Here Come Da Pope!

Pope Francis has landed in America. That is rightfully a joyous occasion for some 76.7 million Roman Catholics in the country. Popes don’t visit often, only nine times since the first visit of Pope Paul VI in 1965. Seven of those visits were from the late Pope John Paul II.

As Popes go, it was appropriate that John Paul II was canonized a saint. He did much to further and clarify church doctrine. He also epitomized a life of church leadership and did much to show the evils of the socialist regime he grew up under in communist Poland.

Pope Francis (the humble?) talks a good talk and seems to be making changes for the better in church doctrine, or at least church administration of that doctrine. In the US and other countries where abortion is legal and divorce commonplace, he appears to have loosened the reigns on the rigid application of the doctrine. Some say that is progress; to others, it is an abomination.

While I am certain the Pope is a good man with the best of intentions, he is way out of his league criticizing capitalism and preaching the gospel of climate change. For an institution that has for millennia shown contempt for both economics and science, this Pope has scant qualifications to speak credibly to either.

In a world where we are quickly reaching the maximum sustainable capacity for population, the Pope could better use his bully pulpit for solutions to that problem. We currently have some 7 billion people on the face of this planet, with absolutely no way to increase that occupancy limit. We can’t just add on to the planet.

Credible scientists estimate that the earth can support no more than about 10 billion people. We are 70% of the way toward being maxed out, and our population is growing exponentially!

Are radical solutions now necessary? Probably not yet, but if we don’t start talking about it soon, they may become necessary. I’m talking euthanasia, abortion, forced childbirth restrictions… actions no one wants to see or hear about.

Where does the Pope fit into all of this? Well, first, Catholic Church doctrine alone is neither the culprit nor the solution. But the rigid opposition to contraceptives and all abortions does nothing to help the population problem. That is where a truly enlightened Pope might make substantial changes to church doctrine.

But looking at world population statistics, we find that ethnic fertility rates may be what drive the population explosion more than religious doctrine. For example, the fertility rate for Niger is 6.89 children per woman while that of the United States is 2.01 to 1. The lowest fertility rate is in Singapore at 0.8 children per woman. These statistics are provided by the CIA in 2014.

My point here is that if this Pope is to be as revolutionary as he professes to want to be, he should concentrate more on matters he is in a position to change and less on matters he likely does not understand and is not really qualified to tackle. Francis may commendably wash the feet of a few poor people, but has he or the church done much to alleviate the plight of the homeless? The Catholic Church is reportedly the richest organization on earth, but what is it doing directly to help the poor and destitute? For that matter, is there any major religious organization that is truly practicing the religious tenet of charity?

Pope Francis said to Castro, “people are important not ideas.” Okay, Pope. Put your money where your mouth is.

Thank God, I live in America. If I had said this about the Ayatollah in Iran, I would be in great peril.