And if God wanted a competent Pope, he’d get one of those, too

Ross Douthat has some interesting/amusing thoughts on Pope Francis I, who it appears is scaring conservatives by talking as though he doesn’t hate homos as much as he ought to. Ross is pretty agnostic, so to speak, on the whole homo thing, but he kind of likes the idea of a pope who pisses conservatives off—“to the extent that conservative Catholics in the United States find themselves actively disagreeing with Pope Francis’s emphases, whether on political issues or matters internal to the church or both, it might help cure them/us of the recurring Catholic temptation toward papolatry.”

According to Ross, “The papal office has been occupied by many more incompetents than geniuses, and there’s a reason why so few occupants of the chair of Peter show up in the litany of the saints.” Back when Benedict XVI resigned his office, Ross said it was a bad idea: “If God wants a new pope, he’ll get one.” And, presumably, the same applies to quality as well.

Afterwords
I’m totally, and I mean totally, down with Ross’s condemnation of the new trend of making virtually every pope a saint. As Ross points out, Francis I is not only pumping for the canonization of Pope John XIII and Pope John Paul II, but pushing for the same for Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul I. One gets the strong sense that the Church is just looking for an excuse to throw an old-fashioned Pope Party, with St. Peter’s all polished and pretty and all the cardinals and bishops dressed to the nines. To Hell with Doctrine, let’s put on a show! Hey, Protestants! Beat this! How gay is that?