I knew before this week that the Pope is a man of good will. As I read his speech to Congress, it dawned too that his is a mind of extraordinary subtlety.
He is the opposite of a fundamentalist. He sees the mix of good and evil in all -- in persons, political systems, historical events. As he speaks, he keeps flipping the Janus head: Every chastisement is an affirmation. Every affirmation -- of, say, an inherited national virtue -- is a challenge.
The Pope's paragraphs take swift turns.You think he's headed one way, and he goes into reverse -- present to past, praise to reproach, abortion to death penalty. He sees six sides to everything.
Follow the switchbacks in this passage appealing to our better angels:
He is the opposite of a fundamentalist. He sees the mix of good and evil in all -- in persons, political systems, historical events. As he speaks, he keeps flipping the Janus head: Every chastisement is an affirmation. Every affirmation -- of, say, an inherited national virtue -- is a challenge.
The Pope's paragraphs take swift turns.You think he's headed one way, and he goes into reverse -- present to past, praise to reproach, abortion to death penalty. He sees six sides to everything.
Follow the switchbacks in this passage appealing to our better angels:
