Why all the untruths about what Pope Francis says..

[horselvr]

A Democrat for the State Senate posted on FB that Pope Francis said that it is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person and that the traditional notion of God is outdated. You can be spiritual but not religious and it is not necessary to go to Church.

I know with every fiber of my being he did not say this. My question is really why do they keep saying he said things he didn’t say and why do so many believe it.

 

[Lost_Sheep]

A Democrat for the State Senate posted on FB that Pope Francis said that it is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person and that the traditional notion of God is outdated. You can be spiritual but not religious and it is not necessary to go to Church.

I know with every fiber of my being he did not say this. My question is really why do they keep saying he said things he didn’t say and why do so many believe it.

Wishful thinking.

 

[pianistclare]

A Democrat for the State Senate posted on FB that Pope Francis said that it is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person and that the traditional notion of God is outdated. You can be spiritual but not religious and it is not necessary to go to Church.

I know with every fiber of my being he did not say this. My question is really why do they keep saying he said things he didn’t say and why do so many believe it.

To bolster public opinion (especially among the youth) that religion and belief in God is not needed, nor beneficial.
It just more lies.
Catholics should know to read reliable sources, and the original source of Francis’ remarks. Frequently posters here post up the genuine text, and provide in context commentary.
God bless.

 

[ctb95]

Wishful thinking.

And the media’s “wishful thinking”. Is misleading a lot of people.

 

[horselvr]

Thank you so much pianistclare and ctb95, lost Sheep. I am not able to find the original source of the Popes remarks along with commentary. If anyone here knows where I can find that or if it can be posted here it would be very much appreciated.

Thank you all so much.

 

[Billy112]

A lot of it really seems like an extension of the “personal Jesus” mentality. It seems as if there are a lot of Catholics who don’t really respect him (mainly referring to him as a “leftist” or something of the sort) but I’m sure a lot of that stems from his misquoting in the media, such as making it sound like he says capitalism is evil in itself, rather than unbridled capitalism with people serving money and goods and not the other way around. “Who am I to judge?” is the one I’ve heard used the most.

 

[pianistclare]

It seems even Snopes smells a rat, LOL

snopes.com/politics/quotes/popeatheist.asp

 

[Neofight]

Yes, miss stating the Pope has been a problem.

But even Catholics are a little loose with their own interpretation of what the Holy Father says or writes. We need only look at the significant number of Catholics who claim to know what the pope really meant in his most recent encylical because they found the thoughts and words counter to their own political and philosophical beliefs.

 

[boomerang]

Thank you so much pianistclare and ctb95, lost Sheep. I am not able to find the original source of the Popes remarks along with commentary. If anyone here knows where I can find that or if it can be posted here it would be very much appreciated.

Thank you all so much.

I think those remarks may have originated with this homily:

(Vatican Radio) “Doing good” is a principle that unites all humanity, beyond the diversity of ideologies and religions, and creates the “culture of encounter” that is the foundation of peace: this is what Pope said at Mass this morning at the Domus Santae Martae, in the presence of employees of the Governorate of Vatican City. Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, concelebrated at the Mass.

Wednesday’s Gospel speaks to us about the disciples who prevented a person from outside their group from doing good. “They complain,” the Pope said in his homily, because they say, “If he is not one of us, he cannot do good. If he is not of our party, he cannot do good.” And Jesus corrects them: “Do not hinder him, he says, let him do good.” The disciples, Pope Francis explains, “were a little intolerant,” closed off by the idea of possessing the truth, convinced that “those who do not have the truth, cannot do good.” “This was wrong . . . Jesus broadens the horizon.” Pope Francis said, “The root of this possibility of doing good – that we all have – is in creation”:

"The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can. He must. Not can: must! Because he has this commandment within him. Instead, this ‘closing off’ that imagines that those outside, everyone, cannot do good is a wall that leads to war and also to what some people throughout history have conceived of: killing in the name of God. That we can kill in the name of God. And that, simply, is blasphemy. To say that you can kill in the name of God is blasphemy.”

“Instead,” the Pope continued, “the Lord has created us in His image and likeness, and has given us this commandment in the depths of our heart: do good and do not do evil”:

"The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”

“Doing good” the Pope explained, is not a matter of faith: “It is a duty, it is an identity card that our Father has given to all of us, because He has made us in His image and likeness. And He does good, always.”

This was the final prayer of Pope Francis:

"Today is [the feast of] Santa Rita, Patron Saint of impossible things – but this seems impossible: let us ask of her this grace, this grace that all, all, all people would do good and that we would encounter one another in this work, which is a work of creation, like the creation of the Father. A work of the family, because we are all children of God, all of us, all of us! And God loves us, all of us! May Santa Rita grant us this grace, which seems almost impossible. Amen.”

en.radiovaticana.va/storico/2013/05/22/pope_at_mass_culture_of_encounter_is_the_foundation_of_peace/en1-694445

 

[Billy112]

Was this sort of thing done to other Holy Fathers as well, or is this mostly a Francis-specific problem? I really cannot remember this happening to Pope Benedict XVI or Saint JPII, but I didn’t pay as much attention then.

 

[Auntie_A]

Was this sort of thing done to other Holy Fathers as well, or is this mostly a Francis-specific problem? I really cannot remember this happening to Pope Benedict XVI or Saint JPII, but I didn’t pay as much attention then.

Popes Benedict and JPII got misquoted and “spun” as well (remember the rise when Benedict read from an old reading on Islam and many reacted as if he said it himself?), but they were usually portrayed as politically right; Francis Is easier to spin to the left or to a not-so-orthodox view. Where in the secular press do you ever see Francis’ statements on valuing human life from conception to death? He speaks these words but is rarely quoted on them in the secular press.

