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Yeah, he really was decent for a pope. And I think he might have been more decent as a pope if he had his way entirely. He really seemed like he wanted more compassion and change than he was able to make happen.
I agree. Though the pragmatist in me also thinks it's for the better for things to change slowly, as bad as that feels. It kinda feels like social progress moving too quickly just results in more intense backlash.
Broader culture has to be able to keep up with the change and if it outpaces them it seems like people reject the changes and it can cement the problems in place as people dig their heels in :/
I appreciate that he pushed things forward though. There's a lot more change still that needs to happen- I'm not holding my breath but I really hope the next pope actually carries that forward.
Yeah, there's always a lot of flex in social movement. The harder you push, the further you get; but unless the system resilient enough to most adapt, it snaps, or it rebounds. Neither of which is a reliable form of change.
To me, once lives are no longer on the line on the big scale, it's better to ease up and push for change gently from the bottom up rather than forcefully from the top down.
It doesn't fix problems as fast, but once they get fixed, the populace's inertia will serve up keep the changes as the status quo. Since the kind of changes that Francis was making were the kind that work from the bottom up, despite him being a power, I look at his changes as the result of the work already done, rather than something that was supposed to be the vanguard of change.
But, like you said, moving slow means that there's going to be people getting ground down by the system as it exists. Even once you get past the point where people are dying frequently by way of violence or gaps in the system, there's still going to be death, and suffering, until things change completely. But if you don't slow down once that goal is met, the serious enemies of humane change will fight harder and nastier.
You end up with a worse situation overall by pushing until a system breaks. You get the crazies making desperate moves instead of being gradually worn away.
Nobody can't change an institution like the Vatican in a few years, but I guess he tried.
Hopefully the new one will not be a conservative one.
From what I've seen elsewhere he appointed ~80% of the voting cardinals so there's a better chance than usual that new pope will be at least relatively liberal.
Damn, that's a massive conflict of interest. If the Pope can appoint the voting Cardinals, what keeps him from staying on the chair till he...oh.
I kind of want the next one to be a traditional African Roman Catholic partly to mix it up a bit, and partly because it fucks with racists.
Also kind of fucks with progressives, though. Lots of people would accuse them of racism when progressive christians critize a conservative black pope.
only a conservative would think that lol.
Damn, I learned something new about myself today!
Why would progressives accuse them of racism thoughI’m dumb, completely misread the comment
Progressives would be those accused, not accusing. Or is there something wooshing above me?
e.g. because they actually agree with conservative catholic policies. It's not necessarily clear to outsiders whether those accusations have any merit.
You just know they will call it a DEI hire