Non-Catholic response to our new Pope, Francis I

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He seems to be a genuinely humble man with a great sense of humor. He’s going to be very hard not to like. 👍
 
From those that I know (and who have at least some interest; many dont care one way or the other), it’s been a positive response. 🙂

They like his simple and personable approach.
 
As a catholic I have been over-joyed by the election of Pope Francis…until yesterday!

My step sister shared a post from her pastor…there was a picture of what appeared to be some monks torturing a protestant (my take on it) on one of those torture wheels. Under the picture the pastor wrote: People have asked me to way in on the new pope. I have many concerns, starting with the fact that he is a Jesuit, and therefore, a fact that is to make him unqualified for the papacy. Below is a very good article by Mike Ballinger…

I am not an apologist, and usually don’t respond, but I just couldn’t help myself… I thought “I have to say something, I have to defend the pope”

I found the site where he got the post… voxfux.com/features/jesuits1.html
I did some research on the site…conspiracy stuff… and anyways, I made my post back to this pastor…and he responded back to mine. This is my first time being confrontational, I don’t know if I did the right thing…actually, I did do the right thing…I’ll post my reply if anyone wants to see it…and the pastors too…he’s upset with me…

I feel really stressed…
 
teresa_lamb said:
As a catholic I have been over-joyed by the election of Pope Francis…until yesterday!

My step sister shared a post from her pastor…there was a picture of what appeared to be some monks torturing a protestant (my take on it) on one of those torture wheels. Under the picture the pastor wrote: People have asked me to way in on the new pope. I have many concerns, starting with the fact that he is a Jesuit, and therefore, a fact that is to make him unqualified for the papacy. Below is a very good article by Mike Ballinger…

I am not an apologist, and usually don’t respond, but I just couldn’t help myself… I thought “I have to say something, I have to defend the pope”

I found the site where he got the post… voxfux.com/features/jesuits1.html
I did some research on the site…conspiracy stuff… and anyways, I made my post back to this pastor…and he responded back to mine. This is my first time being confrontational, I don’t know if I did the right thing…actually, I did do the right thing…I’ll post my reply if anyone wants to see it…and the pastors too…he’s upset with me…

I feel really stressed…
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Please take it easy, sister. Christians are like sheep among the wolves. Jesus said something about us being hated because the world hates him. There will be always people who see a negative with Catholicism no matter what. There is nothing we can do about it. Protesting is of no use except, perhaps, we can pray for them. Hey, rejoice, Habemus Papam, we have a new Pope.:)đź‘Ť

God bless.
 
teresa_lamb said:
I did some research on the site…conspiracy stuff… and anyways, I made my post back to this pastor…and he responded back to mine. This is my first time being confrontational, I don’t know if I did the right thing…actually, I did do the right thing…I’ll post my reply if anyone wants to see it…and the pastors too…he’s upset with me…

I feel really stressed…
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Don’t be stressed. Having read bits and pieces of that site and skipping to the end, suffice to say that I doubt you’ll get a very calm friendly discussion from that writer. When running into things like that remember “leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.” Pray for that person but don’t let it trouble you.

Realized I forgot to give my thoughts. I’ll admit to being excited learning about Francis. He seems like a humble person that certainly seems to have the right focus. Humility is such a hard thing to have, especially as one grows in power and stature in ones field. To hear the stories about him have been inspiring. I think this is needed.
 
