Pope demonstrates the ‘inclusive Church’

During his six-day, three-city visit to the United States, Pope Francis urged both the Church and wider US society to adopt the radical gospel message of inclusion, dialogue and love for those on the margins.

Throughout the trip Francis aimed to steer clear of public political controversy: he did not mention the phrase “same-sex marriage”, placed the issue of abortion within the context of protecting all life, and called on the Church to “go out” to the world rather than condemn it.

At his meeting with the bishops taking part in the World Meeting of Families at St Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia on Sunday, he indicated his position on this summer’s Supreme Court ruling making same-sex marriage legal across the US, but implicitly rather than explicitly.

There are “unprecedented changes taking place in contemporary society, with their social, cultural – and, sadly, also legal – effects on family bonds”, he said. “Until recently, we lived in a social context where the similarities between the civil institution of marriage and the Christian sacrament were considerable and shared. This is no longer the case.”

Away from the public glare, Francis made an unscheduled visit to the Little Sisters of the Poor – who are engaged in a legal battle over government requirements to provide contraception as part of healthcare insurance – and details emerged this week that he met privately with Kim Davis, a clerk and Christian who was jailed for six days for refusing marriage licences to gay couples. The Holy See press spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said Francis visited the sisters as “a sign of support” in their lawsuit. On the in-flight press conference back to Rome, the Pope said “conscientious objection” was a human right.

In Philadelphia, standing in front of Independence Hall where  the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, he described religious freedom as “a fundamental right that shapes the way we interact socially and personally with our neighbours whose religious views differ from our own”. As the Pope concluded the World Meeting of Families, he praised families for embracing “beauty, love and truth” and in the final Mass called on the Church not to become “too narrow”.

During his visit and in the press conference on the papal aircraft, Francis praised women Religious from the US, which was significant because the American bishops and Vatican have undertaken recent investigations of the sisters.

Also in the press conference, the Pope reiterated that the ordination of women was not possible and that John Paul II had said so clearly after “long reflection”. This was “not because women don’t have the capacity”, he added. From start to finish in the US, in word and gesture, the Pope emphasised the cause of the poor, the prisoner (in a moving visit to Curran-Fromhold correctional facility in Philadelphia), the immigrant, and championed renewed efforts to care for the environment.