Ok. Pope Francis has been taken out of context in so MANY ways that I find it disheartening. First, Francis I is a man after my heart. I am a VERY conservative Catholic that is obedient to the Church. Many have come to think that Francis is some reformer. That he will some how make gay marriages ok. That he will let women be priest. That he agree with abortion. This IS NOT THE CASE! What he is doing is going back to what Jesus did. When Jesus came, he said that he did not come to abolish the law, he came to fulfill it. Francis is trying to follow his master! He is not becoming Pope to change doctrine but to follow it in a pure and simple way as to show the people how to live according to Christ. I have read all the different things from secular media trying to interpret what Pope Francis is saying or doing. They do not get it right because they can't, they have not properly discerned the Spirit. Jesus lived with the sinners. He lived with the sick. He lived with the poor. For the sinner he forgave and offered them an opportunity to live with him in the Kingdom of Heaven. He told the prostitute after he admonished the "righteous" people, "Go and sin NO MORE". He did not sit with them and say "It's cool, do what ever you want as long as you love each other." You see he knew that love didn't mean that. It meant that to love each other we had to first love God the Father. To love God the Father, we have to abide by his will. His will for us is to avoid sin. I know, that is rather general right? Well actually, it is and isn't. You see, sin is specific by being the only thing that prevents us from getting to God. Also, sin is general because sin can be SOOO many things. That is why we have a "Church" so that it may teach us sin. I know, I know....what about all of those priest that molested children etc etc. How can an institution like that teach us about sin. Well there is so much more than "those" priest, a small percentage BTW. I won't talk about that now but will provide links to help in understanding how the Church teaches us about sin. Back to Francis. Francis is trying to bring a "hands on" quality back to the clergy. He does not want the Church to be like a political system where the "important" people sit in ivory towers and lose their connection with the laity. This is where some conservatives or orthodox might get upset. You see, the best example of seeing the difference between him and his predecessors is to see the night he was chosen as Pope. He did not follow the protocol that night with all the pomp and circumstance and hasn't since then. That does not make the previous Popes bad, on the contrary some are going to be sainted. But what he showed was a change from the top down. A different focus. This I believe is how God wants it. I also believe he wanted Benedict at the time he was there as well as John Paul II. I am going to keep writing on this and a lot more in the future because this stuff is driving me crazy. The people of the world a spiritually screwed up and we need to something to change the tide. Pray a Hail Mary people!!