Hate Mail

"I know quite a lot of traditionalist Catholics who hate the current Pope [Francis] largely because of his perverse desire to be a Christian."

David Bentley Hart 

Don't count my comment about what I think will happen if Pope Francis fails to open up the Catholic priesthood to people who are married as opposing him.  I think he's still got the potential to be one of the best of the modern Popes.  The abysmal quality of his opponents (Vignano, Burke, etc.*), many of whom are among those most responsible for dragging the Catholic church into its present crisis, are an indication of his potential greatness.  His pastoral letters are some of the best I've read. 

* See: BALTIMORE — The most important takeaway from the U.S. bishops' plenary meeting this week in Baltimore is that they as a group remain determined to resist the pastoral impulse and approach to which Pope Francis is calling the church. Just as it took Pope John Paul II years to take the conference in a more conservative direction, it will take the bishops who champion Francis a few more years before they have the votes to take the conference in a new direction.

This was seen most obviously in their precedent-breaking decision to select Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, as chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities over Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. At the coffee break after the vote, one bishop said, "This was like electing Donald Trump. Naumann will say things that will embarrass all of us."

Yet, the bishops voted for him, not Cupich, knowing they would be sending a clear message to Francis.

And, also. 

Too many were selected as bishops because they have been promoted by a powerful patron. For example, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo became a cardinal because he had Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re as his patron, as did Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. Such patronage explains why DiNardo, whose incompetence in his dealings with Rome have been recently revealed, became a cardinal. The large number of mediocre bishops produced by the Re and Sodano networks will stalk the church for years.