Pope Francis asks Protestants to forgive Catholics for persecution

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Regarding Pope Francis, he has said many positive things about the Church, its clergy, and its people. For example, here’s something positive he has said about the Church: “It is an absurd dichotomy to think of living with Christ without the Church, of following Jesus outside his Church, of loving Jesus without loving the Church.” source

He has also spoken positively many times about the clergy. For example, here is how news.va summarizes one of his sermons: "At the Chrism Mass in Saint Peter’s, Pope Francis spoke about ‘priestly joy,’ a joy, he said, ‘which anoints us,’ an ‘imperishable joy,’ a ‘missionary joy.’ …] The joy which anoints priests, the Pope said, ‘has penetrated deep within our hearts, it has shaped them, and strengthened them sacramentally.’ It is a joy that can never be taken away… Pope Francis focused especially on the third feature of priestly joy: ‘Priestly joy is deeply bound up with God’s holy and faithful people, for it is an eminently missionary joy.’ " source

Here’s something positive he has said about the Church’s people: “a Church like that of Brazil…is a great mosaic made up of different pieces, images, forms, problems and challenges, but which for this very reason is an enormous treasure.” source

He is pretty big on the triumph of the Church too: “Nobody can go off to battle unless he is fully convinced of victory beforehand. If we start without confidence, we have already lost half the battle and we bury our talents. While painfully aware of our own frailties, we have to march on without giving in, keeping in mind what the Lord said to Saint Paul: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Cor 12:9). Christian triumph is always a cross, yet a cross which is at the same time a victorious banner borne with aggressive tenderness against the assaults of evil. … [G]o out and proclaim that love. … We have found the Messiah! … So what are we waiting for?” source
 
I only know about the Protestant stuff from sociology, I’m not saying I think we haven’t done anything wrong.
 
dmar198 said:
I think you have a misunderstanding about Pope Francis and about the Church’s classical attitude toward past sins. We don’t ignore them because they are in the rear-view mirror. We remember our ancestors, and we continue to ask God to forgive any sins they committed because we want them to make it to heaven.

Regarding Pope Francis, he has said many positive things about the Church, its clergy, and its people. For example, here’s something positive he has said about the Church: “It is an absurd dichotomy to think of living with Christ without the Church, of following Jesus outside his Church, of loving Jesus without loving the Church.” source

He has also spoken positively many times about the clergy. For example, here is how news.va summarizes one of his sermons: "At the Chrism Mass in Saint Peter’s, Pope Francis spoke about ‘priestly joy,’ a joy, he said, ‘which anoints us,’ an ‘imperishable joy,’ a ‘missionary joy.’ …] The joy which anoints priests, the Pope said, ‘has penetrated deep within our hearts, it has shaped them, and strengthened them sacramentally.’ It is a joy that can never be taken away… Pope Francis focused especially on the third feature of priestly joy: ‘Priestly joy is deeply bound up with God’s holy and faithful people, for it is an eminently missionary joy.’ " source

Here’s something positive he has said about the Church’s people: “a Church like that of Brazil…is a great mosaic made up of different pieces, images, forms, problems and challenges, but which for this very reason is an enormous treasure.” source

He is pretty big on the triumph of the Church too: “Nobody can go off to battle unless he is fully convinced of victory beforehand. If we start without confidence, we have already lost half the battle and we bury our talents. While painfully aware of our own frailties, we have to march on without giving in, keeping in mind what the Lord said to Saint Paul: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Cor 12:9). Christian triumph is always a cross, yet a cross which is at the same time a victorious banner borne with aggressive tenderness against the assaults of evil. … [G]o out and proclaim that love. … We have found the Messiah! … So what are we waiting for?” source
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Thank you for this.Clearly, I needed to be reminded of it. Sorry I got my back up. Still, I do get tired of all the apologizing. I don’t think it helps. Also, I guess he does make the occasional positive statement about Catholics to go along with all the scolding, belittling and haranguing.
 
I can hear the anti-Catholics squealing in excitement: “LOOK THE POPE ADMITTED IT!”

I hope the anti-Catholic segment of Protestantism can look at this apology as genuine and accept it.
 
What seems to have been overlooked here is the reality that the truths of faith and morals taught by Christ’s Church have nothing to do with human failure, for it is vital to understand that the Pope never apologises for the Church which is “held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy.” [Vatican II, *Lumen Gentium, art 39].

Pope Francis seems to have followed St John Paul II in this regard.

In *First Things *(November 1997), Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon wrote of St John Paul II that “the Pope himself has acknowledged the mistakes and sins of Christians in connection with, among other things, the Crusades, the Inquisition, persecution of the Jews, religious wars, Galileo, and the treatment of women. Thus, though the Pope himself is careful to speak of sin or error on the part of the Church’s members or representatives, rather than the Church in its fullness, that important theological distinction is almost always lost in the transmission.”
 
Abu said:
What seems to have been overlooked here is the reality that the truths of faith and morals taught by Christ’s Church have nothing to do with human failure, for it is vital to understand that the Pope never apologises for the Church which is “held, as a matter of faith, to be unfailingly holy.” [Vatican II, *Lumen Gentium
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, art 39].

Pope Francis seems to have followed St John Paul II in this regard.

In *First Things *(November 1997), Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon wrote of St John Paul II that “the Pope himself has acknowledged the mistakes and sins of Christians in connection with, among other things, the Crusades, the Inquisition, persecution of the Jews, religious wars, Galileo, and the treatment of women. Thus, though the Pope himself is careful to speak of sin or error on the part of the Church’s members or representatives, rather than the Church in its fullness, that important theological distinction is almost always lost in the transmission.”

There is a good point here - it is human failings that we apologize for - not the truth of the Church; we apologize for when we have not witnessed Christ, fallen short.
 
Beautifully expressed and urgently in need of being said in this forum.

The Blessed Pope Paul VI, at the beginning of the second session of Vatican II, begged the forgiveness of God AND the separated brethren.

The Council Fathers took this up and made the Pope’s sentiment their own when, in Unitatis Redintegratio, paragraph 7, they said: "we humbly beg pardon of God and of our separated brethren, just as we forgive them that trespass against us."

Taking up the words of the Council Fathers and of the Popes, each and every Catholic should echo with their own voice what the entire college of Catholic bishops articulated.
 
TimothyH said:
Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven." (Matthew 18:22)

-Tim-
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Is this the number of coffees I am to drink each day? Since the quote is out of context it’s hard to tell. In my Bible it refers to a question on how many times we are to forgive, not apologise. What does the church teach about the efficacy of confession? Do we need to confess seventy times seven before absolution?
 
Maddie26 said:
Is this the number of coffees I am to drink each day? Since the quote is out of context it’s hard to tell. In my Bible it refers to a question on how many times we are to forgive, not apologise. What does the church teach about the efficacy of confession? Do we need to confess seventy times seven before absolution?
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Even as a Baptist I knew it had to do with having an attitude and lifestyle that is always ready to forgive. The article is about forgiveness.
 
JustaServant said:
Even as a Baptist I knew it had to do with having an attitude and lifestyle that is always ready to forgive. The article is about forgiveness.
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Didn’t I say the quote was about forgiving? I tried to make that my point. Is offering and asking for forgiveness the same thing? Should the priest and I swap sides in the confessional?
 
There is just One Jesus Christ our Lord, and Christian Unity would help us to understand there is only one.
 
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