The Pope’s Muffled Voice

In The Pope's Muffled Voice, the main idea is that catholics are becoming more and more separate from their pope and cardinals; modernizing before their leaders do. In 2011, a survey in the National Catholic Reporter gave evidence to prove that only 30 percent of American catholics believed that the teaching authority of the Vatican was very important. Only 21 percent supported a male, single priesthood, and 60 percent supported the notion of female priests. Catholics also often break "the rules." When it comes to pre- marital sex, divorce, and abortion, many catholics oppose their leaders with their actions, often times doing these things. Over half of American catholics support gay marriage, while the catholic religious leaders despise the idea. President Obama, with all of his liberal policies and ideas about things like birth control won the catholic vote, also. Many politicions break the standards set by the church as well.  Andrew Cuomo of the spiffiest state lives divorced, and with his girlfriend (not his wife) in addition to supporting some legislation for abortion, and even signing the gay marriage bill. These things all try to show that slowly, many catholics' views' are evolving from the standard  church views and becoming more akin to views more different from the church.

In this article, the author, Frank Bruni, wants the reader to think that it is good that catholics do not share all views with the pope. Like he says "They’re Christian. They’re caring. They’re moral. But they have minds and wills of their own, and no conclave will change that. " This use of artistic fragments, to more eloquently express his idea is great, and insinuating that without the different views catholics would be willess and mindless clones of the pope  is a rather brilliant declaration-- no one can deny that different ideas make you who you are. He also heavily uses metaphors, comparing the catholic church to a myriad of things, and calling the pope a "C.E.O."

My opinion on this topic is not very passionate-- I think that people can have their differing views from the church, but that's just the way I've grown up. With an agnostic father, and a catholic mother who goes to church only twice a year, and a divorced grandma, my family is not the most set to the ways of the church. I still want to know aout the other side. What does/did the Pope think about all this? Does he think his people are migrating away from  him?