Tobin seems to finally realize that Francis is not the same as Benedict |
By in
Rhode Island’s Future
Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Providence
Diocese is doing some damage control in a recent interview on the website Crux: Covering
all things Catholic.
Tobin has a history of making strong
political statements about contentious issues such as abortion, marriage
equality and separation of church and state. He is never shy about his opinions
of atheism and homosexuality. His political involvement even extends to
elections, as when he advised Catholics to vote for Mother Teresa for governor rather than Raimondo or
Fung.
This is, of course, his right. And to
the extent that Tobin involves himself in the political discourse, he opens
himself up to critiques (which I am happy to provide).
Still, the timing of this interview is
interesting. The interview seems to have been conducted last Thursday, just
days before the high profile and expected demotion of American Cardinal Raymond
Burke. Burke famously said that the Catholic Church under Pope
Francis “is like a ship without a rudder.”
Tobin’s criticism of the Pope – he once said Francis is fond of
“creating a mess” – doesn’t seem much different in substance or style from
Cardinal Burke’s statement. Could Tobin’s interview be seen as laying the
groundwork for a preemptive defense? Note that the Crux piece never mentions
Tobin’s most contentious and direct criticism of Pope Francis.
Tobin claims to be surprised that his
words were perceived as critical of Francis, saying, “I guess when I offer
these comments, I’m doing what I think the Holy Father himself has encouraged
us to do, which is to be open, to be candid, to be transparent, to share our thoughts and our feelings without fear of any
retribution or strong reaction.” [emphasis mine] In other
words, Tobin really doesn’t want to be demoted like Burke was.
One wonders if Tobin is equally open
to the idea of the people he supervises being publicly critical of his
leadership.
Steve Ahlquist is a writer, artist and current president of the
Humanists of Rhode Island, a non-profit group dedicated to reason, compassion,
optimism, courage and action. He also maintains the blog SteveAhlquist.com
where almost all his writing can be found. The views expressed are his own and
not necessarily those of any organization of which he is a member.
His photos and video are usable under
the Creative Commons license. Free to share with credit.
Email: atomicsteve@gmail.com
Twitter: @SteveAhlquist
Twitter: @SteveAhlquist