Barbara Walters may have named Hillary Clinton the number one personality of her "Most Fascinating People of 2013" Wednesday night, but Pope Francis was also on her list. Unfortunately, it was for the wrong reasons.
While Walters did manage to applaud the “People’s Pope” for his willingness to mingle with crowds instead of distancing himself as former popes have done, the ABC journalist also praised Francis for “loosening the Church’s stance" on homosexuality and abortion.
This, she suggested, meant the Catholic Church was “returning to its roots” of not judging others.
It’s true that in the Bible you can find the verse, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” Yet Walters, as so many others have done, are using it for their own political agenda.
The pope’s “controversial” comments have been misconstrued by leftist and pro-choice organizations. The gay rights magazine The Advocate, for example, just named Francis their “Person of the Year” and the pro-choice organization NARAL once “thanked” him for his comments on abortion. What they don’t realize, however, is that Pope Francis not only opposes gay marriage, fighting against it while he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, but he is also a staunch defender of the unborn. Consider his powerful pro-life statement to a group of Catholic gynecologists:
“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.”
Can’t get much clearer than that.
Yet, Walters and others continue to take advantage of some of the pope’s more ambiguous remarks.
The Catholic Church has always defended traditional marriage and the right to life. I wonder, if Walters had understood this, would the Pope still have made her list?