Follow

Ep 140 | In Defense Of...Pope Francis??

Seeking Excellence with Nathan Crankfield

Like the vast majority of practicing Catholics, I have had a number of frustrations over the years with our Holy Father, Pope Francis. His ambiguity is frequently misrepresented and misinterpreted by secular media outlets with little to no effort from the Vatican or the Pope himself to actually clarify what he meant to say. The many occasions of such events have certainly inflicted damage both upon the lay faithful and the world's understanding of Church teaching.  In episode 85, I criticized Pope Francis' move to restrict the traditional Latin Mass in Amoris Laetitia. We were highly disappointed with this move to punish some of the most faithful and devout communities in the Church.  I recently read a book titled, What went wrong with Vatican II. The book was published some 24 years ago, but the points made by author Ralph McInerny were relevant to a number of issues I've had recently with what seemed to me to be excessive criticisms of the Pope. I have also recently been very moved by some personal conversations, prayer time, other podcasts, etc. that have changed the way I view the current papacy (to an extent) and many other issues in the Church today.  Today's episode takes you on a journey of my own developing understanding of the current Church climate. The vast majority, some 99%, is purely my opinion, so please keep that in mind.  I recently heard a guest on Jordan Peterson's podcast say, "your content should anger about 20% of your readers/listeners, but the goal is to not make it the same 20% every time". I hope and pray that whoever listens to this will do so with an open mind and a softened heart, with the willingness to embrace and even consider other points of view that might just help us restore unity in the Church. To learn more, follow us @ncrank23 and @seeking365 !