A Latino pope : a problem for USA?

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I think in USA many Catholics, especially those very supportive of the Republican Party, never forgave this:
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I personally find puzzling that they care more about a politician than the Pope. I doubt it has anything to do with the Pope being from South America.
 
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Good for you. Several in the most conservative Catholic circles (especially social media) were blaming Pope Francis for being disrespectful of this ‘great pro-life American president’. Are more or less the same people that later on jumped on the Pachamama bandwagon.
 
aroosi said:
I think in USA many Catholics, especially those very supportive of the Republican Party, never forgave this:

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

I personally find puzzling that they care more about a politician than the Pope. I doubt it has anything to do with the Pope being from South America.
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What is there to see here? So the Pope is not smiling. Is that supposed to mean something?

Traditionally, it would have been very rare to see a picture of a Pope who was smiling.
 
HomeschoolDad said:
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HomeschoolDad:
I really don’t think Americans, unless they are Hispanic themselves, regard Pope Francis as being “Hispanic”.
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I think he is of Italian extraction, actually. So ethnically, he is not Hispanic.
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Contrary to popular belief, “Hispanic” is a cultural term, not an ethnic or racial one. Hispanics can be of any race or nationality whatsoever. “Hispanic” refers to the culture of Spanish-speaking peoples of the Western Hemisphere.
 
aroosi said:
I wouldn’t be so sure… 🙃
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Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was referring to Popes prior to Vatican II, which would have included Pius XII and those who came before him. I have no doubt that all of these popes smiled frequently in private life, but they tended to be more solemn in photographs and, before that, portraits.
 
It’s rare when I’ll let a single frame picture determine my opinion on a matter. For all we know Pope Francis could have been grinning like the Cheshire Cat in the frame before or after.
 
As a Brit/European with a pretty good knowledge of South America I have my own thoughts on this but am going to keep well out of it. LOL
 
It’s NOT because he is Latino, it’s because he’s Argentinian.
  1. Argentina is not a poor, Latin American country. It’s actually very European. Pope Francis isn’t coming from a nation like Columbia or El Salvador.
  2. People from Argentina have a major issue with Americans because we call ourselves Americans. Their view is that we do not have the right to call ourselves American and that we need to change our name. This is because they believe there is only one continent in the Western Hemisphere called America, not two continents called North America & South America (note; Central America is actually part of North America)
Their view is that the north, central and south are simply geographic markers, teh same as Eastern Europe, Western Europe, etc.

They think the term “American” is equal to “European.” We Americans disagree. We view the equivalent to “European” are “North American” and “South American,” while an American is someone from America (aka the United States of America).

I’ve met Argentinians who have told me to my face that we should call ourselves “Statesmen” instead of American! I’m sorry, but the name of our nation is America. "The United States of " is an adjective the same way “The Republic of” is an adjective for Argentina and/or the same way “The United Kingdom of” is an adjective for Great Britain & Northern Ireland.

Plus, let’s remember that while the United States is country with the 4th most amount of Catholics in the world, it is still the country with the largest Catholic minority in the world. Catholics in American have always been viewed with a bit of distrust. The US govt never really warmed up to relations with the Pope until World War II and the Cold War against communism.

So the protestants in the United States have always seen the Pope as an ally against communism and socialism. But since Pope Francis grew up in Peronist Argentina, most Americans (esp the Protetants) feel that every remark the Pope makes about economics is a back handed jab at the United States, because after all - he’s Argenintian.

So it really has NOTHING to do with the fact that he from South America.

BTW: the reason why previous Popes since the mid 1800s have paid so much attention to the United States is because even in 1910, the United States already had 14 Archdioceses and 76 Dioceses - which was more Sees than any nation in the world except for Italy.
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05001a.htm

FINALLY - a lot of Americans view the Pope based on how the media present him. The American media & Holywood always painted St. Pope John Paul II & Pope Benedict as “traditionalist” & “conservatives” which made them acceptable to American Protestants. But the American media has presented Pope Francis has a progressive who will change the Church since day one. So naturally, if the American media says they love Pope Francis, devout Protestants and conservatives are going to be against him.
 
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I agree Fauken, that picture is just a humorous picture and nothing more.

Those Republicans who didn’t like the Pope disliked him way, way before that happened. I know from going to a few political functions that there are right-wing Catholics who basically think Pope Francis is a Communist. It had nothing to do with Trump, who by the way many Republicans secretly don’t like but they put up with him because it beats having a Democrat in power.
 
Geology major here- North and South America are definitely distinct continents.

As for names- there is, unfortunately, no good word to refer to just USA-Americans. Although I am partial to using state-specific terms…
 
Jesuit order is well implanted in USA, it seems, they run a lot of colleges, have a magazine etc
Well for the Jesuit, sure there is anti jesuitism, but if we look what they do in their university, what some of their members said openly etc, it is not surprising at all.
marie3 said:
For us Europeans, this pope is not different from the others; for Americans, it is the opposite of its predecessors. The first reactions written on this pope in 2013 evoked “an anti-American pope”, “revolutionary” … even before his first most important decisions! And over the years, it has gotten worse."
La Croix .
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Urg.
I think I understant that you are French, like me.
I would not trust a newspaper such as La Croix to generalized in a few sentences what millions of people think, eithers Europeans or American.

I don’t agree. Europeans are not a monolitic block, we are a continent of many different nations, culture, confessions. And in each country not all people think the same. The difference in a given country, said France is possible less visibles than in America wher freedom is much more emphasized.
But I am definitely SURE that not all french people think that Pope Francis is the not different from the previous pope.

I guess there is more “anti-Francis” thinking in USA given health care, immigration poverty is treated differently than in many western countries. But I think we cannot overgeneralized.
 
Nepperhan said:
So ethnically, he is not Hispanic.
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This is a real pet peeve of mine. My mother is Hispanic, there is no such thing as a Hispanic ethnicity. “Hispanic” is a Spanish speaker and their nation was influenced by Spain, the same way an English speaker is an Anglophone & whose nation was influenced by England or a French speaker is a Francophone whose nation was influenced by France…

The ethnicities that make up Spanish speakers are a vast number of not only Spanish speaking nations, but indigenous peoples.

The only reason why “hispanic” became known as an “ethnicity” is because for some reason, politicians in the United States wanted to group spanish speaking immigrants in one large group instead of grouping them by nation, like what was typically done for all other immigrants before them.

The truth is, each spanish speaking nation is VERY different and they don’t share the same culture. It would be like saying Americans and Australians are exactly the same because they both speak English.

Sorry, I had to get this off my chest as it really bothers me.

God Bless
 
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Pope Francis is Italian not Latino. Even though he lived in Argentina for many years his family was 100% Italian iirc.
 
Diaconia said:
The next time you are tempted to scrutinize, criticize, or questions something the Supreme Pontiff says or does – take that opportunity to pray for him instead.
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I’ve been saying all along that if people prayed for him 2x as much as they criticize him then they’d have little or nothing to complain about.
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Also, it seems that some want to promote individual agendas for the Church through quoting our Pope out of context. It’s painful seeing him being used in this way by members of his own flock.
He winds up having to clarify and put out brush fires. Being Pope must be an incredibly difficult job.
May God strengthen and guide him in accordance with His most holy will.
Amen.
 
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