I’ll be honest. I was shocked at what Pope Francis said in an interview published yesterday. I was disturbed because I knew that his comments would be used against pro-life and traditional marriage activists. I knew that sidewalk counselors would be told by those supporting abortion that the pope told them not to be “obsessed” with abortion. Traditional marriage supporters would also be told that the pope said, “Who are you to judge?”
I’ll be honest, I was disturbed. While it’s clear that the pope is not changing Church teaching he is clearly changing the emphasis. The pope with a few words has unsettled so much. With a few words the pope has unsettled me.
September 20, 2013 at 6:34 pm
As much as I can, I'm just going to ignore what he says. Of course, this means I can't watch the nightly news either because they will exaggerate what he said. Reparations! Penance! Today is the second of 3 ember days…
September 20, 2013 at 7:05 pm
Yes, it is disconcerting. For decades most of the faithful have NOT been hearing about the intrinsic evils of abortion and sodomy. This is why many Catholics felt okay to vote for the present corrupt administration.
We need stronger and more words, not less. Yes, the Church is a place for sinners; she cannot leave them comfortable in their sins however.
September 20, 2013 at 8:56 pm
I think the Pope's words are very unfair to Christians who make their living from posting anti-gay rhetoric on the web. How are they expected to earn a living now?
September 20, 2013 at 9:13 pm
I think it's a good thing to be unsettled from time to time. Not that I like it especially, I'm happy in my routine. I find this Pope challenging, but maybe that's what I need. He causes me to think things through to stretch my heart a bit, not a bad thing really.
September 20, 2013 at 10:18 pm
Something that seems to get lost at times is the fact the Pope speaks with the ENTIRE Church in mind, not just those of us here in the USA.
September 21, 2013 at 2:22 pm
Meme going around Facebook: Pope Francis "We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and we must love one another" New York Times "Pope says all Catholics must be gay!!!" I agree with your unsettledness (is this a word?) I worry about the lack of us (both liberal and conservative) working with the poor on a personal level. Writing checks is fine and we need the money, but there is something to looking at a person in need in the eye and saying "What do you need?" The early Church was spread by the martyrs and the love of the Christians — we need to get back to both. Sacrificing for Christ and loving others as He loved us.
September 21, 2013 at 2:23 pm
Meme going around Facebook: Pope Francis "We are all brothers and sisters in Christ and we must love one another" New York Times "Pope says all Catholics must be gay!!!" I agree with your unsettledness (is this a word?) I worry about the lack of us (both liberal and conservative) working with the poor on a personal level. Writing checks is fine and we need the money, but there is something to looking at a person in need in the eye and saying "What do you need?" The early Church was spread by the martyrs and the love of the Christians — we need to get back to both. Sacrificing for Christ and loving others as He loved us.
September 22, 2013 at 3:23 am
In your previous post on NCR about the Pope's interview I posted a link to my thoughts in detail, after a barrage of emails, comments and tweets from Twitter, I had to write a "My Issues with Pope Francis: Part Two"
http://connecticutcatholiccorner.blogspot.com/2013/09/my-issues-with-pope-francis-part-two.html
September 22, 2013 at 6:41 pm
One of the most disturbing things, to my sensibilities, is his comment given in the preamble to the interview, to the effect that he doesn't like to give off the cuff remarks, but prefers to think them through, and then to comment. But of course, he then proceeds to violate that wise view in what comes to 16 pages of interview.
He also declares himself naive. Need I add to that?
September 23, 2013 at 5:51 am
Didn't Christ say, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH?! Not popes, bishops, priests or lay people! Please have faith people, your weakness is sad to see!
September 23, 2013 at 7:28 pm
Thats the classic Protestant heresy (@Ernesto Rivas) – Um, Christ said "You are Peter (ROCK) and on you I will build my Church"
Catholics have Faith AND Tradition –
September 24, 2013 at 2:05 am
@Ernesto Rivas: Unfortunately the presence of priests, bishops, popes (well, one at a given time) and lay people is assumed for the Church in the Bible itself. It's taken for granted in Acts and the letters of Paul. If you want to spin out a tinfoil-hat conspiracy theory about some primal church structure that later got corrupted, you pretty much are required by the textual evidence to date that corruption to within a decade of the Crucifixion. Aside from that being unlikely, the primal structure becoming so unrecognizably distorted within a single human lifetime sorta makes "the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it" into a laughable lie.
Please do some research man, your ignorance is painful to look at.