Correct. The church doesn’t tell us who to vote for- They tell who we can’t vote for . Until the Democrat Party uncouples itself fromb the culture of death it will be difficult, if not impossible, for Catholic to support them in good conscience
I discontinued watching MSNBC because they seemed to think (and perhaps hoping) that the Pope was going to change the entire church.
Never will I give “remote cooperation” with snuffing out lives. But that’s just me, I’m not going to vote Democratic, period.
And I suspect Pope Francis could care less if Republicans or Democrats don’t like what he has to say or think.
But I bet you will find more Democrats approving of the Pope than Republicans. Just a guess based on observations.
And that is not a bad thing. Pope Francis is who he is and we are blessed to have him.
Most catholics would just ignore him even if the Pope did exactly that. Catholics are notoriously terrible at block voting. It’s very obvious though what party to vote for in national elections and whether conservatism or liberalism is closer to catholic teachings.
I don’t know. I don’t believe the concept coming from traditional Catholics that everything that the pope says is slanted, mistranslated, misreported, or that he talks in a more cryptic and riddling way that his words can be reanalyzed to mean anything. On the other hand I don’t think he’ll make any major changes. The big question for me is whether his papacy is the new ground, small steps, and a shift in the direction for big change in the future or whether its just Pope Francis’s personal style and the next Pope will be a conservative again.
I don’t know if that’s true but it would only be because the media doesn’t report his condemning in no uncertain terms abortion and homosexual marriage . There is really nothing this Pope has said that differs in any way from what any of the Popes have said in my lifetime . As with all Popes he chooses to focus his ministry in different areas . I love this Pope I think he has been and will continue to be a great gift to our church
If we’re going by the Church definition of “Catholic” (Baptism/Confirmation & OCAC) then I’d fit your description. And in secular elections I vote against far more Republicans than I do Democrats in the 2 party system. Consider myself generally liberal politically and make no apologies for it. I don’t look at the L-word as a dirty word and am unashamed to wear the banner of either liberal or progressive. And I very much welcome this Pope’s tone. And what I believe is his attempt to draw faithful Catholics to follow his example. For them to evangelize in a similar gentler manner and tone. I however am under no naive illusions whatsoever that teaching will change in anyway.As they say, the pendulum swings both ways.
I understand what you’re saying, Paul. Except it seems at least to me as I’ve read CAF’s World Forum where politics is discussed, there appears far more support for the US Republican Party here and from my experience from others of the faithful outside CAF as well. I understand this may be due in a large extent to the abortion and SSM issues. But then it seems to carry over into just general support for the US Republican Party among many faithful US Catholics on other policy matters as well, whether economics, immigration, climate change or what have you.
Yes. I would conjecture that the way that many Republicans regard Francis and John Paul is the difference between a blessing and a thrill.
God sent them both to us as different times for different reasons. We always seem to get the popes we need at the time.
Maybe. That line of thinking seems a tad too fatalist to me though. Isn’t it just as possible that we send our choices of pope to God as our offering to him, and that is what he has to work with?