Is Pope Francis a Populist?

[123Strontium]

Is Pope Francis a Populist?

He has recently just made some vague comment about gay people saying they are welcome, but he didn’t overtly say it is wrong to be a practising gay. We already know gay people are welcome so long as they are not practising the sin. But making such a vague statement ambiguates what he morally should be standing for.

Sending out ambiguous messages will lead people to the church on a false premise.

He has also said other things like " atheists can go to heaven", which undermines scripture and the church. How can atheists go to heaven if they don’t acknowledge Christ. It’s written time and time again and in our creed.

Also, this idea of social networking following the Pope on twitter/retweets and indulgences, again, this trivializes what acting on the faith is about. It encourages us to be lazy behind out screens instead of doing volunteering work and spreading the word to our friends. Indulgences as a guarentee for credit awarded for good works sounds questionable. I understand the good side to encouraging people to follow the Pope but not by bribing us with indulgences as our theoretical reward. You can just encourage the young catholics to do what they can for Catholicism without mentioning indulgences. Because in essence, we do not know if we are receiving indulgences in actuality.

The Pope seems to be a populist, pandering to the public attitudes of now. It’s worrying.

 

[123Strontium]

Is Pope Francis a Populist?

He has recently just made some vague comment about gay people saying they are welcome, but he didn’t overtly say it is wrong to be a practising gay. We already know gay people are welcome so long as they are not practising the sin. But making such a vague statement ambiguates what he morally should be standing for.

Sending out ambiguous messages will lead people to the church on a false premise.

He has also said other things like " atheists can go to heaven", which undermines scripture and the church. How can atheists go to heaven if they don’t acknowledge Christ. It’s written time and time again and in our creed.

Also, this idea of social networking following the Pope on twitter/retweets and indulgences, again, this trivializes what acting on the faith is about. It encourages us to be lazy behind out screens instead of doing volunteering work and spreading the word to our friends. Indulgences as a guarentee for credit awarded for good works sounds questionable. I understand the good side to encouraging people to follow the Pope but not by bribing us with indulgences as our theoretical reward. You can just encourage the young catholics to do what they can for Catholicism without mentioning indulgences. Because in essence, we do not know if we are receiving indulgences in actuality.

The Pope seems to be a populist, pandering to the public attitudes of now. It’s worrying.

It makes you wonder whether the gay lobby have already has a grip on the institution

 

[123Strontium]

It makes you wonder whether the gay lobby have already got their grip on the higher levels of the institution.

 

[agnes_therese]

Is Pope Francis a Populist?
He has recently just made some vague comment about gay people saying they are welcome, but he didn’t overtly say it is wrong to be a practising gay. We already know gay people are welcome so long as they are not practising the sin. But making such a vague statement ambiguates what he morally should be standing for.

The Pope seems to be a populist, pandering to the public attitudes of now. It’s worrying.

But the Church has always taught that homosexual acts are wrong. I think the Pope is expecting us to be intelligent enough to know that.

I think you should be very careful about saying His Holiness is “pandering.”

 

[pnewton]

Ah, the old gay lobby conspiracy again. I has shocking news for you. *All *sinners are welcome into the family of God. No, he did not say it is wrong to be a practicing gay, a liar, a thief or a gossip. This does not send an ambiguous message except to those who want to see it that way. I would tread lightly when raising a hand against God’s annointed.

 

[BlaconPaul]

The Holy Father is NOT a populist!! He is a man who lives the gospel! I would dearly love to be just one tenth as good a Christian as him.
He WAS NOT talking about the sinfulness of the sexual practises of practising homosexuals at all. He certainly wasnt condoning sin. He was reiterating in his own words what the catechism says, that we should not marginalise gay people in society, nor even in church. We are all sinners.
What he said reminds me of a quote from a Sopranos episode from someone who is catholic and has discovered that a relative is gay: “love the sinner, but hate the sin”

Did Christ shun the prostitute because she was a sinner???!!!