JustaServant said:
Your thoughts on the Papal election and conclave.
If a new Pope is elected today, I’ll ask the mod to change the title.
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Justa,

I would remind them all that I posted this in post #21 on this thread…

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=753819&page=2
Robert,
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This is thoughtful. I listened to NPR about this and the plea from Latin America is that 42% of the Catholics in the world are in Latin America and Latin America sees this as indicative of the need for a Latin American Pope. A black Pope would serve the needs of the Church. In consideration that we see many looking at different issues color is not the only issue.
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Perhaps a Pope from Finland, as we have seen Lutherans from Finland posting here touting thier majority religion.
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Perhaps a Pope from Ireland as the Irish have been left out of the mix and Lord knows they suffered as much as anybody and that suffering continues.
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Perhaps a Pope from England to recognize and magnify the split of Henry VIII
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There are many scenarious that make sense however the Holy Spirit will guide and give us the next Pope and then we will be left to wonder why.
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TristanH said:
. . . .I’ll admit to being excited learning about Francis. He seems like a humble person that certainly seems to have the right focus. Humility is such a hard thing to have, especially as one grows in power and stature in ones field. To hear the stories about him have been inspiring. I think this is needed.
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TristanH,

First, welcome to CAF! I see you just joined a few days ago. It’s nice to meet another fellow Anglican.

You are not alone in your warm sentiments regarding the Pope. This is a quote from our Rector’s midweek meditation written on 3/13/2013:

". . .an effective Pope is good for all Christians. Let’s face it: more people here in America will be influenced by what the Pope says, writes, and does than by the work of the Archbishop of Canterbury. He may be the only one who could take on Oprah for the title.

I think that’s why Billy Graham was willing to face down criticism from conservative Protestants as he developed a warm friendship with John Paul II. He knew an effective evangelist when he saw one. I think Pope Benedict’s “Jesus of Nazareth” books are very good, and can speak to all Christians in the same way that the writings of C.S. Lewis can. As Christians, we should be rooting for - and praying for! - God’s will to be done and that the ministry of the next Pope would be abundantly blessed. . . ."
 
Reuben_J said:
Please take it easy, sister. Christians are like sheep among the wolves. Jesus said something about us being hated because the world hates him. There will be always people who see a negative with Catholicism no matter what. There is nothing we can do about it. Protesting is of no use except, perhaps, we can pray for them. Hey, rejoice, Habemus Papam, we have a new Pope.:)đź‘Ť

God bless.
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Thank you very much for your reply. I did not respond back to this pastors post.

What I did do though, was researched more on some of the people he mentioned in his post back to me. It’s so interesting to use what information one provides and learn from it. It shows who they really are…and what they believe!

This pastor is a one man band…he’s into conspiracy theories, witches, aliens, demons etc…I have no interest into ever learning anything from him…

My step-sister should never have “shared” this on her fb, because it ran down my wall and I clicked on the mid-evil picture…what a nightmare, but at the sametime, I stopped being a coward about my faith…God has blessed me…
 
TristanH said:
Don’t be stressed. Having read bits and pieces of that site and skipping to the end, suffice to say that I doubt you’ll get a very calm friendly discussion from that writer. When running into things like that remember “leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.” Pray for that person but don’t let it trouble you.

Realized I forgot to give my thoughts. I’ll admit to being excited learning about Francis. He seems like a humble person that certainly seems to have the right focus. Humility is such a hard thing to have, especially as one grows in power and stature in ones field. To hear the stories about him have been inspiring. I think this is needed.
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Thank you TistanH for your kind reply…I’m leaning how to pick my battles…lol

I too, am continuing to learn and hear more about our new Pope Francis, he seems to be full of surprises…I like good surprises…
 
teresa_lamb said:
Thank you very much for your reply. I did not respond back to this pastors post.

What I did do though, was researched more on some of the people he mentioned in his post back to me. It’s so interesting to use what information one provides and learn from it. It shows who they really are…and what they believe!

This pastor is a one man band…he’s into conspiracy theories, witches, aliens, demons etc…I have no interest into ever learning anything from him…

My step-sister should never have “shared” this on her fb, because it ran down my wall and I clicked on the mid-evil picture…what a nightmare, but at the sametime, I stopped being a coward about my faith…God has blessed me…
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đź‘Ť

God bless you.
 
I was just talking to my Dad about this topic this morning and thought I would check back after a long time being away. I think the new Pope seems like an excellent choice and I like what I hear about him living simply and the humble gestures etc. 🙂
 
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