Pope Francis Appreciation Thread 2.0

[Rozellelily]

Unfortunately I have had to create a new thread as the old one was derailed by some users talking about communism etc.
Can we please have this one stay on topic
For those intent on talking about communism please see the link to a thread I have created below.
Please keep this thread focused on Pope Francis!

[Sadly Catholic Answers Forum is coming to an end, so before it closes I hoped to make this thread to bring attention to all the great things that Pope Francis has done.]

*****It is really unfortunate that the mainstream media 99 % of the time only reports things about Pope Francis a negative light so at least this will be some “small” appreciation

I will start with Pope Francis efforts towards bringing the Catholic Church and Orthodox Church closer together, and Pope Francis blessing a journalists guide dog:

A proposal for Catholic-Orthodox eucharistic sharing during the pandemic | National Catholic Reporter

https://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2013/03/pope-francis-makes-exception-to-bless-guide-dog/

What are your thoughts on communism -negative and positive? Moral Theology

Communism has always talk about in a negative life, but as someone born under communist rule, perhaps hard to believe but there were positives also. What are your thoughts?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

To repeat my post from the other thread, I was moved by Pope Francis’ prayerful leadership during the pandemic shutdown in Rome throughout Lent and Holy Week, especially by his prayer to end coronavirus, his Stations of the Cross, his Masses around that time, and also I must thank him for making it easy for me to continue my plenary indulgence practice this year when we have had much more limited access to churches and Mass than we normally do.

I was also happy that his Laudato si indicated there is a place in God’s kingdom for all his creatures, including the animals. In this regard, Pope Francis seems to be on the same page as St. Pope John Paul II and St. Pope Paul VI. (The original news stories claiming that Pope Francis said pets go to heaven actually incorrectly attributed to him a quote of that nature from St. Pope Paul VI.)

 

[pnewton]

I thought of another thing. He had the Jubilee of Mercy in which many indulgences were offered and even SSPX priests were give faculties for confessions.

 

[Motherwit]

I thought of another thing. He had the Jubilee of Mercy in which many indulgences were offered and even SSPX priests were give faculties for confessions.

Yes I really appreciate that Pope Francis has made use of the wonderful gift of indulgences at every turn. Indulgences had been exploited in the past. I have made a point of encouraging my kids to have faith in these gifts when they have been approved by Pope Francis so that they can know this gift of grace at our finger tips!

 

[pnewton]

Yes, and the way he did it, so traditional and appealing to traditional spirituality. He truly had something for everyone.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

He had the Jubilee of Mercy in which many indulgences were offered and even SSPX priests were give faculties for confessions.

Yeah, that was a great thing he did. It got a lot of people to go back to confession and start attending church again. I went back myself in February of the Jubilee year because after my mom died, I read an article about it in the newspaper and figured now was the time. I hadn’t been to confession in 18 years and had a lot of bad sins racked up that had happened all during that time, maybe even before because my previous confessions had not all been good ones. So thank you for that, Pope Francis!

I really relate a lot more to the personal pastoral stuff he does, like that, rather than when he makes big broad statements about the environment or other things that have to be handled at governmental level. I know those things need to be said and there are some very bad crises with ecosystems being destroyed in some parts of the world, but they just seem so remote to me.

 

[TwoNames]

Thank you OP, for starting this thread!

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Just to be complete I am going to link here just the posts from the other thread that were actually about appreciating Pope Francis before someone derailed the thread.

Pope Francis Appreciation Thread Catholic Living

Pope Francis’ relentless reiteration of Catholic social teaching has been something I admire. Against the inanity of the right he has stuck to his guns on the teaching of the Church.

Pope Francis Appreciation Thread Catholic Living

I certainly appreciate Pope Francis! I don’t like it whenever he is criticized, just as I didn’t like it when any of his predecessors were criticized. The way I see it, each Pope offers and teaches something I need to consider, something I need to apply in my life, even, or maybe especially if it’s something that challenges my complacency, my attitude that I already know what’s best for the Church. God bless Pope Francis!

Pope Francis Appreciation Thread Catholic Living

New user with strong political opinions hijacks thread: gee, there’s a shocker. This is illustrative of the long, slow decline of these forums. Re the OP’s topic: I struggle with a lot of Pope Francis’ pontificate. I decided long ago that my proper place was to work through my issues myself (not publicly) and instead focus on this approach: Recently, I have appreciated that Pope Francis nicely summarized in four words what I have observed in the last nine months of opposition to pandemic mi…

Pope Francis Appreciation Thread Catholic Living

I like his lack of pretention in his choice of automobiles, dress, and lifestyle. There are a lot of other things, but this is what first struck me about the choice of him as Pope. As far as anything negative, unlike others here, I can read and honor the thread title and intention. I like Laudato Si, as well as what I have read of Fratelli Tutti. I realize now I gat side-tracked and did not finish that one.

