Many of Francis’s critics speak of him in a way certain to drive others away from the Catholic Church, writes David Mills.

Alarmists had no reason to be so certain in their predictions and in the anxiety they encouraged. And the confusion they’ve sowed is far greater than harm done through the ugliness or actual effects of the synod itself.

Those invested in saving the family politically can easily become tyrants. Pope Francis gives an example of what good political and social rule—i.e., what being a parent—should look like.

What Francis and Sanders offer is the chance to work together for the common good (as they see it), and to create something communal and corporate.

Laudato Si’ tells us something important about Francis’s experience of conservatism, and also what he takes to be preventing us from conserving what is important in life.

Actually reading Laudato Si may convince some to look to Francis with the trust they gave Benedict. Francis is only saying what “the green pope” Benedict would say. The Church will gain if they do.

If Franciscanism highlights one thing above all, it’s that freedom is primarily intensive rather than extensive. This is the real brilliance of Francis of Assisi; and it’s the hallmark of true dialogue that we should be careful not to talk away.

The Church is challenged by global secularism that, with a radicalism hitherto unknown, tends to define man without God, closing the door to transcendence and destroying the common foundation of humanity.