Pope Francis I

[Hitchey]

Hopefully this puts an end to the incessant pope news on CBC radio.

You must be Canadian?

 

[BSM1]

Perhaps by some juvenile and insensitive fool, but why pay any attention to such a person?

No, this was noted on a main stream news commentary.

 

[Hitchey]

Why would someone be catholic if he/she wanted to have a reformed church?

Its not like there arent any reformed churches out there.

Never understood that...

I suppose it is because people often wish to remain a member of the organization they were part of since childhood.

Also, if one is a member of an Old Boys Club that doesn't allow female members (and there might still be a few around), and you love the opulent decor and the golfing range but want to bring your girlfriend, wife, or mistress, you can either quit or reform the regulations. If the other option is a converted bowling hall on the other side of town, it may not have the same appeal.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

No, this was noted on a main stream news commentary.

So was bigfoot.

 

[sandandfoam]

I heard on the news that this prayer influenced the new popes choice of name

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.


O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen​

He's old but hopefully he is a change.

 

[Falvlun]

Hmm. After the Pope was announced, a bunch of stories came up in my Facebook feed about his complicity with Argentina's military dictatorship... for instance, there was this 2011 article from the Guardian:



The sins of the Argentinian church | Hugh O'Shaughnessy | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

And this article is a bit less accusatory, but still doesn't put the new Pope in the most positive of lights:

Will Francis's role during Argentina's 'Dirty War' come back to haunt him? | FP Passport

From what I've read, it appears that it's far from resolved his involvement. In contrast, there are stories of how he helped various political undesirables escape certain imprisonment, and worked behind the scenes to get those imprisoned released or given leniency.

I suspect that when you get caught in the middle of such brutality, and when you are in such a visual position, you need to choose your actions wisely and carefully in order to not fall a victim yourself, which in turn, would eliminate your ability to help others.

But that said, I also suspect that most people in high positions have skeletons in their closets and decisions that later haunt them. Ain't nobody perfect.

 

[Flankerl]

I suppose it is because people often wish to remain a member of the organization they were part of since childhood.

Also, if one is a member of an Old Boys Club that doesn't allow female members (and there might still be a few around), and you love the opulent decor and the golfing range but want to bring your girlfriend, wife, or mistress, you can either quit or reform the regulations. If the other option is a converted bowling hall on the other side of town, it may not have the same appeal.

Then they should probably accept reality.

 

[Alceste]

Why would someone be catholic if he/she wanted to have a reformed church?

Its not like there arent any reformed churches out there.


Never understood that...



As far as the pope is concerned he looked uncomfortable.

I don't understand why any woman would belong to any strictly patriarchal religion, myself. Makes no sense at all.

OTOH, I knew a Catholic who explained to me that everybody who isn't a Catholic is going to hell or purgatory or something. I suppose that kind of thinking probably motivates quite a few people to stay in awful religions.

 

[Alceste]

You must be Canadian?

Yep! BC.

 

[sandandfoam]

Yep! BC.

That just gave me an instant image of Canadians as Flintstones

 

[Alceste]

That just gave me an instant image of Canadians as Flintstones

I am into dinosaurs. I've got a little collection of bones.

 

[thau]

I don't understand why any woman would belong to any strictly patriarchal religion, myself. Makes no sense at all.

OTOH, I knew a Catholic who explained to me that everybody who isn't a Catholic is going to hell or purgatory or something. I suppose that kind of thinking probably motivates quite a few people to stay in awful religions.

It only motivates the ignorant, or those just looking for a reason to avoid having to concern themselves with God and Catholicism.

Not unlike those who act so despairing because females are so repressed in the Catholic faith. What a joke. One item that few in the Church have the zeal any longer to try to explain to them or to the phony media.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

From what I've read, it appears that it's far from resolved his involvement. In contrast, there are stories of how he helped various political undesirables escape certain imprisonment, and worked behind the scenes to get those imprisoned released or given leniency.

I suspect that when you get caught in the middle of such brutality, and when you are in such a visual position, you need to choose your actions wisely and carefully in order to not fall a victim yourself, which in turn, would eliminate your ability to help others.

But that said, I also suspect that most people in high positions have skeletons in their closets and decisions that later haunt them. Ain't nobody perfect.

I suppose. However, the average politician doesn't make themselves out to be a moral authority.

Also, I suppose he fact that he's the last dictator in Europe may be colouring my perception of him.

 

[Hitchey]

I don't understand why any woman would belong to any strictly patriarchal religion, myself. Makes no sense at all.

Ignorance and fear are what keep them there, I suspect.

OTOH, I knew a Catholic who explained to me that everybody who isn't a Catholic is going to hell or purgatory or something. I suppose that kind of thinking probably motivates quite a few people to stay in awful religions.

My best friend before reaching puberty was a Catholic girl who lived three doors away. She and her mother were practicing Catholics, her father was a church avoiding Protestant. I have no recollection of this, but my mother tells me I came home one day and related that my friend's father was going to Hell because he was not a Catholic. One can only imagine how that would play on the mind of a child, or of a deeply religious adult.

 

[Hitchey]

Then they should probably accept reality.

I don't think it is an easy matter to quit ones religion and just walk away. Doing so might dredge up fears of Hell and damnation.

 

[Alceste]

I don't think it is an easy matter to quit ones religion and just walk away. Doing so might dredge up fears of Hell and damnation.

And guilt! All the Catholics I've known have been absolute masters of feeling guilty about things.

 

[Sunstone]

I don't think it is an easy matter to quit ones religion and just walk away. Doing so might dredge up fears of Hell and damnation.

Agreed. Most of the people I know who quit their childhood religion did not do so lightly.

 

[Shiranui117]

From Wikipedia ...This is troubling and hardly suggests that reform is on the horizon.

So... He's a conservative Catholic Pope who isn't going to be giving in to the liberals who want to change the Church even more beyond recognition? Sounds like a solid dude in my book.

 

[Shiranui117]

And guilt! All the Catholics I've known have been absolute masters of feeling guilty about things.

Oh jeeze, and then overscrupulosity. You would be amazed to hear how many Catholics ask if random things are sinful. Like, "Is watching the news sinful, because they attack the Church?" It's really sad; it almost seems like they spend their lives just being anxious and afraid and worried about whether or not the littlest thing is a sin. Really keeps them from breaking out and doing their own thing.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I'm sure that he is a sincere priest with strong and valuable qualities.