In the days since the new Pope was elected, a fairly clear picture has emerged of the kind of guy Argentinian Cardinal Bergolio will be: he rides on buses, he鈥檚 pretty old, and he鈥檚 predictably conservative. So while we might not get the papal shoes and velvet cape of Ratzinger, we will continue to see peace and love doctrines like 鈥榓bortion is murder鈥� and 鈥榞ays are evil鈥� spurting from the Vatican.
While the media dubbed Benedict XVI 鈥榯he Pope who will die soon so everyone can have some time to get over the Polish one before him鈥�, Francis seems to be 鈥榯he Pope from a poor country who gives a shit about poor people鈥�.
The Sydney Morning Herald even ran the line that Bergolio鈥檚 attention to poverty and development issues is a distinction from 鈥渟uch First World concerns as gay marriage or women priests鈥�.
The Pope shouldn鈥檛 win points for saying the Catholic Church could be doing more for poor people (like it鈥檚 a new fucking idea) when he鈥檚 also pushing the line that homosexuality is 鈥渋ntrinsically immoral鈥�. The implication here is that we can chop up social issues into discrete little packages that have nothing to do with each other. These issues are all complex and intertwined; if the Pope or any political figure advocates a view that is harmful to a whole segment of the population, they are contributing in a substantive way to a culture or hatred, violence and inequality.
It鈥檚 no coincidence that young queer people are disproportionately represented in homelessness and mental illness statistics. You can鈥檛 push a socially conservative line on one issue and wash your hands of its broader implications. I鈥檓 not saying people need to engage in all social justice issues or none at all – clearly, there鈥檚 nothing wrong with having a focus. But there is something very wrong with the Pope actively making the world a worse place for one group of already disadvantaged people while wanting everyone to pat him on the back for giving a shit about another.
Think about condoms: yes, the Catholic Church pours huge amounts of money into development in places like Africa, but by decrying the use of contraceptives it facilitates the spread of HIV. This isn鈥檛 an issue of hypocrisy, it is one of delusion. The new guy in the silly robes might be a 鈥淧ope for the poor鈥�, but without some radical change, he鈥檚 going to be a Pope actively making the world a worse place.
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