I think I speak for everybody when I say that popes should be terrifying. Because that's the point of a pope, isn't it? To be gimlet-eyed and dictatorial and convinced of his own towering superiority over everyone else. To issue several unrealistic demands to follow the word of the Bible to the letter, ideally while simultaneously covering up all manner of dark secrets about the church's influence and clutching obscene levels of bling. That's what a pope should be. The last pope? Pretty much a textbook pope.
Pope Francis, though, I can't get on board with. Don't get me wrong, he seems like a brilliant human being. He seems kind and conscientious. He seems to realise that organised religion has lost its lustre, and he seems to understand why. He'd quite clearly be a fantastic dinner guest. I sort of wish he was my uncle. But as a pope? As a furious Old Testament pope? He's a bit rubbish.
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