Francis is helping the church to recover from a disease that has infected it since at least the sixth century when the Irish penitential manuals began to appear.The disease might be called “black and white disease”, a rigid approach to human life that renders those who suffer from it incapable of wrestling with the grey areas, the ambiguities, of the human condition. Francis calls us to adult spirituality and moral discernment. Most of all, he calls us to experience and to minister God’s mercy. 

Long live Pope Francis!