Pope Francis's words to the Vatican bureaucracy were scathing much needed criticism. Why should I a Jew care about the Vatican? I care because because Papal history and the history of the Roman Catholic Church has been intertwined with not only world history but, specifically, with the history of the Jews. We could not escape it. The Pope sets the stage and the tone of the Church's essence and its essence affects people all over the world. What the Pope says matters to 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. Therefore, what he says should matter to all of us.
I have always been critical of the Vatican but under this Pope my position has changed by an order of great magnitude. He has the greatest acceptance for the least among us and no matter how much men/women are afflicted he has room for them in his heart and places them within in the many mansions of the supreme being in which he believes.
He has brought much needed change to the Vatican bureaucracy, its cardinals and its bishops in a Church guilty of so many egregious sins against the innocent over centuries. Could and should the Church change more? Of course, there is always room for change but Pope Francis has changed the aura of the Church from one of punishment to one of peace, love and forgiveness -- the true essence of what Christianity, as I see it, should be.
