John L. Allen (1) (1965–)

In light of the latest flare-up of the apparently never-ending and ever expanding sex abuse scandal, not to mention other scandals that have come to light, I reread that chapter of this crisis. In deciding how and if to review the book, I am trying to keep in mind that I am not its intended audience -- Allen intends to try and promote understanding between the American laity and the church hierarchy. Obviously a certain amount of his remarks are irrelevant or meaningless to non-Catholics. I am not sure if I would rate the book as highly on second look, but I think it is useful in trying to understand how the disputants see things, which is valuable, even if it doesn't make me think better of them. In that, I think that Allen has accomplished his purpose, but that doesn't mean that he has enlisted my sympathies. The following remarks are less of a review than a personal reaction to one issue.

It seems to me that the church has not accepted the separation of church and state, or, how ever much ecumenism they claim, the right of freedom of religion. They seem to long for the Middle Ages when, at least in some countries, members of the religious hierarchy were not subject to secular law and were judged in their own courts. These days, the they cannot force secular society to accept their view of how things ought to be, no matter how strongly they feel that it is what their god wants it, unless he chooses to enforce it himself.

Certainly some people leap upon the crisis as a chance to denounce celibacy, but I am not one of those people. I am concerned with the failure of the hierarchy to end the abuse even when they were aware of it, or to turn it over to secular authorities if they couldn't deal with it. They've ruined their credibility and they've done precious little to rebuild it. The excuses, and the attempt to hide behind claims of persecution are both pathetic and alienating. Using hardball legal tactics against the victims, and blaming everyone but themselves does not give the appearance of repentance, whatever they may say at other times. And yet so many people cannot understand why some of us think that reflects badly on the church.

I don't really care if the priests are defrocked, just so their crimes are not shielded. Many of the things that Allen discusses in this regard are internal church matters, of little interest to me, but broken secular laws are not. Due process is always a right, but that doesn't mean that someone should be left in unsupervised contact with vulnerable people if they are not regarded as trustworthy. Sending someone for treatment and returning them to a parish may be justifiable once, with reasonable supervision, but not repeatedly, even less so when they are not even treated or supervised. They may forgive the offender as much as they like, and Jesus may sit them at his right hand in heaven, but they must not shield him from the civil penalties of his behavior, particularly if they have failed to control it. In many cases, victims and their families brought their complaints to the church rather than to the civil authorities and the church failed to help present victims or protect potential victims.

Yes, pedophiles exist outside the church, and when they get caught, they get a prison sentence and generally a life-long registration as a sex offender. One columnist complained that non-Catholics failed to appreciate the church's obligations to even defrocked priests. The church may feel free to minister to them in prison as much as they like, but that does not include shielding them from secular law. If innocent priests feel shut out of close human contact with suspicious people, let them blame their guilty brethern and irresponsible leaders. If church hierarchs come from countries that handle things differently, well these are the laws of this country, and they ought to sophisticated enough to understand that.… (meer)

I am not alone in being interested in the relatively new Pope Francis, someone who seems cut from a different cloth, so to speak, from many of the popes over the years. I read this book with no special agenda, no skin in the game, simply because Pope Francis intrigues me.

And I learned a good deal. Based on the writing, the author is apparently quite a fan of the pope, and the book is mostly positive about him and his mostly liberal bent, but also shows the less positive sides, especially when it comes to women in the church and some slower than necessary responses to the sexual abuse scandals that have plagued the church.

The author apparently has done his research, and is well-regarded in the field. The writing was occasionally repetitive, which is perhaps necessary to bring up a previous incident in a different context, and the writing hit a bump once in awhile, but for the most part, it was clear, concise, and quite engaging.

I've read quotes by the pope since this book was written that do concern me a bit, but also love much of what he has to say, including his now famous “Who am I to Judge?” For anyone interested in the pope, whether or not Catholic, whether or not a believer, this book provides insight in a highly readable and interesting form.

