I join in prayers today for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis. The loss of a pope is always a deeply significant and spiritual moment, especially for Catholics. It reminds us that the papacy is not about any one man, but about the promise of Christ to always be with his Church and build her up on the confession of Faith made by St. Peter: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!’

I reflect today that we have been spoiled over the last seven decades, because during most of that time, the popes we’ve had are canonized saints: John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II. With the daily guidance of such giants, it’s easy to think, ‘the pope is always right.’

But that’s not Catholic teaching. The pope is right only when the pope teaches and strengthens us in the faith that the Church has always received and has always believed. The pope is the ‘Vicar’ of Christ. That is a referential term. He is responsible to strengthen his fellow believers in the teachings of Christ, which are not his own teachings. Even Jesus said, ‘My teaching is not my own, but comes from him who sent me’ (John 7:16) and speaking of the Holy Spirit, said, ‘He will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears’ (John 16:13).

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If that is true of the Second and Third persons of the Holy Trinity, how much more true is it of all of us – popes, bishops, priests and lay believers. The faith is not ours to write or to change or to obscure.

While we commend Pope Francis to the Lord in fraternal charity, it is sad to say  the papacy of Francis has been a failed papacy, because it has been a papacy of confusion. Jesus told Peter, Strengthen your brethren’ (Luke 22:32). “The pope is called to make the faith more clear, so that believers may embrace it with more certainty.

Unfortunately, the effects of Pope Francis’ pontificate have been just the opposite. I do not judge his motives; I only observe his fruits. Many were confused about the faith, leading even cardinals of the Church to formally ask the pope to clarify certain fundamental points, like whether there are moral absolutes. They did not ask these questions because of any doubt about the answer. They asked them because of a doubt that the pope was doing his job.

So many things Pope Francis said and did – such as his blessing of gay couples – required pages of nuanced theological explanation to justify them. What we need are teachers of the faith whose teaching brings clarity and certainty, not doubt that requires pages of explanation or extraordinary efforts to reach an understanding of what is being taught.

More recently, some of his statements have confused people about the fundamental teaching that Jesus Christ indeed is the only Savior of the world.

And so many of the other decisions of Pope Francis have wounded the Church, from appointments he has made of people whose loyalty to the faith is questionable, to suppressing legitimate expressions of the Church’s liturgy, to unfairly criticizing those who embrace conservative politics. The pope was apparently unaware that such conservatives are the best friends of the religious liberty the Church needs in order to carry out her mission.

We pray now that the Cardinals of the Church will choose a successor who will teach with resounding clarity what the Church has always taught, will heal the wounds so many believers have suffered, and will ‘strengthen the brethren’ in the unwavering mission of the Church.

LifeNews.com Note:  Frank Pavone is national director of Priests for Life and the national pastoral director of Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries and the Silent No More Awareness Campaign.

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