As a Lutheran celebrating the quinicentennial of the 95 Theses this week, it always surprises me how far behind the times the Roman Catholic leadership can be.

As a Lutheran celebrating the quinicentennial of the 95 Theses this week, it always surprises me how far behind the times the Roman Catholic leadership can be. They're still dealing with some of the original causes of the Reformation, including celibacy, divorce, favoritism to the rich, and worship in the vernacular. Jorge Bergoglio is a good person. I feel like he hears the Holy Spirit, unlike the members of the curia from the "no new rules" camp. But I'm okay with new rules, being a member of the original revolutionary church. My group still has a lot of the old rules, but the rules should never get in the way of bringing a person into the grace of God. Latin mass is pretty neat, and makes for some great canting opportunities, but if you give it to a group of people who can't understand, how does that open a person's heart? How does excluding people who sin make sense in the context of everyone being a sinner? Denying reality is like denying a part of Creation; denying access to the community drives people into the ranks of the atheists. And hey, at least they don't use faith as a cudgel against reality. So, I wish Pope Francis the best of luck, and I hope that he can bring his branch of the church into a more loving, contemporary group.