I talked with my pastor about this. I did not hesitate to use the word "totalitarian".
However, for a parish newsletter, you can't come out swinging at the Pope --- all you can do is honestly elucidate that the doctrinal parts are Biblical, traditional and right in line with the Prophets of Israel and the Fathers of the Church...
... and as for the non-doctrinal parts, "Each of you get into your respective corners, and let the fighting begin!"
But let me ask you this: how would you handle it in your parish?
You can come out swinging at the Pope, or you can argue against him gently. So far as official Church doctrine is concerned they are both the same thing, as he cannot be “wrong”.
That is obviously absurd, so I’d elect to take the Donald Trump approach. Come out swinging and let the chips fall where they may.
It’s a major reason we are now hemorrhaging membership to Evangelical churches.
You have done a masterful job of unpacking this tangled mess. Your use of the "water justice" scenario is brilliant.
I hope that Catholics here will help it get a wider audience.
I think for peace to hold, in a parish discussion, that one could only cherry pick through certain short sentences uttered by Pope Francis, wherein something recognizable as remotely “Catholic” might exist, if they can be found.