Everybody hates Benedict

  • Thread starter Thread starter latingirl
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
If you are English, you come from a place that has a long tradition of Catholic haters. Even if they are no longer Christian themselves, they carry over the hatred. Winston Churchill was good friends with the Catholic archbishop of Wesminster and disliked the archbiop of Canterbury, but he was not allowed to be seen in public with the former in deference to his position as First Minister. It is a bit like people’s feelings toward the Jews. If they can’t hate us for one thing, they will hate us for another.
*Luke 6:22-23
Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. 23 “Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. *

Frankly, with the terrible state of “the world” these days if a Catholic is not feeling like he is being hated and despised by a majority of people I’d be more concerned if I was a good Catholic or confused for somone “in the world”. 😉

I take some kinds of spontaneous hatred as a signal grace that I am in good standing with God and my Church. 😃

James
 
Living in Tennessee, we have more than our fair share of anti-Catholicism. I believe it is 9% Catholic in my area and it seems like EVERYONE ELSE is baptist, church of Christ, or non-denom. Like a previous poster said, I have to think before I say I’m Catholic but I will not tolerate any disrespect toward the Church or the Holy Father from anybody.
Many have derogatory remarks to make about the Holy Father.
I personally love Benedict and have hope he can return the Church to Tradition but I am one of a small few around here…

Pax Vobiscum
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MindOverMatter
All you have to do is google “pope anti christ”, and you will see a million miles of it. Especailly in london where i’m from, the catholic church is sorely hated. Im scared sometimes to tell people im catholic. In fact, if i can avoid it, i don’t tell people anything. One guy said to me if he ever saw the Pope he would punch him in the nose.
Everybody thats not Catholic, seems to me to have some kind of problem with the Catholics. At worse, they talk about curruption conspiracys concerning world domination and world religion. At the least its not a populor belief. Look at how many people laped up the da-vinci-code. Lots of people actually believe that (Edited)!
Im suprised that you don’t see the enemy at work.
this is a prophecy fullfiled. " and the world will hate you…"

:highprayer: :byzsoc:
 
I’m a new Catholic and I have noticed that many, many people dislike, if not hate, if not despise the Pope!
I have heard people call him the Anti-Christ, people say he’s a Nazi and a homophobe.
Now, I know Benedict XVI is not the most photogenic and can look creepy at times, but is that any reason to judge him?
I have heard many a Protestant accusation that he “only pretends to come in the name of Christ” that he “prays to the dead” and that “He is a false leader who is leading us (Catholics) to hell”. I find many of these arguments unfounded at best. But when the accusations stack up as high as they are, I find my faith a bit shaken.
I see the Pope preaching about peace and love but all some seem to hear out of his mouth is fallacy and hate. Almost every word he says is offensive to somebody. A poll I’ve recently seen says about 50% of Americans think Benedict XVI is the Anti-Christ. I seem to honestly wonder where all this derision comes from. I mean, it’s as if his Holiness (Edited)!

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” -John 15:18-20
You are going to encounter anti Catholics who hate anything Catholic. These can come either from the fringes of Protestantism (fringe fundamentalism) or from the liberal fringes. For them Benedict simply represents their phobia (anti Christ, reactionary, etc). To a certain group of bigoted people for whom Chick Publications are an academic journal, Benedict represents anti scripture, anti faith, etc. Keep in mind these same people read Chick comic books which detail the “death cookie” and how Satan invented the Eucharist. For those on the left he is homophobic, too conservative and so on.

What I would advise anyone to do is to read his works. He is a man of great faith and love of Christ. He writes well and is a brilliant academic. When the issue of this reinstated Bishop came up he unequivocally stood by the Jewish people. He has also provided a little correction in course for the Catholic Church in terms of its roots (conservative theology) and yet he has spoken out strongly for the downtrodden.

My only wish is that he was younger and would have longer to influence the direction of the church. However, we can trust that God will raise up another faithful servant to carry on the work of JPII/Benedict. For many around the world, BXVI is not simply a symbol of Catholicism but a living symbol of the Christian faith. The church needs someone to lead with conviction.
 
When the pope, any pope, comes to visit us and calls us to look out for our poor, to love one another, to provide for the sick, underprivileged and misfortunate, he gets good press. Everybody loves and hails the Man of God.

But when the same pope comes back and says that abortion is evil and that gay marriage is a violation of the Holy Sacrament, then he’s a crazed, strangely berobed mideval throwback in a funny hat.

Pope Benedict understood this when he was a cardinal. He’s brave when he pushes on despite the slings and arrows.

Pope John Paul II made sure to come to us several times on missions of peace before he came to proclaim the Gospel of Life and such harder things.

Pope Benedict has come along in harder times politically.

But when Benedict came to celebrate mass at Yankee Stadium, the New York Yankees were forced to play 20 consecutive road games, I’m still not sure why the whole nation did not sign up for RCIA on behalf of this profound miracle!

I loved the man when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. My feeling is unchanged now that he is the pope. Except that I thank my lucky stars and commend the cardinals for their selection of our current Holy Father in Rome.
 
Well, all the Catholics I know seem to like Pope Benedict quite a bit. Of course, some non-Catholics don’t like him but that is to be expected to a certain extent.
 
Sorry, I didn’t read all the posts but I want to reply to the OP.

People said that Pope John Paul II was the Antichrist too. Martin Luther believed the Pope was the Antichrist. Non-Catholics never have good things to say about the current Pope so don’t worry about it.
 
Sorry, I didn’t read all the posts but I want to reply to the OP.

People said that Pope John Paul II was the Antichrist too. Martin Luther believed the Pope was the Antichrist. Non-Catholics never have good things to say about the current Pope so don’t worry about it.
For some, such as certain Lutheran sects, believing the pope is Satan is almost a Profession of Faith or a Creed since its an official dogmatic proclamation of their faith. It’s amazing that this sort of naked bigotry and contempt can exist in this day and age.
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod: A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles:
Of the Antichrist
  1. As to the Antichrist we teach that the prophecies of the Holy Scriptures concerning the Antichrist, 2 Thess. 2:3-12; 1 John 2:18, have been fulfilled in the Pope of Rome and his dominion. All the features of the Antichrist as drawn in these prophecies, including the most abominable and horrible ones, for example, that the Antichrist “as God sitteth in the temple of God,” 2 Thess. 2:4; that he anathematizes the very heart of the Gospel of Christ, that is, the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins by grace alone, for Christ’s sake alone, through faith alone, without any merit or worthiness in man (Rom. 3:20-28; Gal. 2:16); that he recognizes only those as members of the Christian Church who bow to his authority; and that, like a deluge, he had inundated the whole Church with his antichristian doctrines till God revealed him through the Reformation – these very features are the outstanding characteristics of the Papacy. (Cf. Smalcald Articles, Triglot, p. 515, Paragraphs 39-41; p. 401, Paragraph 45; M. pp. 336, 258.) **Hence we subscribe to the statement of our Confessions that the Pope is “the very Antichrist.” **(Smalcald Articles, Triglot, p. 475, Paragraph 10; M., p. 308.)
lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=579
Yet each time a pope dies and passes on to the next pope he becomes the new Satan. It’s just so bazaar to me how some denominations can hold to this kind of hate and call themselves Christian with a straight face.

BTW I love your image of St. Benedict’s medal. I wear mine.

James
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top