In a rare bit of news that everyone but the haters can enjoy, Pope Francis has once again lived up to his reputation for interpreting the Gospel as words of peace.

In the decade since Pope Francis ascended to the head of the Church, he has coordinated efforts to reach out to LGBTQ+ people and has attempted to make the church more responsive to the needs of all members of their faith.

That has angered conservative leaders in the church, most especially American cardinals, who seek to return the Catholic church to a more regressive time.

The battle inside the Catholic church has been brewing for some time, with factions that want to continue to hide the shame of some of the church’s emissaries, and factions who want to expose the sins of the church so as to be redeemed.

According to a new AP report, Francis is taking a second strict action against a conservative American church leader — this time Cardinal Raymond Burke:

“Francis said he was removing Burke’s privileges of having a subsidized Vatican apartment and salary as a retired cardinal because he was using the privileges against the church.”

It’s that last bit that angers conservatives so much. For many years, the “tenets” of the church were decided by council — most famously when deciding which books went into the Bible. But Francis has been largely immovable in his interpretation of God as a loving, inclusive figure who accepts far more than the church has previously allowed.

Burke has called gays “evil” and said that pastors “must protect [the faithful] from the poison of confusion, error and division.”

I remarked to a friend recently that it amazed me how preachers and ministers and pastors and priests were all allowed (or even expected) to talk about God as vengeful and angry. But those who have talked about God as being tolerant and loving are considered heretical.

That’s happened within Protestant faiths as well, and most especially among the evangelical churches of America. There is a megachurch here in my hometown that regularly has strongman competitions, teaches proper handling of assault rifles, and has built their own school to teach history and science as they see fit.

But the actions of Pope Francis give us all hope. One day, perhaps church leaders can become a council once more, and this time decided that God is actually a pretty nice character.