When Pope Francis made tentative steps towards accepting modern family issues, less damnation for the LGBT community and a deseclation of the culture wars in general, a lot of us were at least hopefully this could signal a new approach to issues.
Now one of the top figures in the Italian Catholic wing of the church, Bishop Galantino, is advocating for his country's bishops to embrace the liberal and progressive path Pope Francis is cultivating.
“My wish for the Italian Church is that it is able to listen without any taboo to the arguments in favour of married priests, the Eucharist for the divorced, and homosexuality."
...
Bishop Galantino, 65, said that the Church had invested a lot of its time on issues relating to the sanctity of life, perhaps at the expense of other important issues. He said: “In the past we have concentrated too much on abortion and euthanasia. It mustn’t be this way because in the middle there’s real life which is constantly changing.
“I don’t identify with the expressionless person who stands outside the abortion clinic reciting their rosary, but with young people, who are still against this practice, but are instead fighting for quality of life, their health, their right to work.”
Galantino appears to echo the views of the Pope, who said last year that the Church risked falling “like a house of cards” if it was “obsessed” only with issues related to “abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods”.
Personally, I'm pro-life, but it is also a private personal choice. I'm all for lowering abortion rates via increase prenatal care, early childhood education, competent sex ed and other policies that help the child and mother during and after pregnancy. Bans just lead to illegal and many other ills.
ThinkProgress notes that this is big due to Bishop Galantino's position among Italian Catholics. He's already high in the hierarchy there, and is likely the next leader for the group. Also, there's a vast overrepresentation of Catholic Bishops.
There are ~7.5 more Catholics in Latin America, but Italy gets more bishops than all those nations combined. A change in their political and cultural direction would have an outsized impact on a lot of Catholic policies and votes. Secondly, there's the Extrordinary Synod of the Family in October. The Catholic Church is expected to discuss controversial issues such as contraception, married priests and homosexuality. Bishop Galantino's statements could be a trial balloon.
While American Bishops have chosen to ignore the Pope's directive to ask their flock what issues should be important to the church, thankfully other bishops followed those instructions. If
the dismay of German Catholics are widespread, the Vatican has a lot to do to adapt to the times.
The outcome is devastating for the guardians of pure doctrine. Even the reactions of committed Catholics reflect disinterest, enmity and deep displeasure. Many can no longer relate to the old dogmas and feel left alone by the church. Even in conservative Bavaria, 86% of Catholics do not believe it is a sin to use the pill or condoms, both condemned by the church.
A look into the congregations reveals that Rome could soon be facing a wave of protest unlike anything the Vatican has experienced in a long time.
For most Catholics, the deep divide between everyday reality and doctrine is not a recent phenomenon. But popes have shown little interest in this reality. Pope Benedict XVI, in particular, turned his back on modern life and insisted on upholding ancient dogmas.
And the comments from the bishop reinforce the
Pope's recent statements on income inequality and economic concerns.
Change seems to be slowly coming to the Catholic Church.