I remember back in the 70s when the US bishops issued a meaningless, cheered-by-the-NYT statement about nuclear war, upon which they had suddenly declared themselves experts. Who remembers it now, except to laugh? But I think it seriously damaged their credibility on every level, because they looked like what they were, just a bunch of foolish politically motivated bureaucrats working for a big NGO. It took them decades to regain any semblance of respect.
The Pope is doing the same thing to the papacy. He’s also destroying the brand for which he claims to work.
I’m a Wascally Evangelical not a Roman Catholic. But I have to have some respect for a Christian organization that has kept a physical continuity from the gospel days even if there are questions about where its membership has gone spiritually.
And so when they dig themselves into a hole, I don’t snicker. I grieve. This is the name and reputation of Jesus Christ the one and only Savior being dragged into the mud, by those who ought to know better.