I was given an advance readers copy of this book for review.… (meer)

“In general, the 'Francis revolution' is being felt at the level of in-the-trenches application of doctrine rather than the doctrine itself. He’s trying to encourage the most generous, merciful, and flexible application possible, making it clear that his kind of Church wants to include rather than exclude…"
-From John L. Allen, Jr.’s “The Francis Miracle: Inside the Transformation of the Pope and the Church"

John L. Allen writes a balanced and thorough analysis of Jorge Mario Bergoglio's short tenure as Pope Francis I. At times biographical, impassioned, but always journalistically focused, Allen’s new book presents Francis’ complicated reformation in ways that that even the most uninvested reader (disclosure: I’m Jewish) can absorb.

Allen details a number of themes that carried over from the last two popes and have shadowed the early days of Francis’ rule: Francis’ overall perspectives and leanings; reformation of the Vatican’s finances; where he stands on the role of women in the church; his ecclesiastical perspectives; and how he’s handled the sexual abuse scandals.

Allen gives the impression that Francis is a natural leader who early in his career found "himself thrust into unexpected positions of leadership.” I don’t get the sense that Francis sought out power and leadership roles in his youth, but as Francis points out himself, anyone who seeks leadership in the Church is exactly the person you wouldn’t want in the leadership roles.

“Francis aims to steer Catholicism back to the political and ecclesiastical center,” writes Allen. He quietly battles hard line conservative Catholics, espousing softer stances on hot button issues like homosexuality and the rigidity of liturgy and ceremony. His goal seems to be one of openness and inclusion.

"He wants the first impression people have of Catholicism not be of judgement but rather of welcome, trusting that whatever eventual verdicts the Church is compelled to deliver will be better received if they come in the context of a loving embrace. To achieve that, he knows that he needs to bring all ideological camps along with him."
- from “The Francis Miracle: Inside the Transformation of the Pope and the Church"

Francis “wants Catholics to ‘get out of the sacristy and into the streets.'” He’s “consciously crafted symbols about the kind of Church he wants to lead: he’s sat down for chats with atheists and believers alike, called ordinary people on the phone out of the blue, even invited three homeless men and their dog to join him for a birthday breakfast.” He’s washed the feet of parishioners at local churches. This time with ‘the people’ sometimes comes at the great consternation of his coterie, including security and communicational staff.

The Pope’s explanation? He believes that “sometimes you understand reality better from the edges than from the center.”

Allen writes about the confusion over Bergoglio's political leanings in the 70s and 80s when serving in Argentina. While he was encouraging priests to spend time in the villas miserias (poor slums) around BA, some accused the future pope of not doing enough to fight against Argentina’s dirty war in the early 1970’s. During that time, Bergoglio served as superior of the Jesuits. He was even accused of turning in two of his own priests to the government which led to their prolonged imprisonment. One of those two priests has since died, but the other has firmly stated that Bergoglio was not the reason they were incarcerated, but rather a female rebel who was tortured and confessed to the priests working with the poor.

Allen relays that Begolgio said, “I am father of all, and I cannot be wrapped in a political flag.” This was quoted regarding the fact that he hadn’t voted in the compulsory elections in Argentina since the early 1960s. But due to the Right AND Left extremities that ruled Argentine violent politics in the 70’s, this is an apt quote as well.

In truth, during the dirty war, some far leftist Catholics (even several priests) were joining armed resistance movements. Bergoglio, caught between the violence espoused by both extremes of Argentina’s political wars, was trying to keep his Church moving forward, implying support for neither end of the violent political spectrum.

A cornerstone of his policy is outreach to other Christian sects including evangelicals and Orthodox. He has a good relationship with the Jewish and Muslim communities alike. "The longtime former president of the Anti-Defamation League said in 2013 that he felt as if the Jews “won the lottery” when Bergoglio was elected."

While Pope Francisco is very direct and clear of meaning in his talk, he's been less so when dealing with women in the church. “On two occasions when the pontiff has been asked about possibly admitting women to the ranks of the clergy, he’s said a firm “no”. At the same time, he has also said that he wants to see a “greater role” for women in Catholicism.” Instead of institutional changes, Allen feels that Francis is targeting a “psychologic, theological, and moral 'space”' he wants to enhance for women in the Catholic world. Women have played a tremendous role in his life, however, in his first two years as Pope, there have been “no groundbreaking new roles for women…and no new theological study was commissioned.

