Another voice has joined the fray in the aftermath of the Pope’s much-discussed interview. Pope Francis “is not a radical. He is something more interesting and unexpected both inside the church and out: a radical traditionalist,” claims Mary Eberstadt in Time . Eberstadt—a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, author of a number of books, and frequent contributor to First Things —offers a defense of Francis’ pragmatic realism and lauds his wise approach. Francis’ response, she argues, is practical without compromising principle; the Pope encourages us to reach out with “bigger nets” and to draw all men and women closer to truth in love.
Mary Eberstadt is a friend of the journal and gave a talk on her most recent book, How the West Really Lost Faith in God , this spring at office. ( Here is an interview she gave explaining and defending this book’s central points.) Read some of her more recent First Things articles here:
The Weight of Smut (2010)
For those of you who have an online subscription: Revolving Revolution (2013)
You have a decision to make: double or nothing.
For this week only, a generous supporter has offered to fully match all new and increased donations to First Things up to $60,000.
In other words, your gift of $50 unlocks $100 for First Things, your gift of $100 unlocks $200, and so on, up to a total of $120,000. But if you don’t give, nothing.
So what will it be, dear reader: double, or nothing?
Make your year-end gift go twice as far for First Things by giving now.
