Pope Francis is Amazing

[EdmundPaul]

in the future is the world going to rely on page one of of google for the truth?
people need to dig deeper than that
in some context a woman/mother is more important
From the moment of a child’s conception who nutures them teaches them protects them? Who with everything she does can live out the faith so completely with her child every day all day
If they live in a remore place and cannot attend Mass who keeps faith alive ?
a mother

 

[benjohnson]

Therefore women cannot be more important than priests and bishops.

You have to ballance the role of men as Bishops, with the role that women have as mothers and indeed the Theotokos.

Bishops and Mothers are a profound gift of God’s love for us and I would certainly hesitate before ranking them myself.

 

[Memaw]

I’m just stating the facts:

At the heart of the Catholic Church is the Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, which comes by way of the Mass, which only a priest can officiate, priests can only be men, and it’s bishops who give the church priests.

Therefore women cannot be more important than priests and bishops.

So either the Pope simply misspoke at a press event, there was a bad translation of it, or he’s gone off the reservation theologically. I believe it’s either option 1 or option 2, because I have faith that he knows the Catholic faith better than the rest of us.

Every religious leader today, regardless of their denomination, has got to realize we live in a world of internet and cable TV soundbites now, and good communication skills within that framework are going to have to be pursued with a vengeance.

If you have faith that he knows the Catholic faith better than the rest of us , why are you trying to make him a so wrong and you so right. We have the Eucharist because Jesus gave it to us, and we have Jesus because Mary brought Him to us. Without her, we would have neither. Those are the facts!. God Bless, Memaw

 

[Alizarin]

You have to balance the role of men as Bishops, with the role that women have as mothers and indeed the Theotokos.

Bishops and Mothers are a profound gift of God’s love for us and I would certainly hesitate before ranking them myself.

I wonder why he ranked them then?

 

[Alizarin]

we have Jesus because Mary brought Him to us. Without her, we would have neither.

I’m a big fan of the Virgin Mary, but since “in the beginning was the Word”, we had Jesus before the Blessed Virgin even existed.

I’m not sure why you’re doing rhetorical backflips to justify what he said, when we could just chalk it up to an innocent slip of the tongue and be done with it.

 

[Memaw]

I’m a big fan of the Virgin Mary, but since “in the beginning was the Word”, we had Jesus before the Blessed Virgin even existed.

I’m not sure why you’re doing rhetorical backflips to justify what he said, when we could just chalk it up to an innocent slip of the tongue and be done with it.

I’m not doing the back flips. but your statement that we had Jesus before Mary is wrong, The Blessed Trinity is Eternal but Jesus is Mary’s son, conceived by the Holy Spirit at a moment in our history that can never be repeated. And I don’t chalk it up as a slip of the tongue. I think the Holy Father knows exactly what he is saying. God Bless, Memaw

The Most Important Person
on earth is a mother. She
cannot claim the honor of
having built Notre Dame
Cathedral. She need not. She
has built something more
magnificent than any
cathedral—a dwelling for an
immortal soul, the tiny
perfection of her baby’s
body…The angels have not
been blessed with such a
grace. They cannot share in
God’s creative miracle to bring
new saints to Heaven. Only a
human mother can. Mothers
are closer to God the Creator
than any other creature; God
joins forces with mothers in
performing this act of
creation… What on God’s
good earth is more glorious
than this: to be a mother?
—Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty

 

[ffg]

If his goal is to live out the character of the person he is honoring by name chosen, he is doing quite the immitation. A great job.

With regard to misunderstanding comments. Be sure to consider them in context and then evaluate.

Pointing a finger and saying, ‘hey, you are a sinner and your sin is x’ is pointless as the finger pointer is in the same boat.

Pope Francis is simply saying he will not point the finger. A great example.

Sure, it would be great if he prepared speeches and had speech writers help him cover all the angles to avoid confusion.

But at the end of the day, remember who he is emulating - he is going to be a straight shooter that means what he says, and only what he says and nothing different.

Don’t look for meaning outside of the words you hear / read. For a breath of fresh air we can hear / read and contemplate those words straight up.

 

[EvangelCatholic]

It seems every article or TV coverage on Francis is extremely positive. All popes are viewed as probably the most important Christian of our time and rightly so. The responsibility of being the Vicar of Christ is overwhelming. Francis took the name of one of the most beloved saints in the Church. We are in for great things with this humble servant of God. Pray for Francis.

 

[Gullveig]

I like Pope Francis. I like the idea of a religious leader in general that puts actions before words. In my limited understanding of Christianity, I don’t think Jesus would have vocally condemned homosexual people. He seems like more of the “love the sinner, hate the sin” type of guy. So, I can respect a Pope that wants to follow the example his religion is based o and is willing to put his money where is mouth is so to speak. I respect that Francis seems to be humble and non-pretentious as well. Those would be good qualities for any religious leader, regardless of the specific faith.

