Pope’s ‘August surprise’ could be most counter-cultural stand of all

In American politics, the term “October surprise” refers to the possibility that an incumbent president trailing in the polls may use executive authority to try to shake up the race late in game. Going to war would be the classic scenario, but it could also be some major economic, social or foreign policy twist. Popes, of course, don’t have to stand for reelection, yet every year Pope Francis nonetheless has delivered what we might call an “August surprise” – doing or saying something that shakes up the status quo. The surprise usually isn’t so much whatever the pope did, but the fact he’s doing anything at all during a month when Italians are trained from birth to believe they have a natural law right to an undisturbed vacation.

Pope’s ‘August surprise’ could be most counter-cultural stand of all