Pope's new book opines on current events

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Pope Francis, never one to shy from controversy, wades boldly into the coronavirus debate with a new book in which he criticizes those who blame the virus on foreigners and people who protest church closings and mask mandates.

In his book, Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future, based on conversations he had with papal biographer Austen Ivereigh, Francis also speaks out on the protests against racial injustice, poverty, and the arms trade, saying those Catholics who refuse to join such movements give "a bad example, losing the sense of solidarity and fraternity with the rest of their brothers and sisters."

While dispensing homespun counsel, Francis does not hold back from provocative statements, especially concerning the way people and governments have reacted to the pandemic.

While never mentioning President Trump by name, the Pope makes unmistakable allusions to Trump's comments about the "China Virus," his downplaying of the seriousness of the pandemic, and his opposition to restrictions on public gatherings, all of which were regularly repeated by pro-Trump outlets.

Nor does Francis hold back in criticizing those who have resisted mask mandates.

"Some of the protests during the coronavirus have brought to the fore an angry spirit of victimhood," he writes, "but this time among people who are victims only in their own imagination: those who claim, for example, that being forced to wear a mask is an unwarranted imposition by the state, yet who forget or do not care about those who cannot rely, for example, on social security or who have lost their jobs."

In those protests, Francis sees examples of narcissism, "people who live off grievance, thinking only of themselves."

Francis lauds those who protested what he calls "the horrendous police killing of George Floyd," but he also criticizes those who call for the removal of statues that honor men of the past who held racist views.

"What worried me," he writes of those efforts, "was the desire to purify the past. Some wanted to project onto the past the history they would like to have now, which requires them to cancel what came before. But it should be the other way around. For there to be true history, there must be memory, which demands that we acknowledge the paths already trod, even if they are shameful."

In a remarkable section, Francis writes at length about what he sees as the proper role of women, whom he describes as "among those most affected and the most resilient in this crisis," both on the front lines of dealing with the pandemic and in positions of leadership.

"The countries with women as presidents or prime ministers have on the whole reacted better and more quickly than others," he writes, "making decisions swiftly and communicating them with empathy." He stops well short, however, of suggesting that women might qualify for ordination as priests.