 

[bradleywilliam]

If you are interested in Pope Francis and what he is doing for the Catholic Church you should take a look at the Vatican’s new website Pray With the Pope. He is trying to get the youth more involved by taking the Church completely digital. This new website allows you to see what the Pope is praying about this month and you can join in with others from all around the world to help maintain a perpetual unbroken chain of prayer. You can even schedule your own prayer times and pray for any topic of your choice. I think It’s pretty neat, and a great way to get kids more involved in the Church!

 

[jimmy]

If you have faith that he knows the Catholic faith better than the rest of us , why are you trying to make him a so wrong and you so right. We have the Eucharist because Jesus gave it to us, and we have Jesus because Mary brought Him to us. Without her, we would have neither. Those are the facts!. God Bless, Memaw

Be very careful with this line of thinking. What you say can easily be understood as a deification of Mary, and placing her ahead of Jesus. The fact is that we have Jesus because God sent him, not because of Mary. Yes, it happened through Mary, but she isn’t the cause. There is no because in relationship to Mary.

That said, the popes statement is true. The importance of bishops pales in importance to women. Women both give life, and raise children to be good people. A bishop or priests influence is secondary to that of the parents. It is the parents who determine what kind of people their children will be.

The west tends to have this idea of a priest existing in a vacuum. In the west a priest can celebrate the Eucharist on his own. But in the east there can be no celebration of the Eucharist without the community. Essentially the west has reduced the Church to the priests, but the east maintains that the Church consists of a whole community of people with a priest. And what kind of community would you have without families with mothers? There is no Eucharist without women, because there is no community.

 

[Reuben_J]

I like him a lot, too. I don’t understand this quote, though (attributed to him in the article you linked to): “We don’t yet have a truly deep theology of women in the church,” he admitted.”

Because then I think of everything the Church has had to say about the Virgin Mary, plus Mary Magdalene, Mary and Martha, the incredible array of female saints, and I think, “I’m pretty sure you do have a deep theology of women.”

Sometimes he confuses me.

Probably he was saying that the theology of women in the church still could be further developed.

 

[CompSciGuy]

I felt like that a short time ago. However, since his “who am I to judge” statement I’ve cooled off a bit. He seems to have bought into some secualr rhetoric (that to condemn homosexual behavior is to “judge people”). At the very least, he laid himself open to be misunderstood.

This is what I have been saying. Maybe the Pope’s approach is good, but many people outside of the Church like him for all the wrong reasons because they have been confused by his language. Who can blame them?

 

[Reuben_J]

I’m just stating the facts:

At the heart of the Catholic Church is the Eucharist, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, which comes by way of the Mass, which only a priest can officiate, priests can only be men, and it’s bishops who give the church priests.

Therefore women cannot be more important than priests and bishops.

If you are saying that because the Eucharist is an important worship and can be celebrated only by ordained priests and therefore it follows the priests are very important, then you are right. But maybe the Pope did not mean it that way. He was probably saying about the role of women. This is consistent with what his predecessor, JPII, was saying. Man and woman have important roles in the Church. The fact that priests are men does not in any way decrease the importance of women.

So either the Pope simply misspoke at a press event, there was a bad translation of it, or he’s gone off the reservation theologically. I believe it’s either option 1 or option 2, because I have faith that he knows the Catholic faith better than the rest of us.

I would think the Pope knew what he was talking about but which probably need elaboration which in an interviewed by the media, there would not be enough time or not possible in such a situation.

Every religious leader today, regardless of their denomination, has got to realize we live in a world of internet and cable TV soundbites now, and good communication skills within that framework are going to have to be pursued with a vengeance.

You are right. However Popes and religious would not have the best PR skill though some may play to the media. One may think, like presidents and prime ministers, the Pope may engage public relation people too to manage his image, though I don’t think that is likely.

The past popes (his predecessors) recognized the importance the media and the internet play in reaching out to the bigger audience that the Vatican has made sound effort to address this. This Pope probably is no different on this matter.

 

[Reuben_J]

washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/08/01/pope-francis-the-end-of-fortress-catholicism/

I can’t read enough articles on Francis to be further inspired that the spirit of God is upon us; a humble Vicar brings Christ to the world.

Thank you and praise be to God.

I hope it is not something that non-Catholics seem to indirectly want to convey that this Pope is a humble man of God unlike his predessors were.