On some issues that have been particular social hot buttons like abortion, Francis's stance is clear - he holds the Catholic line of stringent pro life, but he avoids using a confrontational rhetoric.

His record regarding child abuse while in Argentina has not been stellar as Allen points out numerous examples of Bergoglio rebuffing requests to meet with accusers of priests in and around BA. Allen feels this is probably the most significant area for improvement

As one can imagine, Il Vaticano is rife with internal political stire. Within the 2,000 year old institution, Allen writes, Francis faces "a determination to preserve established patterns of doing business among people whose self-image and career prospects are invested in the status quo."

“In the corridors of the Vatican, the argument “this is how we’ve always done things” packs a solid punch.” According to one Church historian, “no pope of the 20th century ever experienced as much resistance."

What the book doesn’t have is interviews with the man himself. There are Francis quotes a-plenty but none came from interviews focused on the development of this work. While I still feel that Allen’s book is even-handed, I’m left wondering why the author who ‘is basically the reporter that bishops and cardinals call to find out what’s going on within the confines of the Vatican,’ didn’t have any one-on-one time with Francis for this work.

If seeking a better understand of Pope Francis himself, or looking for a glimpse of the machinations of The Vatican, this is a terrific read. Highly recommended.… (meer)

I am not a Catholic, although I was brought up in that religion. For all intents and purposes I left the church at age 14 for a long list of reasons. Ironically, i ended up marrying a man who spent several years in a Catholic boarding school in preparation for becoming a brother of the church. He left the school, and somehow we ended up together. For years, he wanted our children to be brought up to be Catholic, but they eventually followed my path out of Catholicism .

This, however has not kept me from having a keen interest in the Vatican and the shenanigans to be found therein. Over the years, I have not been disappointed by any lack of said shenanigans. Then Pope Benedict XVI resigned. That certainly piqued my interest! With a splendid one two punch Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope Francis on March 13, 2013, when he was named the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and chose his papal name to honor St. Francis of Assisi of Italy. Pope Francis is the first Pope from the American continent, having been born in Argentina. From the first moment that he stepped onto the balcony, I knew that interesting times were ahead.

Although he had been considered a conservative, he has proven himself to be a reformer, in many way. He wants Catholics to" get out of the sacristy and into the streets" and has become an amazing example of how this can and should be done. For instance, he lives outside of the palace known as The Vatican. Instead he makes his home in a suite of rooms in the opted to remain in the Casa Santa Marta, a Vatican residence where he and the other Cardinals had stayed during the conclave. He says that he prefers living there, as he feels that he is part of a family, eats in the refectory and celebrates Mass where he is more visible to the people.

He has rocked the Papal boat a time or two. . . or more. He was widely reported to have said that it is not up to him to judge those who are gay, but wants to welcome them back to the church. This prompted the LGBR magazine The Advocate to name him their 2013 Man of the Year, and got him the cover o the magazine.

His stance on women in the church has been somewhat less liberal, and he has basically taken the idea of women in the priesthood off the table. The Pope has even gone so far as to excommunicate Australian priest Greg Reynolds who advocated for women in the priesthood and gay rights. This sends a mixed message, as far as I'm concerned. Although he is considered to be a reform pope, apparently he is still willing to go only so far.

Francis has become known as the Peace Pope, after showing that he is not afraid to put his 2¢ into the political arena. For instance we learn about his visit to Syria and the subsequent Saturday, September 7th, 2013 Day of Prayer when he led an hours long prayer vigil at the Vatican.

These things, and many others are addressed between the covers of this book. The author is a journalist, and the information is presented in a very journalistic, only the facts manner. Still, it was very interesting and I feel that i now have a more well rounded idea of what this pope is up to, and have more information with which to for form an opinion of my own.… (meer)