Acadiana Catholics* react to Francis
For millions he's been a welcome relief from the stodgy 16th Benedict - a people's pope who speaks truth to power, sneaks out at night in disguise to minister to Rome's homeless and rides a Harley. And he still has that new pope smell!
But for many on the far right, a pope exhorting Christians to follow Jesus' example is nothing short of radical. Here in heavily Roman Catholic, conservative Acadiana, the utterances of Pope Francis have been met with mixed reactions. To wit:
Photos by Robin May
"Man is not in charge today, money is in
charge, money rules. God our Father
did not give the task of caring for the
earth to money, but to us, to men and
women: we have this task! Instead, men
and women are sacrificed to the idols
of profit and consumption: it is the culture
of waste.'"
"As long as the problems of the poor are not radically
resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world's problems or, for that matter,
to any problems."
"The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are
thrilled if the market offers us something new to
purchase; and in the meantime all those lives stunted
for lack of opportunity seem a mere
spectacle; they fail to move us."
"While the earnings of a minority are growing
exponentially, so too is the gap separating the
majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy
few. This imbalance is the result of ideologies which
defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and
financial speculation."
"If a person is gay and seeks God and has good
will, who am I to judge him?"
"We Christians should embrace with affection and
respect Muslim immigrants to our countries in the
same way that we hope and ask to be received
and respected in countries of Islamic tradition."
"Reason alone is sufficient to recognize the
inviolable value of each single human life."
*Not necessarily Catholics, but definitely Acting Up (in Acadiana) company members Aren Chaisson, Alicia Chaisson, David Guarisco,
Christina Massey, David Maynor, Heaven Moore and Cathy Wagnon