I was reading through an article awhile ago about how (Dutch) Catholics have been responding to Pope Franciscus. For those not aware of the Dutch situation, many Dutch Catholics would be considered more liberal than the average Catholic in the rest of the world. This reflects the reality that the Dutch, in general, are more liberal than the rest of the world. The interview itself was with Frank G. Bosman and found on the nieuw wij (new we) website.
Skimming along, I bumped into the following statement (see below for the Dutch):
"Liberal and middle-of-the-road Catholics are very happy with the new pope, as he brings hope for a new future to Catholics who've been plagued by scandals and internal fights here in the Netherlands. However, the truly conservative Catholics in the Netherlands (and elsewhere) are less happy with him. He focuses less on liturgy, says nothing about abortion, euthanasia, or homosexuality unless it's absolutely necessary (because he has more important things to deal with)... "
This last line stopped me immediately. Perhaps because I'm Protestant and spend a lot of time reading the Bible. And not saying a lot about abortion, euthanasia or homosexuality sounds a lot like Jesus - and the Bible in general. It's not that there's nothing to say, just proportionately so many other things in the Bible get a much higher priority, like loving God with all your heart, doing justice, not being greedy, pretentious or hard-hearted. Being seen as somebody who is more focused on the most important things of the Bible - and even more so, is so busy living those things out that talking about it does not always feel appropriate - is not only something that I am thankful to see in the new pope, it is also a compliment that I would be very honoured to receive.
The Dutch translation of Frank Bosman's statement is as follows, as taken from the article, "Echt conservatieve katholieken zijn minder blij met de paus" 30 July 2013: "Van vrijzinnig tot gematigd conservatieve katholieken zijn bijzonder
blij met deze nieuwe paus. Het nieuwe elan dat hij in woord en vooral
ook in daad uitstraalt, geeft de door schandalen en interne ruzies
geplaagde Nederlandse katholieken een nieuwe horizon en hoop op een
nieuwe tijd. De echt conservatieve katholieken in Nederland (en
daarbuiten trouwens) zijn minder blij met deze paus. Hij is wars van
liturgische en ceremoniële tierlantijnen, spreekt met geen woord over
abortus, euthanasie en homohuwelijk als dat niet strikt noodzakelijk is
(want hij heeft belangrijkere zaken aan zijn hoofd) en is vrijwel zeker
niet geïnteresseerd in het herstellen van de oude, Tridentijnse liturgie
en de bijbehorende achterhaalde triomfalistische theologie."
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