I have recieved an e-mail from a good friend, who was a Protestant, praising this Pope and compared him to Pope Benedict XVI. Among other things were photographs of the silver color of Francis’ crucifix and throne compared to the gold of Benedict’s. My friend was forwarding that e-mail which was sent to him by his Protestant friend and he seemed to be quite genuine in admiring Pope Francis. As a Catholic I was not quite comfortable with the comparison though.

 

[Reuben_J]

If you are saying that because the Eucharist is an important worship and can be celebrated only by ordained priests and therefore it follows the priests are very important, then you are right. But maybe the Pope did not mean it that way. He was probably saying about the role of women. This is consistent with what his predecessor, JPII, was saying. Man and woman have important roles in the Church. The fact that priests are men does not in any way decrease the importance of women.

Correction: Well, JPII was not his predecessor, BXVI was.

 

[CompSciGuy]

If his goal is to live out the character of the person he is honoring by name chosen, he is doing quite the immitation. A great job.

With regard to misunderstanding comments. Be sure to consider them in context and then evaluate.

Pointing a finger and saying, ‘hey, you are a sinner and your sin is x’ is pointless as the finger pointer is in the same boat.

Pope Francis is simply saying he will not point the finger. A great example.

Sure, it would be great if he prepared speeches and had speech writers help him cover all the angles to avoid confusion.

But at the end of the day, remember who he is emulating - he is going to be a straight shooter that means what he says, and only what he says and nothing different.

Don’t look for meaning outside of the words you hear / read. For a breath of fresh air we can hear / read and contemplate those words straight up.

I would say this is kind of diminishing the issue… what people are concerned about is that his language is such that it could be and is very easily misinterpreted to the point of condoning and/or advocating a sinful lifestyle. It all has to do with the way we use the word “judge.” For a Catholic, to accept someone for who they are but not necessarily condone the lifestyle they lead is not judging. For the rest of the world, to not wholeheartedly accept their lifestyle is being judgmental of that person. So the secular media and culture cannot be blamed for interpreting Pope Francis’ words “who am I to judge gay people” to “it’s ok for men to have sex with men.” Sure, perhaps he can’t be expected to plan every speech in advance, but when he uses these words in that context, and then does not follow up afterwards, can we even blame people for being confused?

It’s similar to the “I love Jesus and hate religion” movement among evangelicals. They don’t really hate religion, but the word “religion” in their circles has a different meaning, and they use this line as an attempt to reach out to the world, only to cause confusion, as well-intentioned as they may be.

 

[Alizarin]

Man and woman have important roles in the Church.

But he specifically said women are more important.

The weird thing to me is that instead of saying that impromtu press conferences are not covered by the charism of infallibility and he probably just misspoke, so hey, no big deal, many on this forum are twisting the words of that sentence to extremes just to get the circle squared. Why? As the Church itself teaches, the Pope can occasionally make mistakes.

 

[Della]

But he specifically said women are more important.

The weird thing to me is that instead of saying that impromtu press conferences are not covered by the charism of infallibility and he probably just misspoke, so hey, no big deal, many on this forum are twisting the words of that sentence to extremes just to get the circle squared. Why? As the Church itself teaches, the Pope can occasionally make mistakes.

Then too, he’s simply voicing his opinion, which is not covered by infallibility, it’s true. As a woman I appreciate his gesture, but I don’t think of us gals as more important than the guys, but rather complimentary. The roles we play in God’s plan are both necessary. The religious life is more exalted than married life (or even lay celibacy) because of the total commitment to God’s service. And while only men can confect the Sacrament, I think most bishops and priests would say that that puts a greater obligation on them rather than making them more important. It’s a service they render the Church, which calls for personal humility and faithfulness, as does any ministry any of us accepts.

 

[Reuben_J]

But he specifically said women are more important.

Yes, indeed he did, but probably that was in a context which was missed out.

The weird thing to me is that instead of saying that impromtu press conferences are not covered by the charism of infallibility and he probably just misspoke, so hey, no big deal, many on this forum are twisting the words of that sentence to extremes just to get the circle squared. Why? As the Church itself teaches, the Pope can occasionally make mistakes.

You would find Catholics still want to comment on this. I think that is our second nature; especially when it is pertaining to Popes. Don’t know why.

OK, I understand what you are saying. I agree that he ‘misspoke’ in that he could be more cautious when speaking to the media so as not to make it an issue. Benedict XVI created quite a lingering commotion when he remarked that it was better for an HIV person to use condom during sex. Bad media PR too. He could said that in a homily and there would be no fuss as he would be able to explain why that was so. In the media, it would be just one liner, perhaps to create headline, and it would become a hot topic for a big section of the world.

I disagree that Pope Francis made a mistake here though, even if it was not spoken Ex Cathedra ( I am just kidding). It is a personal opinion on a topic that can be subjective depending on the context it is said.