Burn of the Day
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
I was born during the pontificate of St. Paul VI (I think that’s the first time I’ve written that). I’ve never studied the Council and what was passed in which years, so the only things I can say for certain about his era are the liturgical reforms (ick) and Humanae Vitae. I guess he’d be third on my list. God saw fit that the next pope’s reign would be short, and I’m not going to rank him.
I loved St. John Paul II. An era of glory for the Church. The best pontificate in my lifetime, but my second favorite. Benedict was pope during some tough years, but I liked him the best.
Francis? Least favorite, probably worst, but I think that St. Paul VI did more damage.
but I think that St. Paul VI did more damage.
Time will tell … Paul didn’t seek catastrophic change, but that may be Francis’ goal. The repercussions of this papacy could be decades in the making.