Obviously. When Pope Francis explained yesterday, in his trademark reasonable manner, that the Church “cannot be obsessed” with abortion, gay marriage, and contraception, he didn’t mean to go out and do those things. Today, with Catholic gynecologists as his audience, he backtracked, or at least clarified, a bit: “Every child that isn’t born, but is unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of Jesus Christ, has the face of the Lord,” he said, decrying the “throw-away culture” and those who do not “respect life.” He also urged religious doctors to not perform abortions. Francis just wants the Church to talk about these things in less black-and-white terms, because even some otherwise faithful people get touchy when you tell them how to live their lives.
