Francis Believes in Vatican II

Another triumphant September sunset - golden this time.
After Pope Benedict retired and we were wondering who the next pope might be, I told many people that I was praying for someone who loved the world and believed in Vatican II.  In the interview that was published this week, Father Francis definitely comes across as the answer to that prayer.
The Jesuits aim "to seek and find God in all things."  Francis finds God in contemporary culture.  He talks about music and movies and art that he likes.  He says, "There is a temptation to find God in the past....But the "concrete" God, so to speak, is today."  Complaining about how wicked this world is doesn't help people to find God.
Francis finds God in every person today.  He says, "Even if the life a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs, or anything else, God is in this person's life."  Finding God in the people and the culture of today is what I mean by loving the world.
Because he sees God in the present world, he sees the value in the Vatican Council's bringing the  Gospel and the Church up to date.  The dogma of the Church must develop because "human self-understanding changes with time, and so human consciousness deepens....There were ecclesiastical rules and precepts that were once effective, but now have lost their meaning and value."
Father Francis says, "Vatican II was a re-reading of the Gospel in the light of contemporary culture," a renewal whose fruits are enormous and absolutely irreversible.
I am deeply grateful to God for sending us this man who loves the world and believes in Vatican II.