to the left,
not just on sexuality, but on every issue that pits tradition against
freedom or progress. Here’s a breakdown of the English translation of the interview, published by the Catholic journal America.
11. Developing dogma. Spadaro, according to his own
paraphrase, asks Francis “about the enormous changes occurring in
society.” Francis steers this question toward the need for doctrinal
reform in the church. He reads Spadaro a passage from St. Vincent of
Lerins: “Even the dogma of the Christian religion must follow these
laws, consolidating over the years, developing over time, deepening with
age.” Francis elaborates:
“Human self-understanding changes with
time, and so also human consciousness deepens. Let us think of when
slavery was accepted or the death penalty was allowed without any
problem. So we grow in the understanding of the truth. Exegetes and
theologians help the church to mature in her own judgment. Even the
other sciences and their development help the church in its growth in
understanding. There are ecclesiastical rules and precepts that were
once effective, but now they have lost value or meaning.”
The pope’s meaning is clear: The church, like other institutions, makes mistakes. Four centuries ago, it was wrong about the cosmos. A century and a half ago, it was wrong about slavery.
As science develops—about sexual orientation, for instance—will the
church “grow in its understanding” and “mature in its judgment”? I can
tell you how Francis would answer that question: God knows.
