What Pope Francis and "Pro-Choicers" Have in Common

Throughout my years fighting abortion, I can't count the number of people who insisted, "I'm not pro-abortion; I'm pro-choice." That statement, of course, means absolutely nothing unless the choices are identified. I'm "pro-choice" too and so is God, when you come down to it. He is the ultimate pro-choicer since He gave us free will. But He gave it to us so we could freely choose THE GOOD. It is a miss-use of free will when one uses it to choose evil. That's why it's so essential to have an informed conscience. 

Those saying, "I'm pro-choice; not pro-abortion," are either lying or kidding themselves. Of course they are pro-abortion if that is what a woman chooses. Feminists and Planned Parenthood supporters aren't pro-choice at all. They want women to choose abortion. They just use that statement about choice as a marketing ploy. And when you challenge them on other choices, they mock you as being ridiculous. Are you pro-choice for rape? How about if somebody wants to rob your home or steal your car? Do you favor choice for pedophiles or child abusers? 

Of course not! No choice for them? Why not? If  child murder is okay why not these lesser evils?

No, friends, you cannot separate the discussion of choice from the thing chosen. Some choices are morally good or morally neutral, and some choices are evil. It's that simple. 

So what's this got to do with Pope Francis? I'm not saying he's pro-choice. But he uses language that is eerily similar when he talks about "change." You can almost hear the echo, "I'm pro-change." 

In a January 18th homily reported by Vatican Radio, the pope said:

“Christians who say ‘it’s always been done that way,’ and stop there have hearts closed to the surprises of the Holy Spirit. They are idolaters and rebels who will never arrive at the fullness of the truth.... It is the sin of so many Christians who cling to what has always been done and who do not allow others to change. And they end up with half a life, [a life that is] patched, mended, meaningless....[The sin] is a closed heart [that] does not hear the voice of the Lord, that is not open to the newness of the Lord, to the Spirit that always surprises us.”

What's the problem with this statement? The same problem with those who say, "I'm not pro-abortion; I'm pro-choice." You cannot talk about "change" without specifying what the change is. Some changes are good, some are morally neutral, and some are evil. So what exactly is Pope Francis talking about when he uses the word change? Admitting Protestants to the Eucharist as was done just days ago at the Vatican? Offering quickie, automatic annulments? Welcoming those in known sinful relationships to receive sacrilegious Communion?  What are the changes you mean, Holy Father?

And who exactly are the Christians opposed to change who are "idolaters and rebels who will never arrive at the fullness of the truth." What are these rejected changes that lead to a "closed heart...not open to the newness of the Lord" and to that "Spirit that always surprises us?" 

Who knows? 

But in view of the pope's past statements about those who are "rigid" and cling to the "law" (doctrine?) etc., one can make some pretty educated guesses. Somehow, I doubt the pope is referring to the Nuns on the Bus who want to change just about every doctrine in the Church or the pope's brother Jesuits who have transformed Catholic education into God knows what, but certainly not Catholic, or the moral relativists who babble on about mercy, a mercy without justice as valueless as baubles thrown to the Mardi Gras crowds in New Orleans. No, these people don't seem to be the pope's targets. It always seems to be those "fundamentalist Catholics" who believe in "absolute truth." 

But getting back to change, I have a question. If someone came up to you and said, will you sign this petition for change, wouldn't you ask exactly what the change was before you agreed to support it? Are they talking about a change in a law, a change in elected officials, a change in the company's policy on vacations, a change in the dress code, a change in the office brand of coffee? If the petition gatherer couldn't or wouldn't tell you what the change was, would you sign? 

And so, I'm uneasy about these unspecified changes to which the pope refers. And I can't help wondering if the "Spirit" who surprises us with these changes is coming from the same source as the "Spirit of Vatican II." That "Spirit" was also a "Spirit of change" and we all know what devastating changes were inflicted on Holy Mother Church in the name of Vatican II. 

Pray to the Holy Spirit to preserve us and to St. Joseph, patron of the universal Church. And in the storms raging about us, cling to the unchanging doctrine of the faith, the Eucharist, and to the Blessed Mother. And no matter what happens at the Vatican, never lose the faith or abandon hope.