'Who am I to judge?': The pope's most powerful phrase in 2013

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Could five little words uttered in 2013 change the course of the Catholic Church?
Pope Francis — also known as Time’s Person of the Year and Twitter’s #bestpopeever — has done a lot of talking since he was installed on the throne of St. Peter in March, tackling everything from luxury cars to income inequality in a series of interviews, sermons and written exhortations.
But for veteran Vatican watcher John Thavis, the pontiff’s most significant pontificating came July 29 when he gave a press conference on a flight back from Brazil.
“Who am I to judge?” he asked.

…

For Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest like Francis, the most important words from Francis this year were written, not spoken.
“Look at the title of his latest apostolic exhortation. It’s ‘the joy of the Gospel,’ not the ‘the truth of the Gospel,’” he said.
“He has rebranded the church as welcoming, compassionate, a church for the poor as opposed to a church that nags people and is worried about rules and regulations,” said Reese, author of “Inside the Vatican.”

worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/22/21984495-who-am-i-to-judge-the-popes-most-powerful-phrase-in-2013
 
The Holy Father’s full quote was “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”

The press was quick to latch on to the “who am I to judge?” part but seem to have missed the “searches for the Lord” part.

Francis did not imply that the Church is going to lighten up on gay marriage and such. Following the teachings of Christ would certainly preclude homosexuality.

My :twocents:
 
I like the article and I like what our Holy Father is doing.

In marketing you need to get the attention of the targeted audience. Then you need to convince them that what you are marketing has personal interest to them. Then you need to convince them to give it a try.

He is doing that.

He is also invigorating those within the Church to get off their duffs and act like Christians.

For a 77 year old man; that’s a lot of accomplishments in less than a year!
 
Lost_Sheep said:
The Holy Father’s full quote was “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”

The press was quick to latch on to the “who am I to judge?” part but seem to have missed the “searches for the Lord” part.

Francis did not imply that the Church is going to lighten up on gay marriage and such. Following the teachings of Christ would certainly preclude homosexuality.

My :twocents:
Click to expand...
Good point, but sadly even many Catholics also missed the same part of the Holy Father’s quote.
 
It actually ISN’T for ANY pope to judge. That is for Christ, and Christ alone.

HOWEVER… His Holiness DOES have the responsibility to teach, and preach, and the media seem to not understand what he is trying to say. They’re hearing what they want to. I am hoping that eventually they will understand the TRUE Christian teaching, and not glom on to what they THINK they heard.
 
OurLadyPray4US said:
😛

I checked out that thread and people seemed to really judge and condemn that poor guy, because he married a woman!
Click to expand...
I was shocked, apparently defining one’s ‘orientation’ is fine, as long as you’re defining it as gay!
 
gilliam said:
“He has rebranded the church as welcoming, compassionate, a church for the poor as opposed to a church that nags people and is worried about rules and regulations,” said Reese, author of “Inside the Vatican.”
Click to expand...
I don’t want to pass judgement but I remember similar things being said in the mid 60’s.
 
gilliam said:
I like the article and I like what our Holy Father is doing.

In marketing you need to get the attention of the targeted audience. Then you need to convince them that what you are marketing has personal interest to them. Then you need to convince them to give it a try.

He is doing that.

He is also invigorating those within the Church to get off their duffs and act like Christians.

For a 77 year old man; that’s a lot of accomplishments in less than a year!
Click to expand...
AIDCA
Attention
Interest
Desire
Conviction
Action
 
As always, I agree with the Pope. But, I don’t agree with the writer of the article. It’s like people are taking “who am I to judge” and creating a whole new religion based just on that one short, out of context phrase. Actually, it’s the religion of moral relativism that people are trying to ascribe to the Pope’s words. But they are distorting and misrepresenting what the Pope has said.
 
Even if we were to only focus on what the media is trying to get us to see, they still miss what “judge” means in this context. A lot of people miss its meaning.
 
livingwordunity said:
As always, I agree with the Pope. But, I don’t agree with the writer of the article. It’s like people are taking “who am I to judge” and creating a whole new religion based just on that one short, out of context phrase. Actually, it’s the religion of moral relativism that people are trying to ascribe to the Pope’s words. But they are distorting and misrepresenting what the Pope has said.
Click to expand...
👍
 
ProVobis said:
I don’t want to pass judgement but I remember similar things being said in the mid 60’s.
Click to expand...
👍 (I can’t say I remember what was said in the 60’s because I wasn’t alive, but I think your observation is exactly right, unfortunately)
livingwordunity said:
As always, I agree with the Pope. But, I don’t agree with the writer of the article. It’s like people are taking “who am I to judge” and creating a whole new religion based just on that one short, out of context phrase. Actually, it’s the religion of moral relativism that people are trying to ascribe to the Pope’s words. But they are distorting and misrepresenting what the Pope has said.
Click to expand...
👍
 
Guys, this is nothing like the '60s. And frankly, one can make a very good argument that the problems the Church faces in the Western world are much worse than in the '60s.
 
gilliam said:
Could five little words uttered in 2013 change the course of the Catholic Church?
Pope Francis — also known as Time’s Person of the Year and Twitter’s #bestpopeever — has done a lot of talking since he was installed on the throne of St. Peter in March, tackling everything from luxury cars to income inequality in a series of interviews, sermons and written exhortations.
But for veteran Vatican watcher John Thavis, the pontiff’s most significant pontificating came July 29 when he gave a press conference on a flight back from Brazil.
“Who am I to judge?” he asked.

…

For Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest like Francis, the most important words from Francis this year were written, not spoken.
“Look at the title of his latest apostolic exhortation. It’s ‘the joy of the Gospel,’ not the ‘the truth of the Gospel,’” he said.
“He has rebranded the church as welcoming, compassionate, a church for the poor as opposed to a church that nags people and is worried about rules and regulations,” said Reese, author of “Inside the Vatican.”

worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/22/21984495-who-am-i-to-judge-the-popes-most-powerful-phrase-in-2013
Click to expand...
He has not rebranded anything. He also said he was a son of the Church. Context is everything. Single lines are not.

Peace,
Ed
 
livingwordunity said:
As always, I agree with the Pope. But, I don’t agree with the writer of the article. It’s like people are taking “who am I to judge” and creating a whole new religion based just on that one short, out of context phrase. Actually, it’s the religion of moral relativism that people are trying to ascribe to the Pope’s words. But they are distorting and misrepresenting what the Pope has said.
Click to expand...
Well said.
 
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