The Hawk wrote:
I don't know if he is the worst bu he's definitely a bad one. Pius XII was an awful pope also as a NAZI sort of collaborator. Francis has been a bad Catholic Church honcho for a long long time and a major reason why many Catholics including myself resent his actions to turn people away from the faith with his secular type fiats including this radical outrage. It will certainly be interesting what will happen when he goes to the great beyond and the Church will decide on a new pontiff given the huge split in the hierarchy.
I don't get all the angst about him. I for one appreciate much of what he has done, such as reforming the Curia, holding wasteful bishops and the Vatican bank more accountable, emphasizing the issue of climate change, and embracing those previoulsy disdained by the church, including LGBTs. How is any of that a bad thing? As for blessing g*ays, what is the big deal? Priests are already blessing anything and everything, even our pets.
Longish article but interesting read:
https://www.latimes.com/california/stor ... r-heard-ofOne excerpt:
Quote:
By any accurate yardstick, Pope Francis is no liberal.
He is emphatically opposed to abortion, even comparing it to hiring a hit man. He has referred to same-sex intimacy as sinful and refused to allow gay marriage in the church. He has not permitted women to become priests or divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion. He has kept the ban on contraception.
Yet he has become popular with liberals, even secular ones, for his focus on the environment and the poor and the respect and kindness he has shown marginalized groups. He has invited transgender Romans to his weekly audience and recently said trans people can serve as godparents and witnesses at weddings. He has met repeatedly with gay advocates and agreed this year it was permissible for priests to bless gay couples in some instances. (The Vatican on Monday released guidance about such blessings, saying that while they should in no way be confused with marriage rites, “the ordained minister could ask that the individuals have peace, health, a spirit of patience, dialogue, and mutual assistance — but also God’s light and strength to be able to fulfill his will completely.”)
Francis has rolled his eyes at what he sees as conservatives’ blind focus on sexual transgressions.
“We look at the so-called ‘sin of the flesh’ with a magnifying glass,” Francis said in August. “If you exploited your workers, if you lied or cheated, it didn’t matter. And instead [only] sins below the waist were relevant.”
William Doino Jr., a conservative Catholic writer who admires Francis, said that the pope “is a victim of mistaken identity” from both progressives who see him as a radical revolutionary and conservatives who view him as caving to the world.
“He’s neither. He’s sort of a transcendent figure,” said Doino. “He’s speaking from the classic Catholic position, but he’s digging more deeply into it.”
Fellow right-leaning Catholics, he said, often despise Francis because, rather than reading his writings for themselves, they allow liberals to define him in the media: “Then they react to that. They take the bait. It’s so ironic.”
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