BY ELIZABETH WONG
In following the news and having conversations with fellow Catholics, I've noticed that there is a whole spectrum of talk and controversy surrounding our new pontiff, Pope Francis.
On one hand, people have been seeing him as a hater and a bigot because he believes in marriage between one man and one woman, and that adoption by homosexual couples is "discrimination against the child." Naturally, they say, you can't expect much else from the Catholic Church in today's world.
On the other hand, others have seen him as a liberally-leaning destroyer of tradition because he washed women's feet (one of the women being a Muslim) during this past Holy Thursday liturgy, which was held not inside the Vatican, but at a juvenile delinquency center. Interestingly enough, many of these people also say that you can't expect much else from the Catholic Church in today's world.