Pope Francis on Tuesday called for major changes in the Roman Catholic Church – from the top down – saying he knows it will be a messy business but he expects his flock to dive in feet-first.
“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security,” the Pope said Tuesday in a major new address.
“I do not want a Church concerned with being at the center and then ends by being caught up in a web of obsessions and procedures.”
The Pope’s address, called an “apostolic exhortation,” is basically a pep talk from the throne of St. Peter. Officially known in Latin as “Evangelii Gaudium,” (The Joy of the Gospel) the 85-page document is the first official papal document written entirely by Francis.