The comment from Strontium123 about the gay lobby having their grip on the higher institutions of the church sounds to me very much like the sedevacantist heresy, you know that whole “Rome has gone apostate from the faith” nonsense!!

Who are we to question the Holy Father, who was elected with the guidance of the Holy Spirit!!!

God bless

Paul

 

[QuiteCatholic]

Is Pope Francis a Populist?

He has recently just made some vague comment about gay people saying they are welcome, but he didn’t overtly say it is wrong to be a practising gay. We already know gay people are welcome so long as they are not practising the sin. But making such a vague statement ambiguates what he morally should be standing for.

Sending out ambiguous messages will lead people to the church on a false premise.

He has also said other things like " atheists can go to heaven", which undermines scripture and the church. How can atheists go to heaven if they don’t acknowledge Christ. It’s written time and time again and in our creed.

Also, this idea of social networking following the Pope on twitter/retweets and indulgences, again, this trivializes what acting on the faith is about. It encourages us to be lazy behind out screens instead of doing volunteering work and spreading the word to our friends. Indulgences as a guarentee for credit awarded for good works sounds questionable. I understand the good side to encouraging people to follow the Pope but not by bribing us with indulgences as our theoretical reward. You can just encourage the young catholics to do what they can for Catholicism without mentioning indulgences. Because in essence, we do not know if we are receiving indulgences in actuality.

The Pope seems to be a populist, pandering to the public attitudes of now. It’s worrying.

Is this the only time you have ever listened to the Pope? The way he lives his life should clue you in to the type of person he is. He is always saying go out and evangelize, help the poor etc…etc…

And also following the Pope on Twitter didn’t even start with him

 

[Elizabeth502]

Is Pope Francis a Populist?

He has recently just made some vague comment about gay people saying they are welcome, but he didn’t overtly say it is wrong to be a practising gay.

There is no evidence that he has abandoned the Church’s absolute moral doctrine regarding sexuality, marriage, and the family, and regarding what it and is not sin. To welcome people who have disordered attractions (including but not limited to homosexual attraction) is not the same thing as approving of sinful behavior. Two different animals. Most of us are in various degrees of sinfulness of one kind or another, yet we are welcome in the Church, because the Church is the means to sanctification. That’s the point. If we are not seeking our purification within the Church, where do we go?

From the mouth of now Pope Francis:

July 8, 2010
"Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires and Primate of Argentina, has said that if a proposed bill giving same-sex couples the opportunity to marry and adopt children should be approved, it will “seriously damage the family.”
He wrote: “In the coming weeks, the Argentine people will face a situation whose outcome can seriously harm the family…At stake is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of many children who will be discriminated against in advance, and deprived of their human development given by a father and a mother and willed by God. At stake is the total rejection of God’s law engraved in our hearts.”
Cardinal Bergoglio continued: “Let us not be naive: this is not simply a political struggle, but it is an attempt to destroy God’s plan. It is not just a bill (a mere instrument) but a ‘move’ of the father of lies who seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.”

(I would call that a statement that is both anti-populist and unambiguous.)

 

[Elizabeth502]

Ah, the old gay lobby conspiracy again.

“The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well,” Pope Francis said.

“It says they should not be marginalised because of this but that they must be integrated into society.”

**But he condemned what he described as lobbying by gay people.
**
“The problem is not having this orientation,” he said. "We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem."

 

[Ridgerunner]

“Populism” has nothing to do with homosexuality.

The term “populist” is not a precisely defined term, but it basically is applied to those who have an interest in government policies that help the poor and working classes of people. Some “populists” believe in direct wealth redistribution. Some believe in policies conducive to employment and private acquisition of wealth.

It’s sort of the opposite of those who promote plutocracy (which nobody openly does) directly or indirectly.

But as a descriptive term, it doesn’t tell a person very much.

 

[1ke]

Is Pope Francis a Populist?

He has recently just made some vague comment about gay people saying they are welcome, but he didn’t overtly say it is wrong to be a practising gay. We already know gay people are welcome so long as they are not practising the sin. But making such a vague statement ambiguates what he morally should be standing for.

