Douthat is wrong, as he almost always is. I was raised Catholic by two devout parents and spent 12 years in Catholic parochial schools in New York City. In my mid teens I left the church, vowing never to return, and now, 50 years later, I am still consider myself a ‘recovered Catholic.' With the election of Francis I, for the first time I felt that I might actually return to the Catholic Church because of the man's true Christianity. He is not tied to strict adherence to every word of an out of date, out of touch doctrine ruled by a self-serving hierarchy that has ignored and sometimes covered up rampant child and sexual abuse for its own benefit. Rather, he exemplifies the true spirit of what it means to be a Catholic and a Christian with his humility, openness, and compassion. That is why the conservatives hate him and falsely claims the church is a failure today. Even my Protestant first cousin—her mother was a Lutheran, my uncle my father's brother a Catholic—said of Francis I of whom she was and is very impressed: 'They had no idea who they elected, did they?´ Too many of the Catholic hierarchy are more concerned with themselves and their power and position to realize that Francis I and his wish for open dialogue with us recovered Catholics as well as other Christians, indeed, all other religions, is the only way forward to make Catholicism and indeed Christianity relevant again.

Douthat is wrong, as he almost always is. I was raised Catholic by two devout parents and spent 12 years in Catholic parochial schools in New York City. In my mid teens I left the church, vowing never to return, and now, 50 years later, I am still consider myself a ‘recovered Catholic.' With the election of Francis I, for the first time I felt that I might actually return to the Catholic Church because of the man's true Christianity. He is not tied to strict adherence to every word of an out of date, out of touch doctrine ruled by a self-serving hierarchy that has ignored and sometimes covered up rampant child and sexual abuse for its own benefit. Rather, he exemplifies the true spirit of what it means to be a Catholic and a Christian with his humility, openness, and compassion. That is why the conservatives hate him and falsely claims the church is a failure today. Even my Protestant first cousin—her mother was a Lutheran, my uncle my father's brother a Catholic—said of Francis I of whom she was and is very impressed: 'They had no idea who they elected, did they?´ Too many of the Catholic hierarchy are more concerned with themselves and their power and position to realize that Francis I and his wish for open dialogue with us recovered Catholics as well as other Christians, indeed, all other religions, is the only way forward to make Catholicism and indeed Christianity relevant again.

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