Not in my lifetime have I witnessed a pope who has so quickly succeeded in making more Catholics, and non-Catholics, hyperventilate

than Pope Francis. Indeed, some are ready to ump off the !leachers. "hey all need to calm down. Pope Francis is delightfully frank, and that is what makes him positively engaging. #e is also provocative in the !est sense of that word. #e seeks to challenge us and shake us out of our comfort $one. %ut he is not a!out to turn the Catholic Church upside down and inside out. &uch talk is pure lunacy. In a three-part meeting in 'ome with Catholic ournalists last month, Pope Francis offered his thoughts on a wide range of su! ects( they were pu!lished "hursday !y )merica maga$ine , the *esuit weekly. +veryone should read it for themselves. "here is nothing new a!out ripping what a famous person said out of conte,t, and that is e,actly what is going on now with Pope Francis. "he !reaking news alert !y "he New -ork "imes is titled, .Pope %luntly Faults Church/s Focus on 0ays and )!ortion.1 In the "imes alert, it says the pope discusses how .the 'oman Catholic Church has grown 2o!sessed/ with preaching a!out a!ortion, gay marriage and contraception,1 and that he has !een critici$ed for doing so. It also quotes him saying the Catholic Church should !e .home for all1 and not a .small chapel1 that is .focused on doctrine, orthodo,y and a limited agenda of moral teachings.1 'egarding the pope/s statements on a!ortion and gay marriage, here is what he said3 .4e cannot insist only on issues related to a!ortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. "his is not possi!le.1 #e also said, .when we speak a!out these issues, we have to talk a!out them in a conte,t.1 4hat the pope said makes eminently good sense. For e,ample, when I !ecame president of the Catholic 5eague 67 years ago, I visited the chapters around the nation and found that many were single-issue entities. &ome focused e,clusively on a!ortion( others were o!sessed with homose,uality( still others demanded we ust concentrate on medical ethics. I shared many of their concerns, !ut I also told them we are an anti-defamation organi$ation and should not !ecome preoccupied with other matters, no matter how no!le. "he pope is right that single-issue Catholics need to rise a!ove their immediate concerns. #e did not say we should avoid addressing a!ortion or homose,uality( he simply said we cannot !e a!sor!ed !y these issues. 8r any others. 5aurie 0oodstein/s article in "he New -ork "imes on the pope/s comments says 9.&. !ishops will feel the pinch of these remarks as they often appear .to make com!ating a!ortion, gay marriage and contraception their top pu!lic policy priorities.1 "his is inaccurate. It is not the !ishops who have made these issues front and center : it is the 8!ama administration. It would !e more accurate to say the pope would find fault with the !ishops if they did not resist these state encroachments on the religious li!erty rights of Catholics. "he "imes alert was wrong to characteri$e the pope/s .small chapel1 remark as a criticism of focusing on .doctrine, orthodo,y and a limited agenda of moral teachings.1 In the previous paragraph, he speaks a!out .the sanctity of the militant church.1 In the following sentence, the pope says, .;4<e must not reduce the !osom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.1 +,cellent. "hen, in the same paragraph, he cites the .negative !ehavior1 of priests and nuns, saying

their conduct is that of an .unfruitful !achelor1 and a .spinster.1 #e most emphatically did not say what the "imes attri!uted to him. Pope Francis unequivocally re ects a!ortion and gay marriage. +lsewhere, he has said, .;"<he moral pro!lem with a!ortion is of a prereligious nature !ecause the genetic code of the person is present at the moment of conception. "here is already a human !eing.1 &imilarly, he says, his opposition to gay marriage .is not !ased on religion, !ut rather on anthropology.1 Pope Francis wants us to oppose a!ortion. #e also wants us to reach out to women who are contemplating one, and to help women who have had one to find peace with 0od =that/s why the Catholic Church has Pro ect 'achel>. #e wants us to oppose same-se, marriage. #e also doesn/t want us to re ect les!ians and gays !ecause they are homose,ual. "his is sound Catholic teaching.