Today I kept hearing about Antonio Spadaro’s interview (“A Big Heart Open to God”) with Pope Francis for America. It has been being discussed on the radio, on various news websites, and reference to it kept appearing on my Facebook and Twitter feeds. I decided to read it. It is lengthy, but I recommend it.
I think it is dangerous to try to understand the Pope via sound bytes and commentary from the media. Pope Francis does push the envelop a bit, but he does so in a way that remains safely with the Roman Catholic tradition whether he is discussing Church hierarchy, whether certain traditions must be set in stone, the role of women in the Church, and hot topics like homosexuality and contraceptives. Several times in the interview he talks about discernment and how one must not hastily make decisions or changes. I think this is the key to understanding Pope Francis and how he balances being “a son of the Church” (as he calls himself) while challenging the Church’s propensity to forget real people in the process of defending their dogmas, moralistic or otherwise.
the archives near Emmaus 
Good point. I’m all for Pope Francis, but I’m also very cautious of how he is presented by the media.
Me too, I am hopeful that Pope Francis may continue to bless all of us with his pastoral work, but I think the media creates false expectations for those who think that tomorrow Rome might suddenly announce that priests can get married, that women can be priests, or whatever else. This is not likely to occur.
This pope starts describing himself by saying “I am a sinner“. Remarkable!
It seems to attest to his sincerity.
Impressive interview! (I wonder what language it was conducted in).
It effectively portrays the quality and depth of this thought on issues. I particularly appreciate his comments about how theology of women should not mistake dignity from function and that the solution to the role of women in the church should not be reduced to a kind of ‘female machismo’.
Very insightful.
Andrew T: it was conducted in Italian.
Francis does a good job in this interview of balancing on the knife-edge upon which the New Testament is balanced, the knife-edge upon which which Jesus continually walked: speaking the *truth* in a context of *love.*
http://crybelovedcountry.com/2013/09/pope-francis-interview/