Pope's speech to US Congress [full text] [CC]

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True; but at the same time, the Vatican has singled out abortion numerous times as a grave matter rather than just what one Pope has said in one speech. A lot of teaching can be promulgated if we are just using a “Quote-A-Pope” logic but that is not necessarily Catholic teaching.
Yes, the Church has already singled out abortion numerous times as a grave matter. This has been promulgated and is not questioned. So why is this even an issue? It is not the entirety of Catholic teaching. Cannot the pope ever speak of anything else?
 
Well, it happens that I am able to both read and comprehend standard English. Do I need to copy comments from this very thread? I won’t because I don’t wish to personally offend anyone, but they are there to see.
Of course you need to copy comments, or provide the post numbers. Who cares if you offend them? We wouldn’t post our thoughts publically if we cared what others thought of us. It isn’t as though you are tattling.
 
Yes, the Church has already singled out abortion numerous times as a grave matter. This has been promulgated and is not questioned. So why is this even an issue? It is not the entirety of Catholic teaching. Cannot the pope ever speak of anything else?
I don’t know - you tell me. How often do we speak of the Nazis and skip over the Holocaust? I think sometimes people say this sort of thing and claim to get how evil abortion is, when they clearly do not. Not to their core, anyway.
 
True; but at the same time, the Vatican has singled out abortion numerous times as a grave matter rather than just what one Pope has said in one speech. A lot of teaching can be promulgated if we are just using a “Quote-A-Pope” logic but that is not necessarily Catholic teaching.
Did you suppose Congress at a time when the issue threatens to shut down the federal government did not already understand this is an important issue? I saw the pope’s remarks concerning the sanctity of all life as encompassing abortion as well as the Pope’s not wanting to wade into partisan politics while speaking to Congress by specifically singling out abortion, particularly when everyone already knew the Church’s position.
 
Of course you need to copy comments, or provide the post numbers. Who cares if you offend them? We wouldn’t post our thoughts publically if we cared what others thought of us. It isn’t as though you are tattling.
I care if I offend them and don’t wish to single anyone out. The comments are there and not hard to find.
 
Yes, the Church has already singled out abortion numerous times as a grave matter. This has been promulgated and is not questioned. So why is this even an issue? It is not the entirety of Catholic teaching. Cannot the pope ever speak of anything else?
Who said he can’t speak on these other issues? The only criticism is that he seems to do that while diminishing other issues. Seem my post #58 on this thread. It isn’t that he said anything that wasn’t Catholic. The only criticism is on tactics, not on substance.
 
Did you suppose Congress at a time when the issue threatens to shut down the federal government did not already understand this is an important issue? I saw the pope’s remarks concerning the sanctity of all life as encompassing abortion as well as the Pope’s not wanting to wade into partisan politics while speaking to Congress by specifically singling out abortion, particularly when everyone already knew the Church’s position.
But he did wade into partisan politics by speaking explicitly about capital punishment and climate change. Are those issues not just as partisan as abortion and same sex marriage?
 
How do you offend someone by quoting what they posted on a public forum?
I would explain it this way. Though it is on a vastly smaller scale, it is perhaps for the same reason Pope Francis did not specially mention abortion in his comment before Congress concerning respect for human life in all its stages. In that setting, it would surely have been only devisive to do so. It is the same thing here. It would perhaps introtroduce divisiveness by singling out a particular comment when I think everyone already knows there is decisiveness about a focus on abortion.
 
But he did wade into partisan politics by speaking explicitly about capital punishment and climate change. Are those issues not just as partisan as abortion and same sex marriage?
How do you figure that because the Pope spoke against climate change and capital punishment he is engaging in partisan politics…on the issue of capital punishment he is reiterating what the previous two Popes have said as heads of the Catholic Church…he speaks on climate change also as head of the Catholic Church…whether people agree or disagree…not as an American partisan politician…he addresses those issues to the world…abortion and SSM are against Catholic teaching…again…nothing to do with partisan politics…the ones who accuse the Pope of playing partisan politics are the ones who are doing it
 
The priest who was narrating the Pope’s Congressional address with Raymond Arroyo on EWTN
put it very plainly:
*abortion, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage are “non- negotiable” issues
in the theology of the Catholic Church *
He also stated that people need to stop trying to put these non-negotiable issues
on an equal par with the* death penalty*, poverty, global warming, and other social issues.

I wish the Pope had spoken so plainly.
 
Non negotiable issues are to be found in the Magnificate, the Beatitudes and the Parables.
The two great commandments are to Love God and to love your neighbour as yourself. These are non-negotiable. These are the teaching directly from Jesus. Without Jesus their would be no faith and no church. His teachings are non-negotiable and Pope Francis closely follows Jesus teachings in his leadership of the Church. Read Jesus words and follow his teachings. Do not throw stones in judgement of others; do not strike your enemy but turn the other cheek, feed the hungry, house the homeless, remember what Jesus said to the rich boy who asked him “What must I do to be saved ?” Take all you have and give it to the poor. Live the Gospels. Stop sitting in place of God on the throne of judgement for judge others and you too shall be judged ! These are not my views but those of our saviour Jesus Christ.
 
You are required to have your children raised Catholic. When you married your husband you agreed to this.
Actually, he was lapsed when we married, in my Church, we went through all the hoops of Radical Sanation, because I would not agree to raise the kids Catholic.
 
