Speaking as an interested outsider to recent intra-Catholic disputes, I find this article completely incomprehensible. Gaillardetz tells us that Pope Francis is all about building a “listening church” and the “decentralization of authority” — but how is that description compatible with Francis’s refusal to answer questions from Cardinals of the church, and his repeated mockery of traditionalists, even to the point of calling out priests wearing more formal vestments than he prefers as effeminate? In these matters Francis may be right or wrong, but I can’t see anything to suggest that he listens or wants to decentralize power. Rather, on every issue he seems to speak not just with confidence but also with contempt of anyone who disagrees with him.
