So he did something that any halfway decent person would do and he’s what…a hero?
What he did was the very least he should be doing.
When he’s done something with the Catholic church billions, reversed his position on contraception and HIV and allowed women an equal position in the Church then I’ll happily consider him in a more favourable light.
Most halfway decent people on a business trip pull over their car to see if they can comfort a kid in a wheel chair? You must know a different species than I do.
So am I the only one who mistakenly read the OP as, “Pope Francis is totally fucking rocks!”?
‘Cause I know he provides a Stellerite example, but that might be taking the vow of Sellaitecy a bit too far.
But yeah, I like this pope; he’s got John Paul 2s’ charisma, but I think he’s trying harder to nudge the Catholic Church in the general direction of the 20th century.
This is my impression as well. However. A friend of mine posted on her Facebook page that she wishes he would quit quoting fallacies about climate change (he has a science degree) and stick to scripture and prayers. She says she doesn’t want to be proselytized about social issues. I was shocked as she’s always struck me as an intelligent, reasonable person.
Catholics aren’t going to make it easy for him, but maybe his message will reach younger ones.
As I see it, Pope Francis is squarely in the traditionalist camp. Loving thy neighbor is pretty fundamental after all. It’s not like he’s overturning any doctrines.
As I sure your are aware, 93% of climate scientists accept the reality of anthropogenic global warming. Drilling down, the remainder tend to have dodgy science.
Not sure what to say about social issues, except that your friend appears to have chosen the wrong sect of Christianity: Popes have always commented on legislation and Catholics have always been involved in worldly matters. Maybe she’s really an Episcopalian; I dunno.
The thing that bugs me is that the Catholic church holds the position that (1) Their rules and edicts are essentially divine mandates (2) All or most of the ancient stories regarding some charismatic cult leader 2k years ago are true, including that ones that involve supernatural intervention. (3) They are a relevant code of ethics to follow/set of rules to obey/useful guidance in today’s world due to 1&2.
As a rational person, I can’t possibly accept any of the 3, and I feel that if the Catholics were really trying to do good they’d either disband or funnel all their wealth into useful endeavors such as R&D for a cure for death. (since they can’t credibly offer an afterlife, the only credible thing they can do is work out a way for people to not die, at least not for billions of years. This is possible, albeit it might require centuries of R&D to develop.)
I’m no pope historian or anything, but I would surprised if this was NOT something that other popes had done when traveling around the world. Not saying all of them, but most. Too lazy to do the research though…
ETA: Maybe it’s just that the OP is a young-un and hasn’t experienced many popes in his lifetime.
It isn’t. My criticism applies more or less equally to them all, they are all bullshit. I’m just calling out Catholics since this thread is about them not being quite as bad as they historically have been.
Helena330 I wonder how your friend thought about Popes preaching on social and political issues when they were talking about fighting communism and abortion…
(and don’t let her know the RCC is right onboard with evolution and vaccinations…)
Well I damn sure should hope it’s no different than Christianity seeing how it’s the largest and most widespread brand thereof.
A disgusting fool, a puppet for a failed religion that is just as far behind as any other religion. It astounds me how stupidly people act when he speaks. He gets cheers when he says poor children should be fed, yet he forgot to bring the sandwiches. He gets cheers when he says he believes in global warming. How many cheers have you gotten for saying that, Bo?
For me the greatest pope will be the one who says, “Hey, let’s sell all this religious and outdated bullshit we have laying around the Vatican. We could solve a lot of world hunger after an hour on eBay”, or the one who says, “bishops are now powerless in sending priests to new locations after molestation. We will now call the police immediately and defrock him while he sits in jail.”
