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JHow
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Google “Benedict aids condoms” and you will see that none of this is unique to Francis. We are to be innocent as doves and wise as serpents.
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Boulder257
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I remember that now that you mention it. That stayed in the news for quite awhile too!
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Oneofthewomen
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Here is a link to an English transcription of the whole interview from The Tablet.
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3DOCTORS
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otjm
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The people who are expecting there to be some imminent changes in the Church are those who have attempted to mold the Church in their own image and likeness. They reside at both ends of the spectrum, and they are both going to be disappointed with this Pope, because a) he is not going to change the Church in terms of doctrine (there go the progressives off the map) and he is not going to get rid of Vatican 2 or say it was all a big mistake, and start disciplining the left with excommunications with abandon (and there go the conservatives off the map). He is going to challenge those sitting in the pew to re-read the Gospels as to what Christ commands; he is going to lead by action (thus the move away from the pomp and pagentry, and in with a very real humility) and he is going to upset a lot of apple carts. Christ had a strong and repeated commentary about the poor, and we are going to hear a lot about that. This Pope is not going to sit down to repeated scholarly dissertations (not that he cannot do so). But he is going to emphasize the call of the Gospels. And that is going to make a lot of people uncomfortable for a variety of reasons.
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Boulder257
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Thanks!
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tomarin
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Well I could have said “as a master plays a cheap Walmart-purchased violin” but it wouldn’t have had the same zing.
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Brendan_64
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His comments on the Roman Curia are interesting.
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bradleywilliam
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In response to your post regarding whether or not Pope Francis meant what he said with the “controversial statements”, I would say that he did. I think he and the Vatican are trying to change the face of the Catholic Church in order to appeal more to the youth of today and this is backed up by several reasons.Or, do think that he made these comments intentionally, knowing that they would be controversial (ie. maybe he intended to be controversial because he believes it is beneficial to the Church in some way)? If you think that the comments were intentionally controversial, please also explain what you think his motivation for doing this might be.
I realize, of course, that none of us can know for sure, but Im interested to see what people think. Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut
- The Pope has a twitter account! This is a huge step that aims to connect with the younger generation where they are already conversing and “hanging out”. If you want to inspire people, you go to where they are congregating, and that is in the digital space. 2. Another way they are trying to become more digital is with the creation of the Vatican’s new website Pray With the Pope. This site lets you know what the Pope is praying for every month and allows you to schedule your own prayer times so you can pray with people online around the world. These steps to take the Catholic Church more digitally savvy is an attempt to get the youth of today more excited about Catholicism and I think it is a great idea and will get more kids involved.
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bcuster
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Debora123
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Our Holy Father has not said anything contrary to the Catholic faith.
He’s just not an uber conservative traditionalist type Catholic, that’s all.
He’s just not an uber conservative traditionalist type Catholic, that’s all.
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3DOCTORS
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And you know this for a fact? Maybe it’s more that his style and approach are different. That’s different from not being traditional in faith and morals. Just sayin’.Our Holy Father has not said anything contrary to the Catholic faith.
He’s just not an uber conservative traditionalist type Catholic, that’s all.
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DAML72
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I think he was just giving straight answers. The media ALWAYS spins the words of Church leaders. They did the same thing with Benedict XVI (anyone recall the story in which the media reported that Pope Benedict approved of the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS? How about the story last Christmas that Pope Benedict said that animals don’t belong in the nativity?)So far Pope Francis has made several off-the-cuff commments that the media has spun to suit their own agenda and cause some controversy (atheists go to Heaven, who am I to judge gay people, etc). Im trying to better undersrand the reasons for these comments, and I’d be very interested to hear other peoples opinions.
My question is this. In your opinion, do you think that Pope Francis did not intend for these comments to be controversial (ie. maybe he made a slip of the tongue, or maybe he misjudged the media)?
Or, do think that he made these comments intentionally, knowing that they would be controversial (ie. maybe he intended to be controversial because he believes it is beneficial to the Church in some way)? If you think that the comments were intentionally controversial, please also explain what you think his motivation for doing this might be.
I realize, of course, that none of us can know for sure, but Im interested to see what people think. Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut
Having lived in Argentina, also, I have been following a little bit the issue of translation - there are some things that are getting messed up in translation from the Argentine vernacular, which can be very different than European Spanish. Even English words could have a different meaning in another country. For example, when he used the word ‘gay’ - that word is much more politically charged here in the US than it is in Argentina, so the press immediately thought he meant someone who is openly gay and part of the ‘gay lobby’. Not so.
When you put his words into context in all cases, they are clearly consistent with the teachings of the Church. I don’t think he can predict how his words are going to be spun. All he can do is tell it like it is, which he is doing.
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Debora123
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Yeah, I definitely think it’s been pretty evident that he’s not a traditionalist, if that’s what you mean. Are you saying that’s not the case?
Go over to the fisheaters forum and see what a lot of them are saying. Not the most positive things in the world.
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Brendan_64
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I think that Pope Francis is not remotely interested in the labels, liberal, traditional etc. I think we need to stop labelling ourselves (and others) as such, and we definitely need to stop trying to ‘pigeonhole’ as such.
I think Pope Francis is calling us to live the Gospel as it is written, not to live it in a way that we interpret it to fit with our own ideologies (theological or otherwise). We definitely should not look at the Pope, compare him to our own standpoint and say, “Pope Francis is one of us, and not one of them”.
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Debora123
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Brendan_64
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And in doing so, pigeonholing the Pope as definitely, “not one of them”.
I don’t disagree with you, just stating my observation.
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Debora123
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No reason to blame this on me. I stated that by the looks of it, some of the more traditionalist Catholics seem to have some issues with Pope Francis. Maybe they’re the ones who are pigeonholing. Just go to fisheaters and take a look.
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Brendan_64
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I’ve just had a look at Fisheaters. I can’t see anything actually insulting to the Pope on there, just a bit of criticism, nothing disrespectful.
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