“Best pope ever”: Still pretty awful!

[marmar]

from Salon:


“Best pope ever”: Still pretty awful!
Pope Francis may be the best of the bunch, but that really isn't saying much

BY KATIE MCDONOUGH


Pope Francis on Thursday said some good things about how the Catholic Church has become “obsessed” with the issues of abortion, contraception and gay marriage, and that it has done so at the expense of other Catholic doctrine, like loving your neighbor and being generous to those in need.

In an lengthy interview with La Civiltà Cattolica, the pope admonished some in the church for their near-singular focus on these issues, saying, “We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that.

“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality,” he continued. “I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: When God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person.” He is also showing some movement on celibacy in the priesthood, has discussed poverty as a central issue of his papacy and elected to live in a modest Vatican apartment over the papal palace.

These are fine things for the spiritual head of the world’s 1 billion Catholics to say and do. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.salon.com/2013/09/20/best_pope_ever_still_pretty_awful/

[xchrom]

1. du rec.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

2. Well, kinda

My feeling is we seem to have somehow stumbled into a period of reconciliation, limited as it may be. Rouhani in Iran is making some very interesting noises too. He just now tweeted this out: Gov is pursuing #civil #rights. We'll introduce citizens' rights charter soon. We want to see people completely free in their private lives.
I'd let these leaders crawl along towards a saner future. Beats the heck out of more Pope Rat and Ahmedenijad.

[Bluenorthwest]

4. Except Fancis has not changed anything, he is Pope Rat with a softer copy writer.

He endorses all the bigoted dogma, fully and loudly.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. I see the praise of this Pope as straight people rejoicing that they have found a way to keep being

anti gay while insinuating that they are not. They are delighted, these straight folks, that they have a hero to pattern their own anti gay ways after.

[theHandpuppet]

6. +1

Well said -- even though there are many who will not want to hear the truth.

[treestar]

5. It's the Church positions on things

that are "pretty awful" and a lot of Catholics don't subscribe to them, it appears, including the Pope. Improvement is a good thing.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. Clearly you skipped the article. Francis subscribes to them all. Says so.

He's a theological conservative and he's playing his base like other conservative politicians do. There is no improvement, just some well crafted rhetoric.

[theHandpuppet]

7. Another excerpt

Folks need to read the whole article, which includes passages such as this...

In April, Francis reaffirmed his predecessor’s censure of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella organization that represents 80 percent of Catholic nuns in the United States. These nuns were penalized by the Vatican, and continue to be penalized, for focusing on poverty instead of stoking moral panic about the existence of gay people or sexually active teenagers — exactly the kind of community-centered work that Francis just declared sorely missing from the church.

In the report admonishing the sisters, and stripping them of the independent authority to develop their own charter and conduct their own business, the Vatican said they were undermining “issues of crucial importance to the life of Church and society, such as the Church’s Biblical view of family life and human sexuality” and promoting “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.”

Francis’ censure places these women under the full authority of the Vatican and its “program of reform,” which includes the appointment of three male bishops to manage the rewriting of the nuns’ conference statutes, review its community-based programs and otherwise ensure the group “properly” follows Catholic teaching.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. He's actually a more duplicitous and aggressively dishonest Pope than any before him, he is willing

to speak deceptive rhetoric that get idiots to say 'best Pope ever' then the next day he 'clarifies' his point. He used vicious anti gay speech in Argentina to make himself famous. Horrible things this awful conman said about his neighbors. He is not better, but worse than his predecessors for he does the same things while claiming to do otherwise.

[Fearless]

10. He is a politican like all popes

Whose main job is to bring in the donors to keep them in power and relevant. He'll say and promise anything that will do that. Whether he actually follows through on real changes is another thing entirely. It's doubtful.

[Dawson Leery]

11. +1

The RCC was founded as a political organization with the only goal to attain power and resources.

This current Pope seems willing to forgo making abortion and gay issues the only matters for the church.

[rug]

13. By whom?

[Ohio Joe]

12. He is the pope... If he wanted change he could do it...

He just wants some good PR for a change.