Pope Francis: Encountering the Mystery | National Catholic Reporter

Pope Francis: Encountering the Mystery | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The trip to the favela was covered on the BBC, as well as the 3 million person Mass (which is likely a record), as was the little impromptu chat - which has as much to do with ending marginalization as reaching to the poor.  Most people forget that the pelvic issues Paul brought up in his letters were about the immediate expectation of the Kingdom rather than an attempt to examine the rightness or wrongness of homosexuality - he counseled against all sexuality if possible.  That message was softened in the gospel.

The Church has been a leader on the economic message (much to the chagrin of Weigel and Chaput) for well over a century - and truly back to ancient times.  It should be humble enough to be a follower on pelvic issues.  We finally have a Pope which might have an open mind and is with the Christian Left on the economic side - and we appreciate his fellowship.

As for his roots, they don't run that deep.  He was born in Argentina, but his father is from Turin.  He is an Italian-Argentinian, so lets not take this global south thing too far. He is certainly not the child of native peasants from the pre-Columbian era.