No, he’s not saying that, but he is right to say that the **pro-life political movement **is not as important as Gospel preaching.
I didn’t say it did cancel the fact that it is a human rights issue.
Truly sickening.
God help you.
Excuse me, but your calling pro life people a ‘political movement’ doesn’t make them solely a political entity, nor does the pro life message contradict gospel teaching.
I don’t know what “anybody” thinks, but I think the Holy Father has a handle on it. He does, after all, have the attention of the Holy Spirit. He made it clear that he was a "son of the Church’. He also made it clear that being my way or the highway is not exactly a recipe for success. ( in his humble opinion)
Yes it’s off topic, but this is why euthanasia rights are recognized in many places as well. Is forcing people to suffer from painful, incurable medical conditions morally good?
I think that Pope Francis is doing just fine, but then again, I’m going by what he actually said, in context, and not on what the ‘headline’ (which is the thread title) and that article said he said. Pope Francis, I’ve said before and will say again, is not saying or doing anything that Benedict or John Paul 2 didn’t say or do. He isn’t changing teachings or saying that homosexual behaviors (not people) aren’t intrinsically wrong, or that we don’t need to keep teaching truth. He isn’t saying that in order to welcome people into the Church we need to tell them that their actions are all good, even if they’re not, so that once we ‘hook’ them we can start to ‘teach them’. He’s saying that AS we speak the truth we need to do it in love, and that’s what the Church has taught all along.
open a thread and we’ll discuss it. . .because the Church (and I, its humble daughter) beg to disagree on euthanasia.
I don’t understand the need to defend the previous popes. Just because Francis does things and says things that people like does not diminish the impact of John Paul and Benedict. What is going on here?
You are right. I said the exact same thing in another thread and got accused of not having evidence to support my argument.
While he wants to be distanced from politics himself, he does not want us to be. In fact he recently called for the laity to be more involved in politics. Nowhere has he said that the Church should not take a position on moral issues that enter the political arena.
I agree that Gospel preaching is more important than politics, but the Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life. So while Bible education, preaching, teaching, and fellowship are all good things that you can also find in the Catholic Church, you will never find God in the Eucharist at an Evangelical church.
I think it is safe to say, from a political standpoint, Pope Francis would still support efforts to make abortion illegal. He recognizes that women should not have the “right” to kill their own child.
Sure, but we should do both - preach the Gospel and act politically. We have that ability. In fact, if we vote contrary to Church teaching, we aren’t living or preaching the Gospel.
Explain why voting has any relationship with living/preaching the Gospel.
Yes, but the CC can’t rest on its laurels and say they’re doing good enough since the Eucharist is there. Evangelicals don’t believe in Real Presence, but Evangelicals would say that God is definitely present in their churches through other means.
The concept of mercy as applied to God in a theological sense is an example of Church doctrine that is different from the moral teaching that as Christians we should be merciful in our interactions with others. They are not the same thing at all. Furthermore, the second is derived from the first and only makes sense in light of the Gospel message.
This is what Pope Francis means when he says, “The dogmatic and moral teachings of the church are not all equivalent.” – Primacy belongs to theological doctrines, such as “God is merciful”, rather than the moral teachings that are derived from them.
“The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you.”
Obsessing over moral teaching and forgetting to preach the Gospel gets things backwards. Pope Francis sees this as counter-productive. **What I hear him saying is that we must first change hearts and minds by proclaiming the Gospel and THEN moral behavior will follow.
Of course, this is what liberal-minded Catholics have been saying all along. **
I would agree. I would also add that politically liberal Catholics use the above bolder comments by bellasbane to justify support of laws (abortion, gay “marriage,” etc.) which I highly doubt the Holy Father would be in favor of.