Non negotiable issues are to be found in the Magnificate, the Beatitudes and the Parables.
And also in the Catholic Catecism :

2271 Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion.
This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.
Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law

vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Z.HTM
 
Non negotiable issues are to be found in the Magnificate, the Beatitudes and the Parables.
The two great commandments are to Love God and to love your neighbour as yourself. These are non-negotiable. These are the teaching directly from Jesus. Without Jesus their would be no faith and no church. His teachings are non-negotiable and Pope Francis closely follows Jesus teachings in his leadership of the Church. Read Jesus words and follow his teachings. Do not throw stones in judgement of others; do not strike your enemy but turn the other cheek, feed the hungry, house the homeless, remember what Jesus said to the rich boy who asked him “What must I do to be saved ?” Take all you have and give it to the poor. Live the Gospels. Stop sitting in place of God on the throne of judgement for judge others and you too shall be judged ! These are not my views but those of our saviour Jesus Christ.
Okay then. Define “love.” For most Christians, it means truly caring for the well being and wanting the best for your fellow man as God does.
 
How do you figure that because the Pope spoke against climate change and capital punishment he is engaging in partisan politics…
Is climate change a partisan issue within Congress? Is capital punishment a partisan issue in Congress? Papa Francis spoke on these partisan issues with clarity.
on the issue of capital punishment he is reiterating what the previous two Popes have said as heads of the Catholic Church…he speaks on climate change also as head of the Catholic Church…whether people agree or disagree…not as an American partisan politician…he addresses those issues to the world…abortion and SSM are against Catholic teaching…again…nothing to do with partisan politics…the ones who accuse the Pope of playing partisan politics are the ones who are doing it
Here’s the point. When I asked why he was vague on abortion and SSM, the response has been:
Because he was speaking as our shepherd and not as the spokesman for your political party.
or
“Wahhhhh! The Pope didn’t mention my favorite pet social issue! Wahhhhhh! I’m so ashamed to be Catholic!”
or
I don’t believe Pope Francis spoke to Congress with any intent of wading into the partisan politics of the moment.
So, people say he didn’t speak directly to these because he didn’t want to wade into partisan politics. Yet he spoke directly on climate change and capital punishment, which are partisan issues. So which is it?
 
The “conservative Catholic” position, whatever that even means, is that the non-negotiable values of family, marriage, and life take the most primary place of importance in Catholic social teaching, and that other matters are not dimished but not equal to these non-negotiables. Things like ecological responsibility are logically subordinate to the protection of human life. Not only is that the consistent teaching of the Church, but it will continue to be.
That is a very legalistic comment really. It doesn’t recognise the natural interplay between human issues. For example, in medieval Europe Bubonic illness being recognised as a fatal illness was treated medically in a certain way. When the disease hit plague proportions killing millions of people across the continent a new approach had to be found, hence rather than pouring more energy into treatments, emphasise fell onto the cultural practices. Quarantine measures were established. Hygiene practices were paid more attention too. Travel and the nomadic life were discouraged. All these measures concerning the culture took precedence over just targeting the main disease.

As a result of treating the culture, the Black plague subsided astounding quickly.

Pope StJPII introduced to catholics the concept of the ‘culture of death’ for the same reason. Abortion is like a virulent plague in our society and just addressing the disease is not reigning it in. We need to aggressively address the whole culture in this day and age. We need to search the culture for the attitudes and practices that nurture this indifference towards human dignity that feeds the plague of abortion .

The Church’s tactics in this day and age have a sound basis in natural law which adjusts priorities according to the social illnesses of the times in order to treat the whole culture.

Unfortunately legalism and hostile inflexibility are a great enemy of the natural human progress ordained by God.
 
Only if climate change will lead to the death of human beings,
Which is has been doing and will be doing big time for 100s of years to come just from our current emissions (at this point there is no hope for sustainability, only reliance to cut the losses), not counting what more we will be profligately emitting on into the future with even a greater death toll perhaps over the next 100,000 years IF we don’t cease and desist from such harms.
and if there’s anything we can do to prevent it…
We’ve spent the last 25 years disproving that utter nonsense from folks who have no idea at all, bec they have not made even the slightest effort to stop their contributions to this harm and killing. That is, we have reduced our GHG emissions and other concomitant pollution that harms and kills by over 60% below our 1990 emissions level cost effectively, saving us money without lowering our living standard.

After the great inspiration from Laudato Si and the tremendous example of Pope Francis and his actions, his “Little Ways of Environmental Healing,” we are beginning even to sacrifice a bit for the sake of the life of the world. Not a whole lot at this point, not enough to cause us much discomfort, but something to help us lower our GHG emissions and other pollution even further – such as raising our AC thermostat by 3 degrees and eating less food (which has the added benefit of bringing us into a healthier life style, since we are overweight), and other such Little Ways of Environmental Healing.

What we have managed to do involved turning to God and a lot of prayer and effort. God is truly great and will show those who seek His help the way. So much so it will come as a great and tremendous surprise.

God bless you.
 
Okay then. Define “love.” For most Christians, it means truly caring for the well being and wanting the best for your fellow man as God does.
I do want the best for everyone else, but I wouldn´t dare say I love everyone, just because of of that. To me, love involves self sacrifice as well.
 
Is climate change a partisan issue within Congress? Is capital punishment a partisan issue in Congress? Papa Francis spoke on these partisan issues with clarity.
When Pope Francis spoke of those issues he did so by providing Catholic teaching which transcends partisan politics. The Catholic Church opposes both abortion and capital punishment and AGW. It is that simple.
 
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