Trojan Pope

Mary Eberstadt thinks that Francis is a Trojan Pope . In his recent encyclical, he denounces consumerism and the “throw-away” culture for its treatment of animals.

The Trojans cheer, but Eberstadt thinks that Francis is a sly one: “The bridge between the religious and secular world is obviously a two-way street. If its wrong to treat animals as mere things if doing so is one more corruption born of a consumerist mindset then how is it all right to regard unborn human beings under the blithe rubric of choice? Can a secular world be persuaded that compassion for living creatures of all kinds doesnt start and end at the slaughterhouse door? Evangelii Gaudium , like the pope himself, minces no words on what it means to have a consistent ethic of life: ‘Among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenseless and innocent among us.’”

She concludes, “Its one giant wooden horse that this Bishop of Rome is wheeling into the secular square these days, and the attention its getting bears at least passing comparison to that story from long-ago Troy. Now as then, the oohs and aahs of the village are upon this remarkable thing. Now as then, those present point to it with curiosity and excitement. But do they really know whats in that horse, and what it means to loose on them?”