Like his response to some question on sexual morality with ‘how would I know?’. Well you’re the bloody Pope, that’s how. And if you don’t know you should be handed your P45. Then he goes licking the feet of Africans and telling us to allow in anyone from anywhere who wants to settle in White countries. He decries Trump’s (non-existent) wall even though the Vatican is surrounded by one – a very high one..
But some of the things he’s said make you wonder if he’s some kind of Manchurian Candidate out to destroy the Church. Like giving the green light to same-sex marriage and saying that proselytising – spreading the Word of God no less – should not be undertaken less it give offence and that it represents a form of "ideological colonization" of less developed countries. I mean, seriously? At a stroke he abolished Hell, claiming that sinful souls just disappear. He’s also rewritten history to claim that the Jews did not kill Jesus and that they “have kept their faith in God”.
But he really pushes the boat on Islam. He actually equated the Gospel of Matthew with the blood-thirsty exhortations to jihad in the Koran. He also claimed to 'dread' hearing about 'Europe's Christian roots' and has urged Europeans to breed with the invading Muslim hordes in order stem the continent's population decline. He claims there’s no such thing as Muslim terrorism while conceding that some elements of Islam may have been ‘misinterpreted’ by Muslim terrorists to justify their acts.
And don’t forget that he has frequently promoted known paedophiles into key positions, many of which focus on investigating sexual abuse within the Church. All of this (and a lot more) has lead to a group of Catholic scholars and priests to write an open letter to the College of Bishops accusing him of a "comprehensive rejection of Catholic teaching on marriage and sexual activity, on the moral law, and on grace and the forgiveness of sins".
I’m not a theologian and have no ability to judge the validity of these charges. But what I do know is that this Pope is driving a coach and four through many centuries, even millennia of Church doctrine and tradition,often taking the form of situational ethics, the idea that the right thing to do in some circumstances may not be the right thing to do in others, Irrespective of how we look at it this Pope has fundamentally destabilised the Church’s moral consistency and the very fundamentals of the Papal Office. Why can’t future Popes do the same thing and tear up the rule book to push their own personal agendas?
Which raises the question as to whether Pope Francis is some king of hippie father figure jumping on every passing bandwagon or whether he’s really some demonic figure installed to destroy the very organisation he leads,