It's been 4 days since I wrote about Pope Francis

In the past two weeks I've written twice about Pope Francis and concluded that, despite early hopes that he would be different from the two other 21st century popes, it seemed as though he was spouting the same old b.s.  Then, today comes a report of an interview he gave on the plane back to Rome.  He talked with the reporters for over an hour and, according to reporters, considered every question they raised, be it on homosexuality, women or the Vatican Bank.

John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter summarizes the main points of the interview:

• Replied when asked about the Vatican's alleged "gay lobby" that while a lobby might be an issue, he doesn't have any problem with the inclination to homosexuality itself: "Who am I to judge them if they're seeking the Lord in good faith?" he said.
• Conceded he doesn't yet know what to do about the Vatican bank, saying it could become an ethical bank, an assistance fund for good causes, or be closed altogether.
• Said he hasn't run into significant resistance to reform inside the Vatican and joked that if there really is a "gay lobby," he hasn't yet seen it stamped on anyone's ID cards.
• Argued for the importance of women in the church, yet said John Paul II "definitively ... closed the door" to women priests. He called for a deeper "theology of women" beyond disputed questions such as whether they can be lectors at Mass or head Vatican agencies such as Caritas Internationalis.
• Said a preliminary investigation had been conducted regarding charges of immoral conduct against his hand-picked prelate for the Vatican bank, Italian Msgr. Battista Ricca, and the investigation "found nothing."
• Said of Msgr. Nunzio Scarano, the former Vatican accountant who was recently arrested for alleged involvement in a plot to smuggle $26 million in cash into Italy, that he's not in jail "because he resembles the Blessed Imelda" -- an Argentinian expression meaning he doesn't seem to be any saint.
• Suggested that the Synod of Bishops may be in for a shake-up in the direction of both greater efficiency and greater collegiality.

Allen goes into greater length and quotes excerpts from Francis' comments.  This article certainly made me change my opinion and adopt a wait-and-see attitude.