Pell’s View of the Catholic Church
Cardinal George Pell recently passed away, but had been busy criticising the leadership of Pope Francis. The cardinal complained of a "deepening confusion, the attack on traditional morals," the adoption of "neo-Marxist jargon about exclusion, alienation, identity, marginalisation, the voiceless, LGBTQ" and an ignorance of "Christian notions of forgiveness, sin, sacrifice, healing, redemption."[1]
For a Cardinal to criticise a Pope is no small matter. But the content of disagreement is of interest to the wider Church. Pell said that Francis is leading the church away from its core focus on “forgiveness, sin, sacrifice, healing, redemption”. Instead, he talks more about “exclusion, alienation, identity, marginalisation, the voiceless, LGBTQ”.
Defenders of Pope Francis would claim he is doing what Jesus commands – he is not “neglect[ing] the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.” (Matt 23:23) The Pope is bringing the church into the 21st Century and shining a light on matters of justice and mercy in areas the church may have overlooked in the past.
Pell had a different view. Pell believed that to focus on giving the voiceless a voice is to have a neo-Marxist agenda, not a Christian one. Pell was criticising Francis for jumping on the current bandwagon. The ABC article pits Pell as a conservative, the Pope as progressive, and this is a war between two camps.
My own view is this. Pell speaks with some insight. Bandwagoning is an ever-present temptation. To not ‘hate on’ the great evils of our day is social suicide. With Francis, Christians should be concerned for those who have experienced sustained discrimination. But with Pell, we should not do that in a way that overtakes our core values.
Injustice is wrong. But our example of how to bring justice and righteousness is expressed in the life of Jesus. We are disciples and imitators of him – not Marx or anyone else.
Rev David Rietveld
