Pope John Paul I: God as Mother

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Ahimsa

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Does anyone have any information on the quote supposedly made by Pope John Paul I, seen below:

During his brief pontificate, Pope John Paul I made this innovative statement: “God is Father, and even more, He is Mother.”
 
I actually remember a little about this. As I recall, there was a discussion about some of the names & comparisons that are used in the Bible, to give people an idea of God. Somebody asked JP1 what he thought, he said something like, yes, there are mother-like images used in the Bible to describe God…
I only remember it, because I had been reading a book on the titles for God in the Bible, & some of them had been mentioned as feminine. (Like when Jesus says to the people of Jerusalem, that He would like to gather them up like a hen gathers her chicks under her feathers).
It was (IMHO) a pretty innocuous remark. Basically just acknowledging that, yeah, the language is used in a few places. (You do realize that I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention…It wasn’t to do with me. I just thought that he was saying something like, well, he could see why someone might say that.)
It sounds like somebody has been twisting things to fit their own agenda…You know, taking a casual remark out of context.
But there have to be a lot of people that know a lot more about this than I do!!
 
I would like to see the source and context of the quote. I can’t find it anywhere on the web other than where you got it. They are very sketchy on the details.
 
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thessalonian:
I would like to see the source and context of the quote. I can’t find it anywhere on the web other than where you got it. They are very sketchy on the details.
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Leonardo Boff (of Liberation Theology fame), in his book *The Maternal Face of God, *also cites John Paul I stating the quote in question, but he doesn’t give a source.
 
+J.M.J+

I know this is an ancient thread, but I thought I might as well provide a link to the original quote in its full context (it’s pretty brief):

Angelus Message, 10 September 1978
vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_i/angelus/documents/hf_jp-i_ang_10091978_en.html

As you can see, he is commenting on Isaiah 49:15, not promoting any kind of feminist “goddess” worship or attributing “femininity” to God. Hope that helps

In Jesu et Maria,
Rosemarie
 
So, Isaiah 49:14-15 says the following

14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
my Lord has forgotten me.”

15
“Can a woman forget her sucking child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.

The verse doesn’t seem to be attributing female characteristics to God but rather is using the commonly understood idea of motherly love to demonstrate how much love God has for us. Even when a mother forgets about her own child, God never forgets.

in Christ
Andrew
 
familyz14 said:
So, Isaiah 49:14-15 says the following

14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
my Lord has forgotten me.”

15
“Can a woman forget her sucking child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.

The verse doesn’t seem to be attributing female characteristics to God but rather is using the commonly understood idea of motherly love to demonstrate how much love God has for us. Even when a mother forgets about her own child, God never forgets.

in Christ
Andrew
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This thread has been dormant for 5 years. We are not supposed to resurrect old threads. If you want to discuss the same topic you should open a new thread.
 
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