[Pope Francis] is 78 years old and knows that his will be a short pontificate. — George Weigel Copy Share Image
The pope [Francis] knows that the marriage culture is in crisis throughout the world, and so is the family. — George Weigel Copy Share Image
The most important appointment Pope Francis has made is the appointment of the Australian cardinal, George Pell, as the Vatican's financial overseer. — George Weigel Copy Share Image
There's an obvious investment in some media circles in the "narrative" of "the pope who's finally going to get with it." — George Weigel Copy Share Image
[Pope Francis] has felt the mercy of God in his own life and wants to share that experience with others. — George Weigel Copy Share Image
"You don't believe what you read in the papers about anything else; why do you believe it about the pope?" That's where… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
The papacy is an impossible job. So the best thing Catholics can do for the pope is to pray for him. — George Weigel Copy Share Image
When media "narratives" about [Pope] Francis get set in concrete, and act as filters bending or distorting (or ignoring) aspects of his… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
One of the most important qualities in a pope is his judgment of people - can he get around him the people… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
The colossal mess in Vatican finances that [Pope] Francis inherited has been cleaned up, and cleaned out. Real budgeting and accounting procedures… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
More pro-active Vatican communications might be able to do something about all this, but when the Holy See is constantly in the… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
The pope [Francis] speaks with great passion about the shame we should all feel when, as he puts it, "a man does… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
Then [Catholics] owe [pope] the loyalty that is expressed in speaking the truth to him - and that puts a premium on… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
[Jesus Christ to Pope Francis] is the Lord with whom he speaks for hours every day in prayer. The Risen One who… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
The emphasis on the "peripheries" is also a distinctively "Franciscan" way of expressing the pope's respect for untutored popular piety - a… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
There's the trope about an impending "global-warming encyclical." The pope is preparing an encyclical on nature and the environment, including the human… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
If [Pope's Francis] media-generated popularity, fragile as that may turn out to be when the world discovers that the pope is really… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
I'd also hope that my liberal friends, who find in this pope a critic of what they're pleased to call "culture-warrior" Catholics,… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
The pope [Francis] takes his vocabulary from his pastoral experience, not from the rhetorical tool kit of liberation theology, with its Marxist… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
Perhaps the dumbest of these story lines is that [Pope] Francis has re-opened conversation and debate in a Church that had been… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
The most enduring of the false narratives is that the signature phrase of the early pontificate - "Who am I to judge?"… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
I hope ["reanimated the papacy"] means that the new interest in the pope evokes a new interest in the Church's teaching, of… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
[Pope Francis]sees a world in need of the Gospel, and of friendship with Jesus Christ, as an antidote to the self-absorption and… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
[Pope] Francis ought to be taken at his word when he says, as he has often done, that he is a son… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
[Pope Francis] comes to that conviction [of family crisis] as a pastor, not as Brad Wilcox or Charles Murray. So he wants… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
But ripped out of context, ["Who am I to judge?" phrase] has become an all-purpose filter through which everything else - including… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
[Pope] Francis communicates the pastoral embrace of the Church, the breadth and inclusiveness of Catholicism symbolized by the Bernini colonnade around St.… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
By the same token, the new and stringent Ultramontanism on the Catholic Left - in which even the mildest questions about how… — George Weigel Copy Share Image
But ripped out of context, ["Who am I to judge?" phrase] has become an all-purpose filter through which everything else - including the pope's… — George Weigel Copy Share
“This life of ours . . . is a gift from God. It is not of our choosing. It comes to us by his choice. Since it… — George Weigel Copy Share
I hope ["reanimated the papacy"] means that the new interest in the pope evokes a new interest in the Church's teaching, of which the… — George Weigel Copy Share
In the Catholic view of things, abortion is a justice issue, not an issue of sexual morality... it is a civil rights issue, arguably… — George Weigel Copy Share
The pope [Francis] takes his vocabulary from his pastoral experience, not from the rhetorical tool kit of liberation theology, with its Marxist yammering about… — George Weigel Copy Share
What I hope my liberal friends (and I have more than a few) take from this pontificate is that mercy and truth are never… — George Weigel Copy Share
The people who are behind the curve of the Catholic future are the institutional-maintenance types. — George Weigel Copy Share
[Pope Francis]sees a world in need of the Gospel, and of friendship with Jesus Christ, as an antidote to the self-absorption and loneliness that… — George Weigel Copy Share
Be the Church - that is, be an evangelical movement that tells the world of God's passionate love for humanity. That, not institutional maintenance,… — George Weigel Copy Share
Democracy is always an unfinished experiment, testing the capacity of each generation to live freedom nobly. — George Weigel Copy Share
[Pope] Francis communicates the pastoral embrace of the Church, the breadth and inclusiveness of Catholicism symbolized by the Bernini colonnade around St. Peter's Square,… — George Weigel Copy Share
The dynamically orthodox orders of religious women will continue to grow, and the dying orders, which long ago opted for the lightest of Catholic… — George Weigel Copy Share
