My Ambivalence About Pope Francis Essay Examples

I believe that newly-elected Pope Francis will go down in history as one of the greatest Popes the Vatican has ever produced. He is intelligent, noble yet humble, and expresses love, compassion, and acceptance towards people within the Catholic faith, as well as those who practice other faiths. Even with these positive attributes, my feelings about Pope Francis are ambivalent, and I have some misgivings about his papacy.
He is a passionate man, and his views are as equally pronounced and passionate. I admire these qualities about Pope Francis. However, he has brought upon him, and the Catholic Church a lot of controversy because of what I perceive are his divisive ideals and rhetoric. For example, some of what Pope Francis says about same-sex marriage runs against the grain of traditional Catholic teachings. While the Pope contends that the Church should accept those who are in same-sex marriages unequivocally, there are other stances and viewpoints that he dismisses as wrong -- even though they are aligned with Catholic beliefs. Pope Francis should open a dialogue about how it is "okay" to love a person of the same sex -- before condoning traditionally "non-Catholic behavior" in a very controversial manner. Nevertheless, I admire his fiery, albeit highly-opinionated passion. Moreover, he is evidently unafraid to take a stance with regards to his stated beliefs, but he fails to consider others' who may oppose, or object to the unanimity of his position. After all, his attitude seems to convey, "I am the Pope and what I say is Holy Writ in the Roman Catholic Church." But, the Catholic Church, as a whole, consists of hundreds of millions of people worldwide who do not necessarily agree with the Pope's opinions.
The Pope is very much a man of his times, as much of what he does seems to be a sort of publicity stunt, in order to improve the global public image of the Catholic Church. For example, it has been reported that, at night, he and a couple of cardinals, will go about Rome feeding homeless, poor people. This is a great thing to do, and is certainly what Jesus would do in these troublesome times. However, it is difficult to discern the intentions of the Pope when his charitable missions are "leaked" to the press. Do his efforts to feed the poor stem from a genuine desire on his behalf to "do good" in the world, or do these efforts mock the Church, or imply that the Church does nothing to help the poor already -- or so little that the Pope himself must take to the streets to get the job done? It is issues like these that cause me a measure of ambivalence when I think about the words and conduct of Pope Francis.
Moreover, the Pope seems to enjoy basking in the limelight, especially the limelight of controversy. Is this also a P.R. job? Does the Pope genuinely stand by his opinions? Does he take into consideration that he is a revered, public figure whose actions are viewed through an international microscope. It is unclear to me.
I admire the fact that Pope Francis wants to move the Catholic Church in a more "open-minded" direction, but at the same time, he is alienating others from its teachings en masse. However, the man deserves some applause for his refusal to back down or waffle on what he appears to believe in his heart is the truth about God. In a way, I also admire the Pope because he is also evidently not afraid to stand in the hub of controversy, as the world talks about what will come out of his mouth next. Also, his personal warmth and charm was evident when he spoke at a ceremony that honored the previous Pope, Benedict XVI. It is times like these when he appears his personal best -- when he seems the most legitimate and authentic.
Finally, Pope Francis X is a complex man, and his complexity confuses me, as well as many other people. He is charismatic, intelligent, passionate, and, in addition, he is the first Jesuit. His simple approach is admirable. For example, choosing a silver piscatory ring over gold was a humble choice for a Pope. I love his humility and courage to stand out as a unique Pope. His genuineness and his publicity "stunts" are strangely confusing to me. Are they genuine acts of a simple man, or manipulative acts of the Papacy's new "public relations" department?