Pope Francis Appreciation Thread Catholic Living

H.H. Pope Francis has been very prolific, not including the very large number of homilies, speeches, and messages there are the following number of documents: 209 Letters 36 Moto Proprios 9 Apostolic Letters 5 Apostolic Exhortations 4 Apostolic Constitutions 4 Encyclicals 2 Laws 1 Bull See: Documents and Speeches by Pope Francis

Pope Francis Appreciation Thread Catholic Living

I appreciate that Pope Francis is not afraid to speak plainly about sin and about things like devils, which too many modern people think no longer exist or have tried (with sin) to make the criteria for mortal sin to seem impossible, and have tried (with devils) to turn them into figures of comedy and thus, imaginary). Pope Francis knows better on both counts. He also makes sure to address sin on ‘both sides of the aisle’ so to speak, which is an excellent corrective in keeping either side fro…

 

[puer.dei]

What I most appreciate is his emphasis on God’s mercy.

 

[openmind77]

It is really unfortunate that the mainstream media 99 % of the time only reports things about Pope Francis a negative light

I don’t think this is true. The mainstream sees the Pope in a very positive light. It is conservative and Catholic media that portrays the Pope in a negative light.

 

[EmilyAlexandra]

I don’t think this is true. The mainstream sees the Pope in a very positive light. It is conservative and Catholic media that portrays the Pope in a negative light.

Absolutely. This confused me too. Pope Francis seems to be really popular with the sort of people who generally speaking do not much like popes! In the UK media, he receives largely positive coverage in both The Guardian and the Daily Mail, which is quite an achievement. The Daily Mail always emphasises his commitment to living a life of poverty, while The Guardian emphasises his commitment to social and environmental policies and his overall softer image.

My impression of Pope Francis is that people both inside and outside the Catholic Church seem to somewhat overstate the extent to which he differs from his predecessors. Perhaps understandably, this overstating of his divergence from tradition seems to come from conservatives inside the Church and from liberals outside the Church. The conservatives inside the Church seem to think that Francis has become very liberal and that that is a bad thing, whereas the liberals outside the Church also seem to think that he has become very liberal and that that is a good thing. It seems to me, as a more or less disinterested observer, that Francis is a lot less liberal than people imagine him to be. His pronouncement that the death penalty is inadmissible, for example, is surely just the logical culmination of over half a century of the development of Church teaching. On non-negotiable Church teachings, on the other hand, I think the only change is that he has adopted a softer tone.

 

[Inbonum]

Pope Francis is “only” pope I know and follow during his pontificate. Other popes really weren’t on my list of interests, either because I wass too young to understand anything or because I was out of Church and didn’t care about anything Christian, let alone Pope.

I love simplicity in Pope Francis’s words, even when he speaks about complicated themes.
He is very close to my heart and isn’t distanced person, he is here in Spirit with his flock.
Pope’s motto is about mercy, as well as his pontificate and that’s what I like.

 

[GioG12]

Thank You Pope Francis for granting us a year of St. Joseph!

HH Pope Francis declares Year of St. Joseph (Dec. 8 2020 - Dec. 8 , 2021) Spirituality

Pope Francis proclaims Year of St. Joseph Pope Francis announced a Year of St. Joseph Tuesday in honor of the 150th anniversary of the saint’s proclamation as patron of the Universal Church. The year begins Dec. 8, 2020, and concludes on Dec. 8, 2021, according to a decree authorized by the pope. The decree said that Francis had established a Year of St. Joseph so that “every member of the faithful, following his example, may strengthen their life of faith daily in the complete fulfillmen…

And it comes with another Plenary Indulgence! Yay!

HH Pope Francis declares Year of St. Joseph (Dec. 8 2020 - Dec. 8 , 2021) Spirituality

AND it comes with plenary indulgences!

St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, pray for us!

 

[Rozellelily]

I did not know this.
In Australia it is a very secular climate and here the media very rarely delivers positive stories about Pope Francis or the Catholic Church. It did at first, when Francis became the Pope - they showed him washing the feet of prisoners and a few other kind stories- but since then it’s predominantly negative bias, mainly only covering the priest child abuse scandals and George Pell.

A lot of the mainstream media doesn’t even hide their anti-religion feelings here. And the whole culture has become for the large secular, people are afraid to even make Jesus themed decorations etc in the work office as it is not PC.

I have also seen those conservative catholic media that you mentioned making very negative comments and it’s sad. I don’t understand why America even need so many “self appointed experts” when they often cause division by saying unkind things about the Pope. And, of course, non-religious who see these things will be put off by christianity.

 

[meltzerboy2]

To a non-Catholic, non-Christian such as myself, Pope Francis’ emphasis on love and mercy for all humans (as well as animals) and his concern for the poor and needy is, I think, in keeping with the major message of Jesus.

I remember in particular the Pope’s hugging a man with neurofibromatosis (NF-1), a genetic disorder that manifests itself by unsightly tumors which grow on the skin and internal organs, as well as other symptoms. The Pope’s embrace of this man was a touching moment.