My family and I just loved Pope John Paul II. My mother was Polish. And plus he was a study in balances. Not too liberal, not too strict.
Anyways, that was then, and this is now. And even I have to admit, on the issues at least, Pope Francis is much better. He is kind too, and compassionate.
And actually, according to my Webster’s dictionary, there is a word for that:
Avuncular
It means “like-an-uncle”.
According to my dictionary, it sometimes is negative. But I of course only mean it in all its positive connotations;).
I think he seems less bad than other popes. He hasn’t harboured child sex offenders as far as we know and doesn’t seem outright hostile to gays. That is not a very high (low?) bar to clear though is it?
He is still leader of an organisation that does far less than it could, I’m not impressed by any church or religion that maintains a healthy bank balance and huge property portfolio. Sort of goes against one of Jesus’s main messages doesn’t it?
Come back when he joins the 21st century and I’ll give him proper praise and then ask him what took him so long.