I left the Jesuits as the sensationalist media celebrated Pope Francis a media that gives him a free pass at every opportunity, after every selfie with an adorable child. I knew that most Jesuits were gay and that many younger Jesuits are confounded by Pope Francis’s liberalism, notwithstanding their personal rage at internal church politics. I knew that there were about as many straight priests and seminarians as there were gay priests and seminarians. I knew that groups like Call to Action, New Ways Ministry, and the Women’s Ordination Conference work tirelessly to change the status quo but fail time and again to be recognized by the Vatican.
I knew that numbers were inflated, that most parishes count the number of baptized members as part of their census, not the number of active members in good standing. When I left religious life last July I knew many things about the state of the Roman Catholic Church.
