Over at Vatican Insider, Andrea Tornielli looks at the side of Joseph Ratzinger's writings and speeches that many so-called "Raztingerians" forgot, a little too conveniently I might add. This article confirms for me two things I have noticed about those who continually try and note the continuity between Pope Benedict and Pope Francis. First, in making the comparison, these mostly right-of-center writers appeal to those parts of Benedict's speeches that people like me always loved and which they ignored. Second, there really is a deep continuity between Benedict and Francis, but there is virtually no continuity between Benedict as interpreted by U.S.-based Catholic neo-cons and Pope Francis. That is why they are tying themselves into pretzels now that Francis is speaking in such plain language, he cannot be misunderstood.
