Is Pope Francis the Church’s saviour?

THE brisk sales of copies of Time magazine, with Pope Francis on the cover as Person of the Year, is yet another indicator of the growing popularity of the pontiff from Argentina. Yet none of this can disguise the fact the Church over which he presides is, in the words of Hans Kung, “gravely ill”.

The Swiss-born theologian, 85, in what may well be his last book, paints a bleak but realistic picture: “The Catholic Church is in its deepest crisis of confidence since the Reformation, and nobody can overlook it.”

Grave though the situation is, Kung believes it is still redeemable. “With the appointment of Pope Francis, we have an unprecedented opportunity, not seen since the days of John XXIII, to fulfil the aims and promises of his Second Vatican Council, and truly bring the Church into a meaningful dialogue with the modern world.”