Pope Francis on why disagreement in the Catholic Church is a good sign

By Jena McGregor
December 8

Just two days after Pope Francis told the Catholic Church's top theologians that they need to listen to the "signs of the times" and consider the needs of ordinary Catholics, an interview published on Sunday by La Nación showed us a few examples of what he meant.

The interview was the pope's first with a newspaper from Argentina, his birthplace. In it, Francis urged the church to improve its handling of gay and divorced family issues.

Pope Francis clarified what was really discussed at the controversial Synod of Bishops in October, the gathering of bishops in Rome that was described as "tumultuous" for exposing divisions over issues involving homosexuals and divorced Catholics. He told La Nación that gay marriage was not mentioned, but that the discussion focused on how to help the family of a homosexual child ("we have to find a way to help that father or that mother to stand by their son or daughter&quot . Regarding Catholics who have divorced and remarried, he said, "let us open the doors a bit more. Why can't they be godfathers and godmothers?"

Yet while the pope's position on family matters is noteworthy, what's just as intriguing is that he thinks the positions of others should also be heard. Francis said certain criticisms of his leadership — such as the reported statement by conservative U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke that the "church is like a ship without a rudder" — struck him as "odd" and that he was "not aware of anybody using them." Yet he didn't shy away from admitting there was disagreement.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2014/12/08/pope-francis-on-why-disagreement-in-the-catholic-church-is-a-good-sign/