Pope prays for US, calls racism a pro-life issue

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VATICAN CITY – Observing with great concern the social unrest unfolding in the United States, Pope Francis said no one can claim to defend the sanctity of every human life while turning a blind eye to racism and exclusion.

Addressing all "dear brothers and sisters in the United States” during his livestreamed general audience June 3, the pope said, “Today I join the church in St. Paul and Minneapolis, and in the entire United States, in praying for the repose of the soul of George Floyd and of all those others who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism.” ❤️

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Very thankful that the Holy Father is acknowledging us and our problems.

I’ve gotten the vibe over the years — and maybe I’m just looking for it (but I don’t think I am) — that Rome does not really value the United States, that she “leaves us to stew in our own juices” and pays more attention to Europe and (especially) the Third World. Yes, we’re materialistic (never mind that this materialism also allows to to have the money to donate massively to the Church) and we absolutely have a problem with obedience to the magisterium (pursuit of an easy life will have that effect), but we are people too, and we are Catholics too. So for Pope Francis to care about America in this respect, that’s very refreshing and much appreciated.
 
HomeschoolDad said:
Very thankful that the Holy Father is acknowledging us and our problems.

I’ve gotten the vibe over the years — and maybe I’m just looking for it (but I don’t think I am) — that Rome does not really value the United States, that she “leaves us to stew in our own juices” and pays more attention to Europe and (especially) the Third World. Yes, we’re materialistic (never mind that this materialism also allows to to have the money to donate massively to the Church) and we absolutely have a problem with obedience to the magisterium (pursuit of an easy life will have that effect), but we are people too, and we are Catholics too. So for Pope Francis to care about America in this respect, that’s very refreshing and much appreciated.
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You’re not the only one to notice this - the Vatican hasn’t been very keen on America since Pope Francis was elected and it’s noticeable since Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI were, in general, very complimentary of the U.S. and its roll in the world. They had their problems with the U.S. for sure (JPII and the Iraq War is a prominent example) but they largely seemed to have a positive attitude towards the U.S. In comparison, Pope Francis’ views on America seem to be very weird and somewhat distorted, and this is probably attributed to his upbringing in Argentina and the advisors he surrounds himself with in Rome. No one’s denying we have problems here but some of the stuff that comes out of the Vatican these days on the U.S. (like that article from a year or two ago in the Vatican press about the “ecumenism of hate” that supposedly exists in the U.S. between conservative Catholics and evangelicals) is just plain idiotic.

That being said, I like this statement from Pope Francis as he calls out the problems on both sides very succinctly and is a compassionate response.
 
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There was a teachable moment that got missed. Not only is racism a prolife issue but prolife is a racism issue. Margaret Sanger was at the very least compatible with White Supremacy. To this day Planned Parenthood, and other abortion providers, abort Black babies far out of proportion.
 
TK421 said:
VATICAN CITY – Observing with great concern the social unrest unfolding in the United States, Pope Francis said no one can claim to defend the sanctity of every human life while turning a blind eye to racism and exclusion.
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I wasn’t aware that police brutality was a racist issue. Has anyone actually demonstrated with hard evidence that Officer Chauvin was motivated by a racist ideology rather than he was a rotten cop? Also, it appears to me that basically the entire country to include majorities of all racial and ethnic backgrounds were in agreement that this was a terrible incident and that justice should be done in response to Mr. Floyd’s killing. Personally, I think the Church would be better served not to jump on the racial bandwagon and . . . .

Just proclaim that all individuals are made in the image of God, are sinners in need of redemption, and are freely redeemed by Christ’s death and resurrection, and justified by faith in Christ as our savior. That to me seems a much more unifying message than agreeing with ideologies that seek to pit racial and ethnic groups against one another.
 
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Weserthy said:
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HomeschoolDad:
Very thankful that the Holy Father is acknowledging us and our problems.
I’ve gotten the vibe over the years — and maybe I’m just looking for it (but I don’t think I am) — that Rome does not really value the United States, that she “leaves us to stew in our own juices” and pays more attention to Europe and (especially) the Third World. Yes, we’re materialistic (never mind that this materialism also allows to to have the money to donate massively to the Church) and we absolutely have a problem with obedience to the magisterium (pursuit of an easy life will have that effect), but we are people too, and we are Catholics too. So for Pope Francis to care about America in this respect, that’s very refreshing and much appreciated.
Click to expand...
You’re not the only one to notice this - the Vatican hasn’t been very keen on America since Pope Francis was elected and it’s noticeable since Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI were, in general, very complimentary of the U.S. and its roll in the world. They had their problems with the U.S. for sure (JPII and the Iraq War is a prominent example) but they largely seemed to have a positive attitude towards the U.S. In comparison, Pope Francis’ views on America seem to be very weird and somewhat distorted, and this is probably attributed to his upbringing in Argentina and the advisors he surrounds himself with in Rome. No one’s denying we have problems here but some of the stuff that comes out of the Vatican these days on the U.S. (like that article from a year or two ago in the Vatican press about the “ecumenism of hate” that supposedly exists in the U.S. between conservative Catholics and evangelicals) is just plain idiotic.

