# Has Francis been doing a good job as Pope? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 27, 2023, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-francis-been-doing-a-good-job-as-pope/983265 "2023-04-27T12:31:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-francis-been-doing-a-good-job-as-pope/983265/82 "2024-04-08T20:09:17Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > This is a fiction in your own mind, unless you can find a cite where Francis is asking Putin to leave Ukraine, in the same way that he asked Ukraine to wave the white flag and negotiate. Negotiating is not surrendering. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-francis-been-doing-a-good-job-as-pope/983265/83 "2024-04-08T20:24:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Negotiating is not surrendering It is, if the other side is making impossible demands. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-francis-been-doing-a-good-job-as-pope/983265/84 "2024-04-08T20:35:28Z")
You are in the middle of an armed home invasion in which you and your family are the victims. The invaders have killed one of your three children. You pull out your gun. Pope materializes to pontificate about how cowboy justice is not the solution. Maybe if you give them one of the remaining two children as a hostage to ensure their escape, you can avoid any further bloodshed. The perps agree that they will never, ever, hurt the hostage. What kind of crazed bloodthirsty lunatic would you have to be to blow away the perps? You have to negotiate. Negotiation is not surrender. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-francis-been-doing-a-good-job-as-pope/983265/85 "2024-04-08T20:48:28Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Negotiating is not surrendering. He used the language “white flag.” What is the traditional meaning of waving a white flag? Did the Pope ever ask Russia to wave the white flag, as he did Ukraine? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-francis-been-doing-a-good-job-as-pope/983265/86 "2024-04-08T20:49:55Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > He used the language “white flag.” What is the traditional meaning of waving a white flag? Asking to a truce. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-francis-been-doing-a-good-job-as-pope/983265/87 "2024-04-09T00:43:41Z")
Balancing expectations. (Gift link: Pope Francis Finds A Limit To His Liberalism.) > **[Opinion | The Point: Conversations and insights about the moment.](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/02/opinion/thepoint?ugrp=u&unlocked_article_code=1.jE0.guHu.14tcPtNNi7Pa&smid=url-share)** ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-francis-been-doing-a-good-job-as-pope/983265/88 "2024-04-09T16:33:32Z")
Sorry, you’re right, I meant his brother’s estate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-francis-been-doing-a-good-job-as-pope/983265.md?page=4)