I pay no attention to Kaspar. But I will say again that Francis is a son of the Church and will do nothing to make liberals happy. Sooner or later they will get the message.
Including Pope Francis, I hope.
Pope Francis does:
In a surprising move, Pope Francis mentioned Cardinal Walter Kasper. It was the Pope’s first reference to a living theologian. The German cardinal is the President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Kasper served as an assistant to the controversial theologian Hans Küng. And, Kasper has entered into debate at times with the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The two men often debated the relationship between the universal and particular Church.
Pope Francis called Cardinal Walter Kasper “un teologo in gamba,” which caused Italians in the crowd to chuckle. Their reaction elicited confusion from non-Italians. After the Angelus, I spoke with some native speakers of Italian. Each one told me that the expression “in gamba” is colloquial. A priest told me it is Italian street language. The expression means something along the lines of a “good” or “clever” man. One Italian – fluent in English – explained to me that the expression is equivalent to our “dude” or the German “Mensch.” Use of the expression indicates something about Pope Francis’ closeness to the Roman people. He isn’t someone who hides behind the grandeur of his papal office; his presence is immediate – he connects with common people. As the BBC explained, the Pope is a natural communicator.
If that was Pope Francis' first Angelus, I tremble at the thought of his last one.