 

[Billy112]

Popes Benedict and JPII got misquoted and “spun” as well (remember the rise when Benedict read from an old reading on Islam and many reacted as if he said it himself?), but they were usually portrayed as politically right; Francis Is easier to spin to the left or to a not-so-orthodox view. Where in the secular press do you ever see Francis’ statements on valuing human life from conception to death? He speaks these words but is rarely quoted on them in the secular press.

I’ve not heard much about the “integral ecology” concept, either, which is a really great way of looking at it. We hear so much about how there need to be less people because people are consuming so much, but we almost never hear about the common sense solution which isn’t abortion or birth control but rather to stop consuming so much.

 

[Lormar]

Please do not take this post to be antagonistic. It is far from it. If you can answer me, it will go a long, and I do mean long (I no longer attend Mass) in restoring my faith in the Church.

Is everything that is reported that Francie has said distorted? If so, can you give me examples? And tell me where you go to find the truth.

 

[Billy112]

Please do not take this post to be antagonistic. It is far from it. If you can answer me, it will go a long, and I do mean long (I no longer attend Mass) in restoring my faith in the Church.

Is everything that is reported that Francie has said distorted? If so, can you give me examples? And tell me where you go to find the truth.

I couldn’t tell you that absolutely everything he says is distorted, but “Who am I to judge?” is the biggest one I’ve heard. He was talking about gay men being priests, if I remember correctly. What he said is not against the Catechism at all, as homosexuals are welcome in the church just as anyone else is; it is simply homosexual activity that is not and never will be welcome in the church. Many people take not judging people to mean not judging anything, including actions that can be judged as objectively wrong. Many also try to say that he says capitalism as a whole is evil, even going to the extent of calling him a Marxist, when he only says that capitalism where people serve money and objects instead of the right way of money and objects serving people is wrong.

The Catholic News Service (catholicnews.com) has good coverage of him.

I’m happy to hear you are considering coming back home and know that Mother Church will welcome you back. I will pray for you, and would recommend the Novena to Our Lady Under of Knots (theholyrosary.org/maryundoerknots) to you. She will not abandon you!

 

[Lormar]

I couldn’t tell you that absolutely everything he says is distorted, but “Who am I to judge?” is the biggest one I’ve heard. He was talking about gay men being priests, if I remember correctly. What he said is not against the Catechism at all, as homosexuals are welcome in the church just as anyone else is; it is simply homosexual activity that is not and never will be welcome in the church. Many people take not judging people to mean not judging anything, including actions that can be judged as objectively wrong. Many also try to say that he says capitalism as a whole is evil, even going to the extent of calling him a Marxist, when he only says that capitalism where people serve money and objects instead of the right way of money and objects serving people is wrong.

The Catholic News Service (catholicnews.com) has good coverage of him.

I’m happy to hear you are considering coming back home and know that Mother Church will welcome you back. I will pray for you, and would recommend the Novena to Our Lady Under of Knots (theholyrosary.org/maryundoerknots) to you. She will not abandon you!

Billy, thank you. Ask Her to help me please, and say a prayer for me.

 

[Billy112]

Billy, thank you. Ask Her to help me please, and say a prayer for me.

I’m happy to help and will do so.

 

[JosieN]

I think those remarks may have originated with this homily:

en.radiovaticana.va/storico/2013/05/22/pope_at_mass_culture_of_encounter_is_the_foundation_of_peace/en1-694445

In this message the pope says "“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace.”

Don’t you have to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved and believe that he is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for us? If those who do not believe this are also redeemed like the atheists then why bother to believe in anything? I am sure this is not what he meant but it is a bit confusing.

 

[shockerfan]

there are a lot of untruths being attributed to Pope Francis. Seems to me there are several reasons:

1. Its easier than ever for untruths to get spread on the internet, as more an more people get access. So I would expect a few internet untruths to be attributed to JP2, more to Benedict, and now way more with Francis
2. The left hated Benedict. His teachings absolutely reaffirmed orthodoxy. Thus they are looking for Francis to “undo” some of what Benedict said. Their mistake is that they try to interpret what Francis says in light of their own world view (a world in which abortion, gay marriage, and embryonic stem cell research is OK to them). The Pope is, well, uh, the Pope…and a Catholic Pope at that. So the comments made by Francis must be taken in context with Church teaching. His comments (the ones he actually makes…not these urban legends making the rounds) make sense when considered in light of Church teaching.
3. I still expect there are some Catholics, some anti-Catholic, and some non-Catholics who will engage in more “wishful thinking”. Here is a simple test to use in the future: If something gets attributed to Francis that makes it sound like he changed Church teaching…beware!

 

[tee_eff_em]

I know with every fiber of my being he did not say this. My question is really why do they keep saying he said things he didn’t say and why do so many believe it.

Appeal to authority.

Remeber:

You can’t believe everything you read on the internet.

ABRAHM LINCOLN​

tee

 

[utah_rose]

In this message the pope says "“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace.”

Don’t you have to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved and believe that he is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for us? If those who do not believe this are also redeemed like the atheists then why bother to believe in anything? I am sure this is not what he meant but it is a bit confusing.

I’m confused by this too. Didn’t St.Paul say something to the effect that if you did good but not out of love you couldn’t obtain salvation? Unless what he meant it was a meeting moment and that if we agreed on that perhaps atheists would eventually believe in God?

I can’t remember ever having the Pope say something and then immediately it has to be interpreted, except for Pope Benedict and frequently for Pope Francis. I admire this Pope, but I really preferred Pope Benedict and St.John Paul as they were clearer on what they were saying, and sorry, this homily sounds too much like the feel good homilies we get at our parishes today. Don’t most people know instinctively they need to do good without it being spelled out to them?