Maybe Pope Francis should refer to the Bible because the words of Jesus in the New Testament and Yahweh in the Old Testament are NOT opinion. The church does not teach opinion but only the teachings of Jesus Christ reflected in the New Testament backed up by Old Testament scriptures. It is the job of the church to interfere spiritually to bring the wayward back into the fold, just as a good parent must interfere with the tendencies of a wayward child bent on evil things.

A good parent knows human nature of their young but must not contribute to its failures and enable it. For instance, in this day and age, some mothers rent hotel rooms for after a daughter’s prom. That sort of thing may go on in private but the parent must not become part of it and condone it. Parents must rein in a wayward child obsessed with alcohol, sex, and drugs, but not provide for it, or give their blessing to the activity.

Where does this Francis statement come from? “We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.” That statement does not comport with Matthew 16:18-19 as follows:

Jesus said to Peter, And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

If that does not give power to judge, what does or does not?

Francis said the Roman Catholic Church had grown obsessed with preaching about abortion, gay marriage, and contraception, and that he has chosen not to speak of those issues. “It is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent. The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.”

Has Francis never read Genesis 38:1-10 that actually addresses abortion and contraception?
The word “abortion” does not appear in the Bible. Yet God’s Word has plenty to say that relates directly to abortion. Genesis, the first book of the Bible, chapter 38, verses 1-10 shows the evil of merely intentionally wasting the male seed on the ground as being worthy of death, so how much worse is it to kill, abort the fertilized egg in the womb, 55 million in the US alone since Roe v. Wade in 1973?

Genesis 38:1-10 Judah and Tamar:

1. At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah.

2. There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her and lay with her;

3. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er.

4. She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.

5. She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah. It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.

6. Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

7. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so the LORD put him to death.
8. Then Judah said to Onan, “Lie with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother.”

9. But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother.

10. What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so he put him to death also.

Pope Francis should know that if the seed is so valuable that its destruction is worthy of death, then the egg fertilized by the seed cannot be any less valuable. Abortion, gay marriage, and artificial contraception are top public policy priorities for Christians of all denominations, so how can Francis walk away from the issues?

Earlier in his papacy Francis said, “Who am I to judge,” particularly in reference to gays in the priesthood and their sexual depravities mainly against young boys. Ignored is the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah that were destroyed because of their depravity. Ignored is the damage to the church, loss of at least 1/3rd of church membership, closure of churches, schools, hospitals, social services, and more due to sexual abuses of priests against children.

Pope Benedict wrongly envisioned a smaller but purer church, while Francis envisions the church as a big tent, just as Liberals picture their political party. “This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people. We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.”

Mediocrity? What rubbish! In Matthew 5:48 Jesus teaches to strive for perfection, not settling for mediocrity: “Therefore, be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect”. So why did Jesus upset tables of money changers doing business in his father’s house, the Temple? Why did Jesus call the Jewish priests of being “Whited Sepulchers?”

“Striving for the greater good is superior to settling for the lesser evil,” but America continually settles for the lesser evil that invariably morphs into the greater evil. But things may not be as bad as they seem because the Pope may be a sympathizer.