That being said, I like this statement from Pope Francis as he calls out the problems on both sides very succinctly and is a compassionate response.
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No, I’ve gotten the “vibe”, as I put it above, that the Church has never been all that crazy over the fact that the United States even exists. One could be forgiven, I think, for seeing something like this: this whole new country just popped up out of nowhere, it was avowedly nonconfessional, it asserted “rights” and “self-evident” truths, some of which might be found in the teachings of Bellarmine, Aquinas, and others, but which had never been asserted by any other country before. People started flocking there from throughout Europe, generally “getting along” in a way they couldn’t do back home, and Catholics mixed, intermingled, and yes, intermarried, with everybody else. The Church didn’t know quite what to make of it, or what to do with it. Our “revolution”, such as it was, was merely political, not social or religious. The Church even found a vague heresy in all of it, “Americanism”, to which the American hierarchy rightly replied “yes, but none of us are actually doing the things Leo XIII is accusing us of, so what’s the problem?”. I think the Church, to this very day, is just scratching its head and saying “how do you solve a problem like America?”. (Apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein.)
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While it maybe true that the US is too much ignored by the Vatican, it should also be noted that Americans can also be too used to attention.

The Catholic Church predates the American hegemony and is in the whole world. If the Church doesn’t deal as much with politics, it doesn’t need to adress the US that much. Argentina isn’t adressed as much either. Individual countries are usually the subject of their Episcopal Conferences.
 
“My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life. At the same time, we have to recognize that ‘the violence of recent nights is self-destructive and self-defeating. Nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost,’” he said, quoting Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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HomeschoolDad said:
I’ve gotten the vibe over the years — and maybe I’m just looking for it (but I don’t think I am) — that Rome does not really value the United States, that she “leaves us to stew in our own juices” and pays more attention to Europe and (especially) the Third World.
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Is this not exactly what you would expect given that there are twice as many people in Europe than in the US and 10 times as many in the developing world?
 
FiveLinden said:
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HomeschoolDad:
I’ve gotten the vibe over the years — and maybe I’m just looking for it (but I don’t think I am) — that Rome does not really value the United States, that she “leaves us to stew in our own juices” and pays more attention to Europe and (especially) the Third World.
Click to expand...
Is this not exactly what you would expect given that there are twice as many people in Europe than in the US and 10 times as many in the developing world?
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You actually do make a good point — just running “quick and dirty” numbers, the population of Europe, minus Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, is about 584 million. As for the latter, how does one define “developing world” or “Third World”? I normally think of “Third World” as those countries that are not part of:
  • the developed West (including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and arguably South Africa)
  • the ex-Soviet Bloc
  • and I would also exclude much of South America (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, possibly others) due to their high state of economic and social development
It’s just a shorthand way of breaking down the world along broad lines. Some countries are sui generis, such as Turkey or even India and China.
 
Prayers indeed. But…

Where is one shred of evidence that George Floyd was killed because of his race? That he was singled our as being black?

Where?

We have been duped.
 
po18guy said:
Where is one shred of evidence that George Floyd was killed because of his race? That he was singled our as being black?
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I would have thought the disproportionate number of black people killed by police in many parts of the US provides more than a shred of evidence. Can you quickly find a video of a white person being knelt on by three police officers until they died?
 
Those are not recorded. If they are, no one riots, as there is no money financing “white rage”. Has it ever occurred to you that this is a culture issue and not a race issue? Have you read “Losing the Race” by (black) Professor John McWhorter? I didn’t think so. The culture of victimhood. Read about it and begin to understand.

Do you know that American (victrimhood culture) black males are, percentage-wise, much more likely to violate the law and come into contact with the police? Again, this relates to culture and not race. It is a culture issue. Are you aware that this culture of victimhood is much more likely to act with resistance if not violence, which forces the police to meet that resistance?

Do a little research instead of judging and stereotyping the police.

The officer who killed George Floyd had no business wearing badge and gun. Still, do you assume its racial based on the officer’s race?

If so, how is that not racism?

A few points for progressives to actually think about.
 
po18guy said:
Have you read “Losing the Race” by (black) Professor John McWhorter? I didn’t think so. The culture of victimhood. Read about it and begin to understand.
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This looks like an excellent book. I’m going to check it out at the library!
 
FiveLinden said:
I would have thought the disproportionate number of black people killed by police in many parts of the US provides more than a shred of evidence. Can you quickly find a video of a white person being knelt on by three police officers until they died?
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I could find poor white economic demographic police bias
 
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