Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia wrote about what’s come to be known as THE INTERVIEW. His words are illuminating and, I think, important.
Some people grasped at the interview like a lifeline – or a vindication. One person praised the Holy Father for stressing that the “Church must focus on compassion and mercy, not on enforcing small-minded rules.” She added that “we’re at last free from the chains of hatred that have ruled the Catholic Church for so many years and led to my unease in bringing my own children into that Church.”
More common though were emails from catechists, parents and everyday Catholics who felt confused by media headlines suggesting that the Church had somehow changed her teaching on a variety of moral issues.
I heard from a mother of four children – one adopted, another disabled from birth — who’d spent years counseling pregnant girls and opening prolife clinics. She wanted to know why the Pope seemed to dismiss her sacrifices. A priest said the Pope “has implicitly accused brother priests who are serious about moral issues of being small minded,” and that “[if you’re a priest,] being morally serious is now likely to get you publicly cast as a problem.” Another priest wrote that “the problem is that [the Holy Father] makes all of the wrong people happy, people who will never believe in the Gospel and who will continue to persecute the Church.”
Archbishop Chaput encouraged Catholics to read the interview. He said that while many Catholics have read ABOUT the interview, they haven’t read the actual interview itself. So they’re learning about what the pope said through the media, an unreliable arbiter of truth.
Abp. Chaput states clearly that the pope isn’t directing us to walk away from the unborn or to give up on marriage.
The Holy Father asks none of us to abandon the task of bringing the world to Jesus Christ. Our witness matters. Every unborn child saved, every marriage strengthened, every immigrant helped, every poor person served, matters. God calls on us to help him sanctify every aspect of our shared lives – at home, at work and in the public square.
September 25, 2013 at 6:25 pm
"""""I heard from a mother of four children – one adopted, another disabled from birth — who’d spent years counseling pregnant girls and opening prolife clinics. She wanted to know why the Pope seemed to dismiss her sacrifices. A priest said the Pope “has implicitly accused brother priests who are serious about moral issues of being small minded,” and that “[if you’re a priest,] being morally serious is now likely to get you publicly cast as a problem.” Another priest wrote that “the problem is that [the Holy Father] makes all of the wrong people happy, people who will never believe in the Gospel and who will continue to persecute the Church.”"""
OK, I read the actual interview, and I still agree with these people.
Now what?
September 25, 2013 at 6:35 pm
@Harry Seldon: Then try reading Luke 15:25-30.
September 25, 2013 at 6:52 pm
Why not just simply say:
"Hey, the Pope made a couple mistakes in that interview…and I am quite sure that he knows that and he will correct during his papacy"?
In fact, for me, he made Terrible mistakes, but I will accept this phrase.
I agree with Harry Seldon (and I read Luke 15:25-30).
September 25, 2013 at 7:02 pm
21 Then his son said, "Father, I think you are out of touch, hateful, and your religion is false."
22 But the father said to his servants, "Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
23 Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we will celebrate by having a feast,
24 because this son of mine was dead and, although it's mysterious, he may have repented implicitly" And they began to celebrate.
25 'Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing.
26 Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about.
27 The servant told him, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the calf we had been fattening because in order to make a good impression."
28 He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out and began to urge him to come in;
29 but he retorted to his father, "All these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed any orders of yours, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for
me to celebrate with my friends.
30 But, for this son of yours, when he still insults you after swallowing up your property — he and his loose women and men — you kill the calf we had been fattening."
31 'The father said, "My son, you are obsessed. Don't lay your multitude of moral teachings on your brother, you may bum him out. Also, you are ideologizing worship and it seems to me you may just lack faith.
32 But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here lacks any sort of faith whatsoever, but I have today told him that it may not be necessary to have faith in order to be saved, and isn't that Good News?"
32A The elder son went away perplexed, and pondered whether he had ever really known his father at all, and whether perhaps he was actually adopted.
September 25, 2013 at 7:37 pm
Just check these links and you will understand who Pope Francis really is:
http://www.thewarningsecondcoming.com/my-poor-holy-vicar-pope-benedict-xvi-will-be-ousted-from-the-holy-see-in-rome/
http://www.thewarningsecondcoming.com/they-intend-to-oust-pope-benedict-xiv-from-the-seat-of-peter-using-devious-means/
http://www.thewarningsecondcoming.com/the-next-pope-may-be-elected-by-members-within-the-catholic-church-but-he-will-be-the-false-prophet/
http://www.thewarningsecondcoming.com/he-has-been-sent-to-dismantle-my-church-and-tear-it-up-into-little-pieces/
http://www.thewarningsecondcoming.com/false-prophet-will-be-treated-like-a-living-saint-those-who-oppose-him-will-be-considered-a-heretic/
http://www.thewarningsecondcoming.com/message-to-priests-bishops-and-cardinals-about-false-prophet/
Prophecy which came true!
"A new form of the Cross will be introduced" http://www.thewarningsecondcoming.com/a-new-form-of-the-cross-will-be-introduced/ And now look here: http://www.gettyimages.dk/detail/news-photo/pope-francis-holds-a-cross-during-a-meeting-with-cardinals-news-photo/174550364
Pope Francis said "Jesus became the sinner for us" http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-the-christian-life-proclaims-the-road-to-reco THAT´S A LIE! People, read this!: http://www.thewarningsecondcoming.com/god-the-father-when-my-son-is-deemed-to-be-a-sinner-know-that-this-is-the-greatest-blasphemy/
September 25, 2013 at 7:54 pm
@VeronikaM That site has been condemned by Bishop Sečka, Bishop Andreas Laun, Auxiliary Bishop of Salzburg, the Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge, and many others. Please avoid this website for your sake and everyone else's.
September 25, 2013 at 8:31 pm
Way too little, way too late; and way off target.
