Conversion to Catholism is suddenly "cool"?

[muriel_volestrangler]

51. The op-ed author is a far right Catholic who thought Francis was awful

How Pope Francis fought the church – and lost

In the course of his 12-year pontificate, Francis managed to undermine the clarity of the Church’s teaching on several hot-button issues. But he did not change any dogmas. And with his death, he leaves behind a Church that is tired of the confusion, and a generation of young Catholics who love the Church precisely for the rules he tried to liberalize.

Since the sexual revolution, Catholic liberals have hoped for a pope who would bring the Church in line with secular social trends. This faction regarded Francis’ papal predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI as arch-conservative arch-villains.

Francis was their hero, a pope who came to the throne describing social conservatives as “whited sepulchres” and “little monsters” who “like to throw stones.” Armed with papal infallibility, he could bring some overdue change.
...
Liberals had predicted a “Francis effect” on Church attendance, a “return to parishes on a mass scale” in the words of biographer Austen Ivereigh, in response to Francis’ liberal words and deeds. Instead, weekly Mass attendance has stagnated since 2008, at around one-quarter of Catholics. Priestly vocations continue to decline. The only growth is among priests and lay Catholics who possess the very “trad” sensibility that Francis sought to eradicate. As the cardinals meet to elect the next pope, they should consider these facts.

https://nypost.com/2025/04/26/opinion/how-pope-francis-fought-the-church-and-lost/

And she thought Leo would reverse it all - oh dear, what a shame, Leo is a far better person than she will ever be:

How Pope Leo XIV will end the Catholic Church’s ‘age of arbitrariness’

During his 12-year pontificate, Pope Francis urged Catholics to shake up their church and “make a mess” if they had to. It seems he took his own advice a bit too literally, because he left a mess for his successor, Pope Leo XIV, whose inaugural Mass will take place this Sunday.

In today’s Catholic Church, confusion reigns on core teachings, conservative and liberal factions are at war, the Vatican is on the verge of a liquidity crisis, and corruption infests the bureaucracy.

The good news? Leo might actually be the man to clean it all up.

A pope’s No. 1 job is to secure doctrinal and ecclesial unity. But Francis prioritized outreach to the unbelieving and half-believing, and he regarded Catholics who adhere firmly to Catholic dogma as mere impediments.

His strategy of condemning churchgoing Catholics and their hardworking priests — always a pope’s most faithful followers — as Pharisees was not exactly a master class in leadership. Then he issued documents that appeared to contradict settled Catholic teaching on gay relationships and remarriage after divorce, and the Church was thrown into chaos.

https://nypost.com/2025/05/17/opinion/how-poep-leo-xiv-will-end-the-catholic-churchs-age-of-arbitrariness/