I read your editorial, “Pope revisits Church doctrine in new light,” and while I don’t mind your simple statement of moral philosophy — “love the sinner, hate the sin” — I believe you have missed something important in what Pope Francis is saying.

Certainly, he is criticizing the way some have spoken on behalf of the Catholic Church. When he says, “… it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time,” I think it is implicit that he knows that people have made that mistake.

But what is being shortchanged if sexual morality is being overemphasized? It is not other aspects of morality, but Christ Himself and the good news about Him. Pope Francis wants Catholics to go back to the basics of evangelization: “Proclamation in a missionary style focuses on the essentials, on the necessary things: this is also what fascinates and attracts more, what makes the heart burn…” The only reason that Pope Francis would downplay some aspects of church teaching would be to push more for the central mission: Christians must say, “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Brandon Biagioli,

graduate student in Law