Pope Francis responds by saying a conservative is someone who “clings to something and does not want to see beyond that”
During an interview this Sunday, Pope Francis addressed the growing conservative backlash against his papacy within the Roman Catholic Church in the United States.
Responding to questions about the criticism from American clergy members, the pontiff characterized conservatism as a “suicidal attitude” that inhibits progress and understanding.
“It is a suicidal attitude,” Pope Francis stated, emphasizing the danger of being entrenched in dogma without openness to evolving perspectives. He underscored the importance of acknowledging tradition while remaining receptive to contemporary realities.
Pope Francis responded by saying a conservative is someone who “clings to something and does not want to see beyond that.”
“It is a suicidal attitude,” the pontiff said, according to a brief transcript excerpt made available by CBS Thursday.
“Because one thing is to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past, but quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box.” Pope Francis has clashed with the conservative wing almost since he was elected as head of the church in 2013.
Moves conservatives have opposed include papal attempts to make the church more welcoming to the LGBT community and to give lay people more responsibility in the church.
Francis last year dismissed a conservative U.S. bishop who was a withering critic of his papacy, and said the conservative wing of the U.S. church was “reactionary.” He also stripped a conservative American cardinal of some Vatican privileges.
Source: Newsroom
