Is the Pope a Radical?

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)