It is no longer possible for any Catholic to claim the Pope has been misunderstood as it pertains to moral issues.
Pope Francis has courted the world with his gestures – from rejecting the symbols of the Papacy, to washing the feet of a female mahometan on Maundy Thursday, to maintaining in a high office at the Vatican Bank a well-known clerical sodomite after being told of his scandalous past behavior, to this interview – and not one of the previous 256 Popes has been so consistently misunderstood.
The media gets our new Pope and the new petty public rules which they are now telling us we must abide by came from whom?
The media not only getsour Pope it has taken the sensible decision that they, the media, have an objective ally in the Pope who will dispense with all of these putative petty obsessions and stop talking about the sins of sodomy, contraception, and abortion.
Who is it that is telling all and sundry that the Catholic Church is obsessed with sodomy, contraception, and abortion? It is the media and the Pope; it is certainly not our Bishops and Priests who are wearying our ears with such sermons.
The media sees in the Pope an objective ally; one who will not focus on abortion and sodomy and contraception.
As for the average Catholic, one is more likely to have heard a Priest's sermon speculating that the next Pope would be a Japanese woman named, Midori, than he would have heard a sermon condemning contraception.
In the interview, the Pope implicitly condemned not only Priests and Prelates for their putative obsession with moral absolutes, he implicitly condemned Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI who repeatedly condemned abortion in no uncertain terms.
No. The media gets this Pope and, as a result, Joe Catholic is going to get rhetorically spanked and have his nose rubbed in these putative obsessions as a consequence of the interview.
September 25, 2013 at 9:10 pm
I have read the interview. I have read Luke and the rest of the Holy Bible. I even can tell you the works of mercy and the 10 Commandments. All of these things are really clear, unlike the non-stop, running commentary coming from our Holy Father. It is very hard to put a positive spin on his critical remarks about the Church. Frankly, the Church he is denigrating (the rigid, obsessive, triumphalist, etc Church) has not been experienced since Vll, and was actually a thriving Church. I have read nothing encouraging from him. The most I can hope from his pontificate is that he will just quit talking.
September 25, 2013 at 9:28 pm
Ditto notSpartacus and Mary Kay.
September 25, 2013 at 10:26 pm
Mary Kay, Robert, Harry, have you seen the video in the "me and Voris mindmeld" link from Pat?
September 26, 2013 at 12:32 am
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September 26, 2013 at 12:36 am
Harry Seldon: Bingo.
September 26, 2013 at 1:09 am
The Church is Holy not because of the holiness of its members but because of Jesus who instituted it.
We believe this to be so that's why we remain in communion with the Church, in spite of, the sex abuse scandal.. in spite of, my feelings /perception of the current pope. It's difficult but I have to trust in Jesus that He has a good purpose to everything; And in all things, Jesus wants a better Christian of me.
So, let's leave what PF said as is.
September 26, 2013 at 1:32 am
@ Av8er, I've seen the video and I find Mary Kay more convincing.
September 26, 2013 at 1:53 am
I have seen the Voris video and I truly like Michael Voris; I try never to miss an episode of The Vortex. Holy Mother Church does not depend on any one pope to maintain its unique status, thankfully. My personal goal is to work hard at not responding to messages following the Holy Father's comments. I know, I failed today. I'll keep working at it.
September 26, 2013 at 3:39 am
"Who is it that is telling all and sundry that the Catholic Church is obsessed with sodomy, contraception, and abortion? It is the media and the Pope; it is certainly not our Bishops and Priests who are wearying our ears with such sermons."
I have never heard a single sermon on any of those topics. Even in my (Catholic) high school "Relationships" class, we never addresses contraception. Out of curiosity, I've asked several elderly Catholic friends and they can't recall hearing these topics addresses in a sermon, either. Who's obsessed? Certainly not Catholics in America!
September 26, 2013 at 6:17 am
Anne Arbour: "Who's obsessed? Certainly not Catholics in America!"
My thoughts exactly. When the reporting first started on this interview, I was confused because I didn't think it was *us* that was obsessed with these things, but the media and the secular world around us. They keep bringing it up, so there tends to be this urge to respond. I supposed we could ignore it, but how well would that go over?
Frankly, my biggest beef is fine… I can be less "obsessive" about these things. But what should I do when doctrine and social justice collide? Which needs to take the back seat? Should either of them HAVE to take the back seat?
Some actual guidance would be helpful.
September 26, 2013 at 7:48 am
I think the key idea is that the Pope stresses we cannot insist on a multitude of "disjointed" doctrines. What he is saying is that the moral law flows from a theologically united vision, or as he would say "context" which the world does not know. It was the media that decided that sexual topics were in this category, but the key thing is that the Pope wants us to stress their context and then draw conclusions in the light of that context. This is challenging due to the impatience and anger of those who feel themselves as targets for criticism rather than children of a loving Father. It is a huge pastoral problem.
September 26, 2013 at 2:11 pm
sacerdote said:
""This is challenging due to the impatience and anger of those who feel themselves as targets for criticism rather than children of a loving Father. It is a huge pastoral problem."""
I note that you use the word 'feel'. This implies a mistake on their part. I submit that you have no idea if their inference is right or wrong. There is a big, big fight going on right now between people who are reading Francis with open eyes and see really distressing things, and those who are convinced that anything problematic must the be the fault of the demonic media. Perhaps in a few years we'll know better whose opinion is closer to the truth.
September 27, 2013 at 7:08 am
I read the interview. I am disgusted with Pope Francis. He must be thumbing his nose at good catholics who now have to obey his confused and rebellious rhetoric. BROADWAY VS NARROW WAY. Folks thirst for the TRUTH. I do not want this Pope slobbering over my grandbabies given his abortion rhetoric. I think he is unwell or was installed by a global cabal.