Pope Mensch

The smoke pouring out of the chimneys at the Russian consulate in San Francisco yesterday could only mean one thing, news from the pope.

And what an interesting tidbit it was, Pope Francis has let on that he once regularly saw a female jewish psychotherapist while in his forties, in order to get some clarity in his life. So he needed to spill, what's the big deal? Half of New York was in therapy in the seventies.

I have to say, not even focussing on that episode, I love this particular pope. In fact he is the greatest pope of my lifetime, if a non catholic jewish agnostic gets a vote. The kind of pope that I think that even Jesus would dig. A guy that walks the walk and talks the talk. And looks his demons square in the eye.

I know that he upsets some of the more conservative of his flock with what at times seems like a very christian message but to the rest of us he is the pope we have always dreamed about.

I hope you don't mind if I kvell but this guy is just a mensch. Humble, bright, loving and intensely human, no wonder he causes such consternation in the hallowed halls of the Vatican.

"One day, when she was about to die, she called me. Not to receive the sacraments, since she was Jewish, but for a spiritual dialogue." He added, "She was a good person. For six months she helped me a lot."
At the time of his psychoanalysis sessions, Francis was a Jesuit official in his native Argentina, which was then ruled by military dictatorship. Robert Mickens, the English-language editor of the Catholic daily La Croix, tells the Guardian that Francis has offered a thumbs-up in the past to the social sciences and their effect on human development, and that the Roman Catholic Church has slowly come around to the concept of psychotherapy since the '70s. For those wondering if Francis got the clarification he needed, the 80-year-old pontiff told Wolton he now feels free. "I'm in a cage at the Vatican, but not spiritually," he said. "Nothing frightens me." He also took aim at priests who are "rigid and afraid to communicate."

Must have been refreshing to meet somebody who wasn't genuflecting, who treated him like a human being, no more, no less.

If things ever get real squirrelly for you in Rome Father, I think that you will always find kindred spirits in Manhattan or Brooklyn. I will meet you there and we can order some pastries from Katz's and the smoked fish platter from Barney Greengrass. We can kibitz a little bit, take the pradas off and put our feet on the furniture. At this point I feel like we are almost mishpucha, pontiff. You rock.