on the Pope Francis interview

The America Magazine interview with Pope Francis got a lot of attention when it was published a couple of weeks ago. And rightly so. It’s a long interview, but as is usually the case the same points got the attention of most of the press, blog posts, and Facebook posts.

Most commentators focused on his statement:

We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.

and perhaps to a lesser extent his follow-on statement:

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. The proposal of the Gospel must be more simple, profound, radiant.

That was a small part of a long interview, which I have to admit not having read in its entirety.

Still, one can understand the attention paid to this part of the interview, given how the Catholic hierarchy has had a history of focusing on these areas. That Francis seeks a more balanced approach is an encouraging thing.