Is the Pope Catholic After All?
An attempt to manage the Cognitive Dissonance of the Francis Papacy, with special reference to Dignitas Infinita.
Author’s note: this was originally composed for one of my usual outlets. They were reluctant to publish is as is. I have talked with several people about the ideas in this post. I post it here, not as my final word on the subject, but as a springboard for serious conversation about an important topic in the life of the Catholic Church.
I dislike the terminology of “left” and “right” even in partisan politics. I dislike it even more when applied to the Church. I will temporarily use it to make a simple point about the recent document Dignitas Infinita. All things considered, including the doctrinal confusion and questionable practical judgements of the Francis pontificate, Dignitas Infinita has the potential to be a blessing to the Church. Here’s why.
Many in our society view Pope Francis as a “man of the Left,” and Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI as “men of the Right.” The “Catholic Left” respects Pope Francis and his authority in a way they never respected the authority of his immediate predecessors. They have had ten years’ worth of reasons to think that Francis is “their guy.”
The “Catholic Left” has had ten year's’ worth of reasons to think Francis is “their guy.”
Now, he is telling them, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they are wrong on abortion, surrogacy, transgenderism, genital mutilation, and assisted suicide. When Pope Benedict XVI or Pope Saint John Paul II said these same things, the “Catholic Left” ignored them at best, or defied them at worst. Despite their history of proudly dissenting from Church teaching on sexual issues, they cannot so easily dismiss Pope Francis.
And this is where Dignitas Infinita may prove to be a gift to the Church and her mission of evangelizing the world. Many of our most faithful Catholic brothers and sisters have vocational responsibilities that bring them into direct confrontation with the toxic modern sexual culture. I’m thinking of our Catholic pro-life legislators and lobbyists. I’m thinking of school administrators and pregnancy care center directors, who need to craft policies that will protect them in a court of law, should they be sued for discrimination. I am thinking of the attorneys who defend such cases and the professionals involved in regulatory agencies.
People in these positions can now quote the words of this latest document and credibly say, “Pope Francis said the traditional teachings are correct” on this or that issue. For instance, paragraph 59 on Gender Theory can be extremely helpful to Catholic schools, and pregnancy care centers. Such institutions can strengthen their governing documents, their hiring policies, and their statements of faith by quoting passages such as this one:
all attempts to obscure reference to the ineliminable sexual difference between man and woman are to be rejected: “We cannot separate the masculine and the feminine from God’s work of creation, which is prior to all our decisions and experiences, and where biological elements exist which are impossible to ignore.” Only by acknowledging and accepting this difference in reciprocity can each person fully discover themselves, their dignity, and their identity.
In assisted suicide debates, our Catholic legislators and lobbyists can say to the cafeteria Catholics who support assisted suicide, “Listen, Pope Francis has made it very clear that assisted suicide is morally wrong. Pope Francis is ‘your guy.’ I’m not going to let you get away with your charade of being ‘personally opposed’ to ‘dignity in dying,’ while going along your merry way and voting for it.”
Pro-life rhetoricians can even use the strong condemnation of the death penalty. The state legislator or lobbyist can say to self-described Catholic pro-abortion politicians. “As Catholics, we are supposed to try to protect the community from the convicted rapist, without executing him. Can’t we find non-violent ways to support the woman and the child he fathered? We can’t give her a private right to execute the baby. Come on, guys. What would Pope Francis say?”
“As Catholics, we are supposed to try to protect the community from the convicted rapist, without executing him. We can’t give his victim a private right to execute the baby he fathered. Come on, guys. What would Pope Francis say?”
I realize that not everyone has these particular vocations and responsibilities. But please, do not let your dislike of Pope Francis blind you to the fact that some of your fellow Catholics do have such responsibilities. This document has the potential to make their lives easier. The 2019 document “Male and Female He Created Them” from the Congregation for Vatican Education was similar in this way. Some people complained that it wasn’t good enough. But at the same time, it provided “cover” for Catholic school administrators who were sincerely trying to do the right thing.
(By the way, this was one of the many problems with the deeply flawed Fiducia Supplicans: it made faithful Catholics legally vulnerable in ways they had not been before. “You say your faith forbids this. Look what Pope Francis said here.”)
I know that some Catholics are disappointed that this document used the terminology of “sexual orientation.” I respect and agree with that point of view. In my professional opinion, the concept of “sexual orientation” is scientifically imprecise and hence dubious. It would have been better had this term not been used in a Church document.
At the same time, many Catholics who dissent on homosexuality, who want the Church to “grow” on this issue, are upset about this document. They don’t like the explicit condemnation of “gender ideology.” I take that as a good sign.
I am not naïve about Pope Francis and the people he has surrounded himself with. On the other hand, I think it would be naïve, at this late date, to expect the clarity and depth we had with John Paul and Benedict. That’s just not going to happen in this pontificate.
It would be naïve, at this late date, to expect the clarity and depth we had with John Paul and Benedict from this pontificate.
It’s a tactical mistake to react to this document as if it were a referendum on whether or not you like our current pope. (Probably most of your friends already know how you feel about Pope Francis! As we used to tell our kids: not every thought that comes into your mind, needs to come out of your mouth!)
For my part, I feel obligated to keep such feelings to myself. I would not want anyone to say, “I heard Dr. Morse say that Dignitas Infinita is a cruddy document. I’m not even going to read it.” For a significant set of people, ignoring this document would be a big, missed opportunity. I do not want that on my conscience.
Read it. Pray over it. Use it, whenever you can honorably do so.