Sending out ambiguous messages will lead people to the church on a false premise.

He has also said other things like " atheists can go to heaven", which undermines scripture and the church. How can atheists go to heaven if they don’t acknowledge Christ. It’s written time and time again and in our creed.

Also, this idea of social networking following the Pope on twitter/retweets and indulgences, again, this trivializes what acting on the faith is about. It encourages us to be lazy behind out screens instead of doing volunteering work and spreading the word to our friends. Indulgences as a guarentee for credit awarded for good works sounds questionable. I understand the good side to encouraging people to follow the Pope but not by bribing us with indulgences as our theoretical reward. You can just encourage the young catholics to do what they can for Catholicism without mentioning indulgences. Because in essence, we do not know if we are receiving indulgences in actuality.

The Pope seems to be a populist, pandering to the public attitudes of now. It’s worrying.

I would suggest you stop getting your news about what the Pope says from the secular media. He did not say any of what you say he said. You are upset about nothing, well, perhaps you should be upset about the media’s inability to report accurately. But not about what the Pope says.

 

[123Strontium]

But the Church has always taught that homosexual acts are wrong. I think the Pope is expecting us to be intelligent enough to know that.

I think you should be very careful about saying His Holiness is “pandering.”

Well, if you look at Michael Moores twitter and non -catholic attitudes, they think the Pope is embracing Gaydom by his comments that have no context, and are ambiguous. Ambiguity is not the way to go when you’re defining sin.

Popes should be setting out clearly like Pope Benedict did. Pope Francis doesn’t seem to be communicating this very clearly. He wants people to like him and sell out catholic beliefs in the process. Be clear!!

 

[123Strontium]

I would suggest you stop getting your news about what the Pope says from the secular media. He did not say any of what you say he said. You are upset about nothing, well, perhaps you should be upset about the media’s inability to report accurately. But not about what the Pope says.

Why don’t you ennnumerate rather than give me yet more vague general statements.

 

[123Strontium]

“Populism” has nothing to do with homosexuality.

The term “populist” is not a precisely defined term, but it basically is applied to those who have an interest in government policies that help the poor and working classes of people. Some “populists” believe in direct wealth redistribution. Some believe in policies conducive to employment and private acquisition of wealth.

It’s sort of the opposite of those who promote plutocracy (which nobody openly does) directly or indirectly.

But as a descriptive term, it doesn’t tell a person very much.

The popular opinion now is that homosexuality (the act and marriage) is to be embraced. Therefore it is populism. IF you state anything against homosexual acts or same sex marriage, the public will condemn you for have another opinion.

 

[pnewton]

Well, if you look at Michael Moores twitter and non -catholic attitudes, they think the Pope is embracing Gaydom by his comments that have no context, and are ambiguous.

Trust in God, not Michael Moore. The Holy Father is not ambiguous about what is sin.

 

[123Strontium]

Trust in God, not Michael Moore. The Holy Father is not ambiguous about what is sin.

LOL, I do trust in God, but evil a force about too who want to compromise our standards. Mr Moore’s automatic interpretation symbolizes the ‘public’, this is what they infer because they have no knowledge of catholic doctrine. He must be clear about what he means, is my point.

It’s important for the Pope to teach VERY CLEARLY. There are lots of uneducated Catholics out there, and with our social revolution of gay marriage and gay acceptance (acting gays), all this combined makes for easily misled catholics.

We must define sin very clearly, but we also live in a sound bit world, he doesn’t speak in sound bites, he expects us to have the backlog of knowledge to interpret. That’s the problem of communication in a media age. The media who like sound bites.

If the Pope forgives, those he forgives must know that they must feel repentant and rehabilitate. Otherwise, it doesn’t work.

With all these blase attitudes towards morality, it’s easy to think the standards could be further compromised in future. Tenacity to standards is what has kept the catholic church together for so long. Otherwise, we’ll be diluting it. If gay priests are accepted without the disclaimer that they need to feel repetant, then why not invite female priests into the mix. Temptations aplenty.

