“Society in general is so secular that the Church is becoming irrelevant,” Mary wrote. “Some would consider the Roman Catholic Church turning into a relic with a Pope that is a symbolic head. Pope Francis managed to turn the tide around in a short period of time and brought the Church back to its core teaching and values. And the world noticed and responded positively except you and a few others.”
Whether Mary’s complaint is valid or not is really for readers in general to decide, but I will give my response presently. What struck me about Mary’s e-mail was that that this criticism can be plausibly made. The idea that the “world” would give the Pope positive press notices, and that the Catholic press — or at least this writer — would not is a testament to how remarkable Pope Francis’ first year has been.
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