Pope Francis, Populism, and Palestine

Populism is a political doctrine that appeals to the interests, hopes and fears of ordinary people, especially when they come together to push against the prevailing status quo interests of dominant political elites. Populism is usually defined as "the political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite." Since the 1980s, populist movements and parties have enjoyed success in Western democracies such as Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavia. Political parties and politicians often use the terms populist and populism as pejorative labels for their opponents, whom they see as unfairly empathizing with the public through demagogery -- "unrealistic" appeals to ordinary people offered to increase appeal across the political spectrum. ~~~~~ Above all, populists love the voice of the people and appeal to it. Today, the term "populist" is often applied to Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Both have no history of party loyalty, which enhances their popular credibility, and their authority comes from a direct bond with their supporters, free of political party constraints. They both attack foreign trade deals, decry the unofficial jobless rate, and express disdain for the political class and the "corrupt" money that keeps them in office. ~~~~~ But, there is another world-famous populist at work today -- Pope Francis. Since becoming the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church two years ago, Francis has cast aside the formality and close knit bureaucracy of the Vatican Curia for direct appeals to the people. It began less than a year into his papacy when Francis launched a blistering attack on the Curia - the Church's central administration - outlining a "catalog of illnesses" plaguing the Curia, including "spiritual Alzheimers" and gossipy cliques. Francis' critique. It was a laundry list of what he called "the ailments of the Curia." The attack reflects the take-no-prisoners approach he promised when elected nearly two years ago as an outsider with little direct experience in Rome. "The Curia is called upon to improve itself, always improve itself and grow in communion, holiness and knowledge to fully realize its mission," the Pope said. That was the beginning of Francis' populist appeal to his flock. ~~~~~ The Pope's populist message has been couched in his calls for mercy and his pleas to care for the poor. He has singled out issues for attention that reflect his populist approach. ** In a highly anticipated encyclical released in June, Francis added the weight of the Catholic Church to the effort to combat climate change, saying the future of humanity is at stake and dismissing those who deny the planet is getting warmer. In his first encyclical, Francis said humans have a moral obligation to protect the environment and that doing so is a key part of the challenge of lifting the world's least fortunate from poverty. ** Francis made controversial remarks that suggested he favors contraception when he said Catholics need not reproduce "like rabbits.'' But in the following firestorm, he fell in line with Church doctrine, saying there are plenty of church-approved ways to regulate births. Days later, he praised big families for "welcoming children as a true gift of God." ** Francis gave a powerful call last month for the Church to embrace Catholics who have divorced and remarried. Such couples "are not excommunicated and they absolutely must not be treated that way," Francis told a Vatican crowd. "They always belong to the church." Francis asked pastors to welcome Catholics who have remarried without an annulment, even though such Catholics are normally barred from receiving the Eucharist, the central sacrament of the faith. ** Just months after being named Pope, Francis said something that Catholics had never heard from a pontiff, when he said : "Who am I to judge?" when asked whether gays and lesbians could be good Christians. "They shouldn't be marginalized. The tendency (to be homosexual) is not the problem. They are our brothers." But, last year, bishops rejected a landmark change in Church doctrine that would have welcomed the "gifts and qualities" of gay Catholics. In March, Francis reaffirmed his opposition to same-sex marriage but said the Church could tolerate some forms of civil unions. ~~~~~ In each of these issues, Pope Francis has made a populist appeal around Church hierarchy directly to the people to cement his personal bond with them. His tactic has made him a hugely popular world leader. This summer, Pope Francis moved even farther into a populist position at odds with Church doctrine. He will give all priests discretion during the Church's upcoming Holy Year to formally forgive women who have had abortions, if they show contrition. In Church teaching, abortion is such a grave sin that those who procure or perform it incur an automatic excommunication. (The Pope's letter did not mention people who perform abortions.) Usually only designated clergy and missionaries can formally forgive abortions. But from December 8 this year to November 26, 2016, all priests will be able to do so, Francis said in a letter published on Tuesday. In the letter, Francis described the "existential and moral ordeal" faced by women who have terminated pregnancies and said he had "met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision." Although he has indicated no intention to eliminate the Church's opposition to abortion, he has alarmed conservatives. "This is by no means an attempt to minimize the gravity of this sin but to widen the possibility of showing mercy," Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told reporters. Deputy Vatican spokesman Father Ciro Benedettini said that "for now" the change would apply only during the Holy Year. ~~~~~ In an even greater aberration from orthodoxy, in his letter the Pope also said Holy Year activities were open to adherents of the ultra-traditionalist Roman Catholic splinter group known as the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The SSPX, which rejects some of the reforms made at the historic 1962 to 1965 Second Vatican Council, defied Rome in 1988 by illegally consecrating four bishops, triggering their excommunication by the late Pope Saint John Paul II. Pope Benedict controversially lifted the excommunications in 2009 and made some concessions to the group. But one of the bishops, British-born Bishop Richard Williamson, caused an uproar by denying the Holocaust. ~~~~~ Why is mentioning Francis' favor to the possibly anti-Semitic SSPX relevant to a discussion of Pope Francis' populism? Because when the Vatican recognized the self-proclaimed "State of Palestine" on June 22, 2015, it took Francis' populism to an unacceptable level. If he was responding to poverty and violence, his recognition neverththeless rejected international law -- there is no State of Palestine to recognize. And soon afterward, Francis praised the controversial nuclear deal between Iran and several Western states and said the Holy See viewed the agreement in "a positive light," although it will allow Iran to acquire as many nuclear bombs as it likes after ten years, plus intercontinental ballistic missiles to deliver them to Israel, the Middle East, Europe and America. ~~~~~ Dear readers, Pope Francis rightly says that he is a man of peace, a religious leader and statesman dedicated to ending violence and war. But why would the Vatican, a city-state ruled by the peace-loving Pope, give recognition to a non- existant state that for over 65 years has been dominated by terrorism? Palestine is also, according to a 2014 Anti-Defamation League poll, the most anti-Semitic place in the world, with a political dogma based on the killing or expulsion of Jews, the eradication of Israel and its replacement by a "State of Palestine." To be fair, Pope Francis has said : "Whoever does not recognize the Jewish People and the State of Israel falls into anti-Semitism." But given that the Palestinians refuse to recognize Israel or the rights of the Jewish people, Francis' recognition of a State of Palestine is an absurdity. By making this inexplicable choice, Francis simply encourages the Palestinian tactics of violence, rejection of peace offers and use of terrorists and suicide bombers in Israel. It will also encourage them to continue their lies about Jews, hate videos, hate preaching, false history, and the use of school textbooks and TV shows that teach children to despise Jews as "sons of apes and pigs." Is that what Pope Francis really wants? It is a morally bankrupt price to pay for helping the poor. Pope Francis should rethink his populism -- it may work for him in a religious context but it fails miserably in Middle East politics.