 

[bzkoss236]

Is Pope Francis a Populist?

He has recently just made some vague comment about gay people saying they are welcome, but he didn’t overtly say it is wrong to be a practising gay. We already know gay people are welcome so long as they are not practising the sin. But making such a vague statement ambiguates what he morally should be standing for.

Sending out ambiguous messages will lead people to the church on a false premise.

He has also said other things like " atheists can go to heaven", which undermines scripture and the church. How can atheists go to heaven if they don’t acknowledge Christ. It’s written time and time again and in our creed.

Also, this idea of social networking following the Pope on twitter/retweets and indulgences, again, this trivializes what acting on the faith is about. It encourages us to be lazy behind out screens instead of doing volunteering work and spreading the word to our friends. Indulgences as a guarentee for credit awarded for good works sounds questionable. I understand the good side to encouraging people to follow the Pope but not by bribing us with indulgences as our theoretical reward. You can just encourage the young catholics to do what they can for Catholicism without mentioning indulgences. Because in essence, we do not know if we are receiving indulgences in actuality.

The Pope seems to be a populist, pandering to the public attitudes of now. It’s worrying.

Nothing the Pope has said is contrary to Catholic beliefs. I suggest you read up in the Catechism about “no salvation outside the Church”.

And he wasn’t vague. He made it clear that being a homosexual in itself is not sinful, but homosexual acts are. The Pope, IMO, seems to be portraying the Truth of Catholic teaching in a way that attempts to make it understandable to everyone. If others can understand Catholic teaching, there would be far less ignorance. Others who were once part of the Church may come back, and even some who were never part of the Church may become part of it.

The vagueness and misinterpretation comes from the media, who are doing a disservice to the public by doing so.

 

[BlaconPaul]

Strontium, the Holy Father was being clear. Couldn’t be clearer my friend.
He clearly gave the message that it’s wrong for Catholics to be horrible to gay people, even to judge them is wrong. (remember the church teaches only God himself can judge)
He was clearly not saying that “we’ve changed our policy on what God regards as sin”
There is only ambiguity in his message if you try to perceive ambiguity where there is none.

God bless

Paul.

 

[fix]

Is Pope Francis a Populist?

He has recently just made some vague comment about gay people saying they are welcome, but he didn’t overtly say it is wrong to be a practising gay. We already know gay people are welcome so long as they are not practising the sin. But making such a vague statement ambiguates what he morally should be standing for.

Sending out ambiguous messages will lead people to the church on a false premise.

He has also said other things like " atheists can go to heaven", which undermines scripture and the church. How can atheists go to heaven if they don’t acknowledge Christ. It’s written time and time again and in our creed.

Also, this idea of social networking following the Pope on twitter/retweets and indulgences, again, this trivializes what acting on the faith is about. It encourages us to be lazy behind out screens instead of doing volunteering work and spreading the word to our friends. Indulgences as a guarentee for credit awarded for good works sounds questionable. I understand the good side to encouraging people to follow the Pope but not by bribing us with indulgences as our theoretical reward. You can just encourage the young catholics to do what they can for Catholicism without mentioning indulgences. Because in essence, we do not know if we are receiving indulgences in actuality.

The Pope seems to be a populist, pandering to the public attitudes of now. It’s worrying.

The basic thrust of your point I think is well intended. I would say that many blogs will be hammering out your point in many differing ways. It is a type of problem with no easy solutions. Even the last Pope had the same issues. The condom comment is a perfect example. He said what he said and you had 20 different orthodox sources all claiming to know what he really said and intended. Some contradicting others. The same will happen here and probably more into the future. You have instant access to communication. You have sources that are often biased. You have different people hearing different things. And you have the para experts claiming to inform you what he “really” said and intended.

What is the solution to this confusion? Read actual Church sources I guess.

 

[PietroPaolo]

Q. Is Pope Francis a Populist?

A. No. He’s a Catholic.