Cafeteria Catholicism

Cafeteria Catholicism was a pejorative term used to describe Catholics who pick and choose what they want to believe in. Some years ago it was applied specifically by conservative-leaning Catholics who wanted to describe left-leaning Catholics. I haven't really heard the term used much these days but the concept still exists. But the shoe is on the other foot. Now it is being applied more frequently by left-leaning Catholics to descrzibe conservative-leaning ones.

It is curious the difference a pope can make.

There are many conservative writers and bloggers who seem to feel the need to try to explain just exactly what Pope Francis means when he speaks. They seem taken aback by his spontaneity, or seeming spontaneity. In the past liberal writers felt the need to apologize for what they felt were Pope John Paul's and Pope Benedict's statements and encyclicals and letters.

The truth is we are all cafeteria Catholics on some points or issues. We like some things the church teaches but not others.

Pope Francis seems to me to be putting into practice some of the spirit of what Paul John Paul and Pope Benedict said and wrote. Francis is turning their theology into ministry. What were philosophical constructs to them are ideals to be lived to Francis. It is not enough to put words on paper or float ideas in discussion. Sooner or later those ideas, thoughts, constructs, etc., must become actions. If you look seriously enough, you will find the actions of Francis mirrored in the ideas of the two previous pontiffs. Nevertheless, it disturbs us when an idea takes shape as human interaction.