These [conservative] people, if they're Americans, look back on the last 35 years of our ecclesial experience and take heart from that. The dramatic… — George Weigel Copy Share
[Pope Francis] is 78 years old and knows that his will be a short pontificate. — George Weigel Copy Share
“Ideas are not intellectuals' toys: ideas have consequences, for good and for ill, in what even intellectuals sometimes call "the real world".” — George Weigel Copy Share
![“[Pope Francis] is 78 years old and knows that his will be a short pontificate.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/6aa/george-weigel-9372_knows_pope-francis-is-78-years-old-and-knows-t_577438.jpg)
![“The pope [Francis] knows that the marriage culture is in crisis throughout the world, and so is the family.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/e22/george-weigel-9372_crisis_the-pope-francis-knows-that-the-marriage_744194.jpg)
![“[Pope Francis] has felt the mercy of God in his own life and wants to share that experience with others.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/df4/george-weigel-9372_compassion_pope-francis-has-felt-the-mercy-of-god-i_2210370.jpg)
![“When media "narratives" about [Pope] Francis get set in concrete, and act as filters bending or distorting (or ignoring) aspects of his vision and his teaching that don't fit the established story line, the Church has a problem.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/67e/george-weigel-9372_aspect_when-media-narratives-about-pope-francis_2165545.jpg)
![“The colossal mess in Vatican finances that [Pope] Francis inherited has been cleaned up, and cleaned out. Real budgeting and accounting procedures are in place; so are real professionals, not somebody's nephew.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/a0b/george-weigel-9372_accounting_the-colossal-mess-in-vatican-finances-th_1349672.jpg)
![“The pope [Francis] speaks with great passion about the shame we should all feel when, as he puts it, "a man does not have the dignity of earning bread for his family," but is turned into a peripheral person, a welfare client, a dependent.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/35f/george-weigel-9372_bread_the-pope-francis-speaks-with-great-passi_2130414.jpg)
![“Then [Catholics] owe [pope] the loyalty that is expressed in speaking the truth to him - and that puts a premium on knowing whether what you're happy about, on unhappy about, has a basis in fact, or is merely a reflection of the "narrative.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/a24/george-weigel-9372_bases_then-catholics-owe-pope-the-loyalty-that_1212464.jpg)
![“[Jesus Christ to Pope Francis] is the Lord with whom he speaks for hours every day in prayer. The Risen One who reached out, touched his life, and called him into mission.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/f85/george-weigel-9372_christ_jesus-christ-to-pope-francis-is-the-lord_1998729.jpg)
![“If [Pope's Francis] media-generated popularity, fragile as that may turn out to be when the world discovers that the pope is really a Catholic, opens windows of possibility for explaining that divine mercy leads us to the truths God revealed to us (and inscribed into the world and into us), then…” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/fee/george-weigel-9372_catholic_if-pope-s-francis-media-generated-popula_1999412.jpg)
![“The pope [Francis] takes his vocabulary from his pastoral experience, not from the rhetorical tool kit of liberation theology, with its Marxist yammering about "center" and "periphery." The "peripheries," for Francis, are all those who have fallen through the cracks of late-modernity and…” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/14f/george-weigel-9372_argentina_the-pope-francis-takes-his-vocabulary-fr_261899.jpg)
![“Perhaps the dumbest of these story lines is that [Pope] Francis has re-opened conversation and debate in a Church that had been closed and claustrophobic for 35 years under John Paul II and Benedict XVI. I defy anyone who, over the last 35 years, has spent time on the campuses of Notre Dame or…” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/4fe/george-weigel-9372_benedict-xvi_perhaps-the-dumbest-of-these-story-lines_1945253.jpg)
![“I hope ["reanimated the papacy"] means that the new interest in the pope evokes a new interest in the Church's teaching, of which the pope is the custodian.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/a8e/george-weigel-9372_church_i-hope-reanimated-the-papacy-means-that_225548.jpg)
![“[Pope Francis]sees a world in need of the Gospel, and of friendship with Jesus Christ, as an antidote to the self-absorption and loneliness that are eating away at the solidarity of the human community.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/79d/george-weigel-9372_absorption_pope-francis-sees-a-world-in-need-of-the_343248.jpg)
![“[Pope] Francis ought to be taken at his word when he says, as he has often done, that he is a son of the Church who believes and teaches what the Catholic Church believes and teaches.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/237/george-weigel-9372_believe_pope-francis-ought-to-be-taken-at-his-wo_2551712.jpg)
![“[Pope Francis] comes to that conviction [of family crisis] as a pastor, not as Brad Wilcox or Charles Murray. So he wants to challenge the Church to find pastoral responses to that crisis that meet real human needs.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/9ab/george-weigel-9372_brad_pope-francis-comes-to-that-conviction-of_1491977.jpg)
![“But ripped out of context, ["Who am I to judge?" phrase] has become an all-purpose filter through which everything else - including the pope's multiple reaffirmations of Humanae Vitae, Paul VI's encyclical on the morally appropriate means of family planning - gets airbrushed out of the picture.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/b1d/george-weigel-9372_appropriate_but-ripped-out-of-context-who-am-i-to-ju_146817.jpg)
![“[Pope] Francis communicates the pastoral embrace of the Church, the breadth and inclusiveness of Catholicism symbolized by the Bernini colonnade around St. Peter's Square, in a powerful way.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/06a/george-weigel-9372_bernini_pope-francis-communicates-the-pastoral-e_495970.jpg)
![“By the same token, the new and stringent Ultramontanism on the Catholic Left - in which even the mildest questions about how things are working in this pontificate are denounced as treasonous disloyalty - is an affront to the open conversation for which the pope [FRANCIS] has called.” quote by George Weigel](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/e10/george-weigel-9372_affront_by-the-same-token-the-new-and-stringent_1885252.jpg)
