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JMJ
Understanding in complex and complicated times is important.
If you don't understand the context then you haven't got enough information to make decisions.
... or at least you can't make good decisions.
So, let's get back to basics.
Introduction
Numerator / Denominator = Quotient (Remainder)
In statistics, the denominator helps you to assess the value of the numerator, it provides context.
A numerator without a denominator is just like a fact without context. There's no way of knowing how important or unimportant a number is without that context.
Let's say someone says that one million people believe X. The import of this number depends on the pool of people 'sampled'. One million people out of two or even ten million is quite significant, but out of a pool of one billion less so.
That's the beauty of context.
During the Pandemic people literally freaked out at some of the adverse event numbers.
They missed two important context setting numbers.
The size of the sample - ie how many people were in the study and how that stat compared with previous similar tests.
This is what context does for understanding. It puts things in perspective and that's what I did when I fact-checked articles that I felt merited my time (see Tradicat: Fact Check).
Context is, as I've heard, King. As some others have said, that "In the Kingdom of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is King". That Man is the person who understands the context of facts, opinions and statements.
As I implied in my latest series Tradicat: Who's In Charge, in the absence of context, there's a risk of forming false beliefs, beliefs that become so important anything that contradicts them evokes an emotional reaction. An emotional reaction that prevents rational thought and decision making.
So ... let's try and apply some context to a major recent event in the Catholic Church.
Yep, Religion ... not Politics.
Application
The major event or rather series of events that have come to a conclusion: The Pontificate of Pope Francis.
Right now, the events and emotions are too close, too raw. The context of Pope Francis' Pontificate is only seen in the light of the recent past to say about 100 years earlier.
So there is some context to assess the actions and statements of Pope Francis. It is safe to say that he presented a less than stellar concern for Church Doctrine.
What we don't know is the impact of his Pontificate and won't know for a decades.
That's why the Church used to move slowly on canonizations - they wanted to assess the long term impact of a person's life. That's why I felt that the canonization of all that was related to the Second Vatican Council seemed like an attempt to white-wash an era as opposed to a sober second reflection.
So, everyone can and will have opinions, both emotionally and rationally driven, about Pope Francis' Pontificate. But the impact, that last bit of context, is something that most of us will never see ... but the Church will.
The Church will ultimately judge the pontificate of Pope Francis as something to let die in the shadows or a pivotal point of recovery in this crisis.
Conclusion
What is the measure of a Pontificate?
Just a quick metaphorical thought on how to assess the last dozens of years:
Past(Good Works - Bad Works) * Future(Impacts) / Years = Worth
The formula means that we need to know the past - not just what we saw but the full story. That is something that we can't know ... so we need to practice patience and let the Church do what is does.
P^3
References
Terms Used in Division | Dividend | Divisor | Quotient | Remainder
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