Pope Francis, the relatively liberal Argentinian in charge of that stuffy old Catholic Church, has urged his followers to take a more chill attitude towards abortion and homosexuality.
"The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules," he told Father Antonio Spadaro in his first extensive interview for the Italian Jesuit publication, La Civilta Cattolica. "The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you."
In case there was any confusion which "small-minded rules" he was referring to, Francis discussed the church's focus on gay marriage and abortion: "We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context."
Essentially, he'd like the church to change with the times: "There are ecclesiastical rules and precepts that were once efective, but now they have lost value or meaning. The view of the church's teaching as a monolith to defend without nunance or different understandings is wrong."
He also criticised followers unwilling to reconsider their positions: "Tradition and memory of the past must help us to have the courage to open up new areas to God. Those who today always look for disciplinarian solutions, those who long for an exaggerated doctrinal 'security', those who stubbornly try to recover a past that no longer exists — they have a static and inward-directed view of things."
It's all incredibly refreshing stuff to hear from the Pope, of all people, particularly if you'd like to see the Catholic Church transition into the 21st century at some point. For a translation of the full interview, head to America Magazine.
