Is the Pope Catholic?

This question used to be a silly joke, like “Does a bear have hair?” or “Does a bear pee in the forest?” But it has become, for many of us, a pressing question. I have serene confidence in the faith of Pope Francis which I see as deep and edifying in some ways but weak and challenged in others. With the father of the boy with an evil spirit (Lk 9:24), and with all of us, our Holy Father has to pray: “Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief.” Three dimensions of faith can be distinguished even as they interpenetrate each other: the intellectual (Truth) in its clarity and depth of perception of the spiritual realities; the mystical or prayer dimension (Beauty or Splendor of God) in the soul’s intimate, silent communion with God; and the drama (Good) in which we act out and express our love for God and neighbor. Father Groeschel said that often a saint is especially strong in one or the other: e.g. St. Thomas in the first; St. John of the Cross in the second; St. Mother Theresa of Calcutta in the third. Pope Francis is very strong in the dramatic or action aspect as he is so strongly drawn to the poor and needy. A real “Martha”...he is exemplary! He also seems to have a profound and distinctive friendship with Christ as his homilies are (for me) inspiring. His weakness is intellectual: he is really an "emotivist" in that he works from feeling and spiritual intuitions and does not think in a systematic manner. He is confused about some things and therefore confusing. This does not make him a bad person; but it makes him a weak pope since the pope’s main job is to teach. This brings to mind the “Peter Principle” which stated that one rises in an organization to the position where he is weakest. When I taught in a Catholic high school, a sister, a marvelous woman and outstanding teacher,  was a catastrophe as principal. But I am not worried about the Church. The Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, is SO much bigger that the pope. And we have had much worse. The Church will survive. In the parish of my youth (St. John’s, Orange, NJ) our pastor, was a flamboyant eccentric who was never around. Randomly, he would appear in Church in phantom-of-the-opera-like cape and dash around nervously and then disappear for a few more months. But the parish flourished with fine priests, huge school with sisters of charity and christian brothers, and tons of large families. The Church did not just survive, it flourished! (By way of analogy, I am not worried about the USA under Trump either: the institutions are strong and resilient and the organism is basically healthy...nothwithstanding the spiritual/moral/cultural crisis!)  The book “Gathering of the Ungifted” raised, for me, a question over 40 years ago: How does the Church deal with those with weak faith? Those who deny or doubt essential beliefs? Is there a litmus test: if you don’t believe certain things you are expelled? The answer was a firm NO! There is no litmus test. Actually we are all weak in faith and in need of God’s grace. If one is gifted, gratuitiously and serenditiously, with powerful attraction to the poor, and to prayer and liturgy, and to the teachings of the Church, than one should drop to the floor in gratitude and adoration; proclaim oneself unworthy of such a precious gift of faith; and be most tender, kind and patient with those not so gifted. Among those I would include our Holy Father. May the Holy Spirit protect him, console him, strengthen him especially in his weakness, and infuse him with wisdom, knowledge and understanding!