Pope Francis "disruptive" to U.S. Roman Catholic bishops

Episcopal Cafe by Ann Fontaine  

 

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The National Catholic Reporter reports on Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis speaking at the annual assembly of the College Theology Society.

"The society, which represents lay and religious teachers of undergraduate theology from both Catholic and other ecumenical backgrounds":

... at several points in his 45-minute address and in answering questions from theologians afterward, the archbishop gave a frank assessment of the struggles facing the American church. In response to one question, Tobin even said some U.S. bishops are finding Pope Francis' leadership style difficult to understand."What I've seen is how disruptive Pope Francis has been within the hierarchy of the United States," said Tobin. "I was talking to a couple of brother bishops a while back and they were saying that bishops and priests were very discouraged by Pope Francis because he was challenging them."
"I think there was a particular image, perhaps, of what it means to be a pastoral leader in this country, and Francis is disturbing it," he continued. "I think there is some resistance to a different way of doing the Gospel mission of the church." The archbishop paused before continuing with a smile: "So, pray for Francis' health."