The New Year's Hand Slap: Why It's Disconcerting

On New Year's Eve, a small Chinese woman grabbed the hand of Pope Francis who in turn slapped hers twice in order to free himself. The look on his face was visibly angry.


The video has gone viral. It seems that no one is without commentary either in defense or in outrage against Pope Francis. There seems to be no middle ground.


Those who defend Francis primarily use the argument that he is old and frail. The woman in question should not have grabbed him and pulled him so forcefully. Both these statements I agree with.


Yet to say that Francis was completely justified in his reaction is to ignore his larger pattern. The list of examples demonstrating his anger and contempt toward faithful Catholics is far too long. He has a history that is disturbing.


He attacks traditional Catholics as having a mental disorder. He ignores the concerns of the faithful while granting audiences to those who are openly against Catholic teaching. He fails to deny that he holds heretical positions.


His defenders dismiss his critics as extremists who simply have a personal dislike for Francis. What they miss is all of the above examples showing the gravity of the situation. Examples that are verifiable. Some probably follow George Weigel's advice to follow only those outlets that are always johnny-come-lately to every single scandal in the Church.


What seems extremist and polemical language to some really isn't extremist at all. It's those who are awake shouting in an effort to awaken others from their slumber. We are the firemen coming into the burning building to bring you to safety.


The question remains - how did we get here? How is it that this kind of incident could happen in the first place?


Taylor Marshall and Matt Gaspers, in a recent episode of the Taylor Marshall Show, offered their take.


The modern view of who the pope is is distorted. John Paul II ushered in an era of the "celebrity" pope. We all want to shake his hand or get a high five. We all want to get an autograph the same way we would want the autograph of Brad Pitt.


Now the Pope comes down and obliges this desire. It is an effort at egalitarianism. This spirit of egalitarianism has infected the Church and puts the pope in danger.


There's no rule that says the pope should always be out and about. There's no rule that says he should be flying around giving interviews and having photo ops. There's no set minimum of papal documents that should be written, or even that any should be written.


If we were to return to the full-on tradition that Pope Francis seems to vilify every chance he gets, these incidents could be entirely avoided. There would be far less scandal and far less to dislike about this papacy. I think both his critics and his defenders would breathe a sigh of relief.


To all you defenders, I ask you to give the critics another look. I ask you to have the same open mind that you ask us to have of Francis. Sure there are plenty of things where disagreement is permissible, but we can never compromise on the truth.