Leah Libresco Sargeant Takes on "Pope Francis’s Muddled Mercy."

In her recent article, "Pope Francis’s Muddled Mercy," Leah Libresco Sargeant offers a scathing reflection on the ministry of Pope Francis through the lens of the central theme of the late Pope's ministry: mercy.

While acknowledging his personal acts of compassion, Sargeant argues that the Pope's public witness to mercy was often confused, selective, and at times dangerously misapplied—especially in cases involving serious moral wrongdoing. She distinguishes between the modern sentimental notion of mercy as mere kindness and the Christian understanding of mercy as a love that calls the sinner to repentance, a mercy that coexists with justice, not in opposition to it.

At the heart of her critique lies a tension between the public perception of Francis’s “merciful” image—embodied in soundbites like “Who am I to judge?”—and the deeper Christian imperative to name sin truthfully in order to heal it. Sargeant highlights the troubling leniency shown to abusive clergy such as Zanchetta and Rupnik, where the Pope’s so-called mercy functioned more as institutional shielding than pastoral care. She insists that true mercy demands accountability and conversion, not concealment.

Key to Sargeant's reflection is this: that mercy is divine power that heals what is broken—precisely because it does not ignore the fracture. In Orthodoxy, mercy (eleos) is inseparable from truth. The liturgical cry, "Lord, have mercy," is not a request to avoid consequences, but a plea for transformation. Christ’s mercy is cruciform: it reveals sin, bears it, and conquers it. It does not affirm us in our brokenness; it raises us from it.

Sargeant’s article is a sober reminder that pastoral charity without moral clarity is a counterfeit mercy. The world does not need a Church that merely soothes guilt but one that calls all, guilty and wounded alike, to the transforming light of Christ’s mercy, where judgment is not avoided but transfigured through repentance.

Read Sargeant's full critique here.

The Papacy Is Not a 'Development'—It's a Contradiction

The Holy Canons assert the absolute authority of each bishop within his own diocese. The Ecumenical Councils, while acknowledging the Pope's symbolic primacy, also explicitly checked his attempts to exercise superior authority over the Church, or to place himself above his fellow bishops. And the Church Fathers fleshed out this ecclesiology, affirming the rights of bishops and synods while checking papal ambitions.

Meet the New Rome, Same as the Old Rome

J.D. Vance’s comparison of the Ecumenical Patriarch to the Pope highlights growing tensions within Orthodoxy, as critics accuse Patriarch Bartholomew of pursuing "Greek papism" and aligning with U.S. geopolitical interests, risking the erosion of his primacy of love and the unity of the Orthodox Church.

The Trial of Met. Tychikos: When the Church ‘Washes Her Hands’

A look at the clear parallels between Pilate’s trial and the trial of Met. Tychikos.

From Protestant Pastor to Orthodox Priest

Joshua Genig was the son of devout Lutherans. From an early age, he dreamed of serving the Lutheran church as a pastor and teacher. He got his wish—and yet one thought kept him up at night: "Is any of this real?" After years of searching, Genig and his family were received into the Orthodox Church, and the Rev. Mr. Genig is now Father Joshua.

Analysis: The ‘Appeal’ of Metropolitan Tikhikos and the Patriarchal Synod

The Synod of the Church of Constantinople is going to review the high-profile appeal of Metropolitan Tychikos, who was removed from the Paphos See by the Cypriot Synod. What decision will the Synod members of Constantinople make?

The Abp. of Cyprus, the Euros, and the Phanar

What explains the certainty of the Archbishop of Cyprus that the Patriarchate will validate his own and the Synod’s illegal actions in the case of Tychikos? Does he know the decision long before the Synod convenes?