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As a Catholic with an opinion, my first instinct with regards to the Pope has always been to defend him and his teachings and governance. I’ve always seen him as intrinsic to my creed and my tribe and so what could be more obvious.

And so, early on in Francis’ pontificate, that was the attitude and the instinct that I followed. And I have some older videos that reflect that approach.
But, as time progressed, that default gave way to some headscratching bemusement, but still a lot of benefit of the doubt, to now, in which I mostly just keep quite about him.

But because I have published things about his pontificate in the past, I do feel the need to update those statements as those earlier commentaries no longer reflect my current interpretation of this era of history we’re living through in the Church.

And what this pontificate has taught me, if nothing else, is that Catholic ecclesiology isn’t as simple as I once thought it was. It’s easy to endorse crude articulations about infallibility and obedience when you have bishops and pontiffs who are easy to admire.

But if and when you have bad or confusing leadership, our understanding of those concepts requires greater nuance and achieving and practicing that nuance can be perilous and divisive.

And that’s key for me, because the strongest evidence of bad leadership is division and conflict among the faithful. And sadly, I would say that the Church, especially among those who play supporting roles, like apologists for example, is much more divided than it was a decade ago.

Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: http://pauljernberg.com

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