Saturday, January 25, 2014

Pope strikes out

In a waste of perfectly good breath, the pope embarrassed a women's group today by making statements that were vapid and condescending, in equal measure. Note how he says nothing new -- and instead, delivers a statement that rightly belongs in the dustbin of history:
Pope Francis on Saturday lauded women for their sensitivity toward the society's weak and "gifts" like intuition, insisting they take on greater responsibilities in the Catholic church, as well as in professional and public spheres.
He may as well have been an old, farty guy with a cigar. This is supposed to inspire female Catholics? And he got in a sideways dig at gay marriage.
"The presence of women in a domestic setting turns out to be so necessary" for the "transmission to future generations of solid moral principles and the very transmission of the faith," Francis said.
Indeed. It sounds like he's chanelling American evangelicals, NOM and the American Family Society. I'm surprised he didn't start singing in tongues. The article ends with this note:
Since Francis has stressed mercy as a dominant characteristic of his pontificate, any more female ordinations would present a highly-watched occasion to see how he would handle such a grave violation of church teaching.
Yup, a "grave violation" of church teaching. The crime...is being a woman. Because they're not fully human, you know, what with their female parts and all. Gotta keep 'em barefoot and pregnant. That's always the best method. I'm sure the pope would agree.

His speech reeked of male privilege. But then, that's the basis of the Catholic church. Nothing new here. It seems we shouldn't look to Pope Francis for moral statements about women or gays. He doesn't get it and it seems he never will. It's sad. People had such high hopes.