Dowd's Corruption Of The Roman Catholic Church

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On March 13, 2013 white smoke ushered in a new era within the Roman Catholic Church. For the first time in its history, the College of Cardinals chose a Pope from the Americas to lead ("Pope Francis" 2016). They expected that the newly elected American Pope, who called himself Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, would help restore the Catholic Church’s reputation, reform the clerical bureaucracy, and reinvigorate Catholic participation. In the first few months of his papacy, that is exactly what he did.
Pope Francis did away with ornate and rigid traditions of previous popes. According to John Bingham, Pope Francis restructured core Vatican institutions, such as the clerical hierarchy and the banking system, in order to drive out corruption …show more content…

Is her argument sound that Pope Francis’ efforts have not changed the church enough? To answer that a closer inspection of Dowd’s op-ed is necessary.
At first glance, it is hard to make a connection between Dowd and any reader that does not already have a liberal or feminist view of the Catholic church. Dowd’s article is laden with bias language and personal attacks that paint the clergy, as well as Pope Francis, in a negative light. Dowd primes her readers with words and phrases such as “guilty of condoning”, “ghoulish priests”, “the Vatican’s coercive reform”, “Mauling of the nuns” and “this latest slap-down” in an effort to persuade them that the Pope’s lack of support equates to a continued discrimination within the Catholic church.
Once Dowd’s bias language is removed from her argument, other issues arises. Dowd has very little proof to support her claim. She uses one instance in which Pope Francis did not publically rebuke the priesthood for their treatment of the nuns. That instance is not enough to prove a pattern, nor is it logical. If the nuns truly were supporting legislation that went against church teaching, a priest and/or a pope would have the right to correct them. Further more, linking this instance to Argentina’s Dirty War is reckless. Rebuking nuns who break with Catholic teachings has nothing to do with an Argentinian regime that disappeared millions of people for political reasons. These two instances are vastly dissimilar …show more content…

On a more personal level, it is almost as if Dowd is asking the Pope if his efforts will make room in the Church for people like her. It is an honest question, albeit one with a complicated answer. Pope Francis mission is to bring the gospel to the masses, while maintaining the integrity of its doctrine. There may be room for people like Dowd in the church so long as they realize the strength and resiliency of the Catholic church is found only in its unwavering adherence to its core

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