Man does not live on bread alone, but from every word issued to another atheist reporter.

In other words, another week, another papal interview with several “What the flock?” quotes?

Before I start, let me stipulate that just like before, if you turn your head 30 degrees to the left and squint, everything the Pope says can be squared with Catholic teaching, as if that still matters anymore.

Let’s start off with the biggest “Really?!?!” quote.

“The most serious of the evils that afflict the world these days are youth unemployment and the loneliness of the old. The old need care and companionship; the young need work and hope but have neither one nor the other, and the problem is they don’t even look for them any more. “

Really? The most serious evils afflicting the world? Surely Miley Cyrus should have made the list, no? If not Hannah Montana, then, oh I dunno, millions o’ dead babies annually? Maybe them over youth unemployment? I am sure I just failing to understand the context here, again.


It’s a joke I tell him. My friends think it is you want to convert me.

He smiles again and replies: “Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes no sense. We need to get to know each other, listen to each other and improve our knowledge of the world around us.

To which I tweeted “‘Cause Jesus said “Go therefore and make disciples…listen and improve your knowledge of the world around you!”

The Crescat at Patheos (Both noted  for their radical traditionalism, right?) seems to agree when she similarly wrote in response “Ha. Ha. Lulz. You mean this bit of nonsense. — “Go therefore and teach all nations…”

I think there is a real danger of confusing proselytism with evangelization.

CCC The missionary mandate. “Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be ‘the universal sacrament of salvation,’ the Church, in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men”:339 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age.”340

Your Holiness, is there is a single vision of the Good? And who decides what it is?
“Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is Good.”

Again, it can be seen with certain context to be true, but the context is lacking and the takeaway as clear as the truth here is muddied.

But Wait. What if I encourage people to move towards what they think is Good, I might accidentally proselytize. I am so confused. 
And what if my vision of Good over Evil is to tell other people that their unformed notions of Good over evil are irrelevant to the truth? What if my vision of the good is Evangeproselytism?
All so confusing, best just to stay home.

Perhaps the Pope’s grand secret vision is that when nobody really knows what the Church teaches anymore and when we stop trying to convert people, suddenly everyone will believe it?

Gotta go now, gotta get on that youth unemployment thing.

ubhead*Again.*subhead*