Looking for reassurance about the Church

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Megwalters2288

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I am still unsure of what exactly I can post on this forum or not. But, I have been using this forum to help build my Catholic faith during this crazy time. As you will see from my past posts I left the SDA Church over a year ago now. But, I have to say I am worried if I made the right decision or not. I know this might sound crazy to some people who read this, but the SDA Church has said that Pope Francis was the predicted fall of the church. I have to say after the huge news bomb that dropped around the world from his comments about LGBT relationships in the documentary it has me questioning him. Now please do not be mean with comments I am being honest and need help with this as this has been weighing on my heart since yesterday. He made a statement in such a way that every news outlet around the world has began twisting the Catholic Churches stance and he has left his laity to clarify for him. Local parishes are scrambling making public statements for him to clarify his words. This is not the first time this has happened. He says things in a very ambiguous way and does not clarify. I know the Pope is entitled to his own personal opinion and that Christ’s words stand before his always. But, his behavior has me questioning if I made the right choice and what if the SDA Church was right about Pope Francis? Please be charitable here to me. I am not being rude at all. This is something that has me very worried because I take my faith very seriously.
 
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Megwalters2288 said:
the SDA Church has said that Pope Francis was the predicted fall of the church
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Incorrect (I edited out a stronger word here as I don’t want to come off harsh on you)

More like the Church’s enemies are grasping at straws to sow doubt among the faithful.

There’s nothing wrong with the Pope. There’s a whole thread right now on how this latest documentary did a mashup of his words to cast wrong impressions. He suffers those slings and arrows all the time. Also, some people just like to be picky and play armchair Pope so if he said the sky was blue they would find some reason to shout heresy. Besides, when it comes to the SDA, they think ALL the popes are no good based on the hate filled screed they have mailed to my home. The SDA is not “right” about anything.

The Pope’s latest is not a “huge news bomb”. He’s had that viewpoint about civil unions since before he was Pope. He’s expressed it before too. It’s only news now because someone with an agenda is promoting a new documentary.

The Catholics who run around acting like Beaker on the Muppets over everything Pope Francis says make me want to leave the Church to get away from THEM, not the Pope. Yes, sometimes the Pope doesn’t express himself as clearly as we would like or maybe even as clearly as he should, but the Church doesn’t collapse over it. God protects his Church, which is the Catholic Church. If you are truly concerned for the Pope or the Church, pray for God to help and guide and protect them both. Meanwhile, I will continue to ask God to grant me patience and charity with His creatures including Popes, Fellow Catholics, and SDA.

I will also pray for the Holy Spirit to give you an extra gift of faith to carry you through these times.
 
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Or Popes who maybe were not “terrible” but a lot of Catholics didn’t like them or had disagreements with them.

The Church doesn’t end just because a bunch of Catholics take issue with a Pope. It’s been happening since the earliest days of the Church.
 
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StudentMI said:
It’s okay to not like the Pope and still be a Catholic.
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Jesus tells us to love even our enemies. Does it really need to be said then to love the Pope?

If someone doesn’t like the Pope (whatever that means), is it okay to question his orthodoxy on a public Catholic forum? Or to even say “I don’t like the Pope”. Is that love?
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
Or Popes who maybe were not “terrible” but a lot of Catholics didn’t like them or had disagreements with them.
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No no I mean terrible ones. We’ve had those.

I’ll state it outright. I don’t like Pope Francis. He reminds me of a few liberal priests I’ve encountered who thought they were evangelizing when they were really just pushing dissent from dogma and making it seem like there was no point in becoming or staying Catholic.
1Lord1Faith said:
Jesus tells us to love even our enemies. Does it really need to be said then to love the Pope?
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Loving others is a commandment. We were never told we had to like everyone.
 
I don’t have a problem with you saying you don’t like the Pope. I personally am not a huge fan of Pope Paul VI, and he’s a saint of the Church.

However, a Pope is not “terrible” just because you, or even a whole group, don’t like him.

“Terrible” Popes, objectively speaking, would be those who led grossly immoral lives, or the one who, probably out of mental illness, dug up his predecessor’s corpse and put it on trial.
 
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Loving is an act, not an interior disposition. So I’ll ask again, is saying “I don’t like the Pope” on a public Catholic forum a loving act?
 
Tis_Bearself said:
However, a Pope is not “terrible” just because you, or even a whole group, don’t like him.
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I didn’t say that makes one a terrible pope.
1Lord1Faith said:
Loving is an act, not an interior disposition. So I’ll ask again, is saying “I don’t like the Pope” on a public Catholic forum a loving act?
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I would call it neutral. Or just part of life. If you don’t like me, I think you should feel free to say so. I’m a big boy, I can take it.
 
Or sums up the narrative that a certain faction would like us to believe about Francis, regardless of objective truth.
 
I was not looking to start an argument here. I was not trying to get every member of the Church upset with me. I was looking for a fellow Catholic to be understanding and help reassure me. If all I am going to come across is angry members who are unable to be empathetic I think the initial response I got is the best choice for me.
 
I’m not upset with you Meg. I’m upset with SDA and with some of my fellow Catholics.
I don’t think anyone on this thread is upset with you. Some are upset with the Pope, others are upset with other posters.

I can see where this type of thing could be bothersome to a new Catholic or a person just exploring the faith. Given that I was born during Vatican II, this sort of discussion is not anything unusual to me, especially since I was taught that one focuses on Jesus and his Real Presence at Mass and one is not supposed to get overly hung up on the doings of any Pope, Bishop or priest. God guides and preserves his Church. I don’t think the Church will fall apart under Pope Francis given that it has survived much worse through God’s Grace, but if I somehow ended up being last Catholic on earth then I would submit myself to God’s will and trust that he has a plan. I would not say “oh nooooo, those non-Catholics were right” because they wouldn’t be right. Ever.

That’s how one is Catholic and remains Catholic. Faith is a Grace of God, pray and ask God for it.

If the discussions bother you then maybe do as an earlier poster suggested and take a break.

Peace to you
 
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yankeesouth said:
but be assured that there are many orthodox clergy who are on social media correcting the Pope.
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Talk about ambiguity. The only thing Cardinal Burke has there that isn’t a straw man is a letter from the CDF. That’s only slightly more authoritative than a pope’s airplane statement. And there is certainly no “constant teaching of the Church” regarding civil rights for gay people. I’ll have to disagree with Cardinal Burke on that one.
 
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