The pope who calls it an “honor” to be criticized by Americans, is name calling conservative Catholics. This is not new. He’s called them “rigid” and “pharisees” among many other nasty things.
I grow tired of this kind of thing. The Church seems to be increasingly opposed to faithful Catholics, especially those who attend the TLM. Pope Francis seems to despise many Catholics who are the ones who attend Mass daily or even on Sundays. He seems to curry the favor of climate alarmists in the media and the United Nations.
The AP: Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the U.S. Catholic Church, saying they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.
Francis’ comments were an acknowledgment of the divisions in the U.S. Catholic Church, which has been split between progressives and conservatives who long found support in the doctrinaire papacies of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, particularly on issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.
Many conservatives have blasted Francis’ emphasis instead on social justice issues such as the environment and the poor, while also branding as heretical his opening to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive the sacraments.
Francis made the comments in a private meeting with Portuguese members of his Jesuit religious order while visiting Lisbon on Aug. 5; the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, which is vetted by the Vatican secretariat of state, published a transcript of the encounter Monday.
During the meeting, a Portuguese Jesuit told Francis that he had suffered during a recent sabbatical year in the United States because he came across many Catholics, including some U.S. bishops, who criticized Francis’ 10-year papacy as well as today’s Jesuits.
The 86-year-old Argentine acknowledged his point, saying there was “a very strong, organized, reactionary attitude” in the U.S. church, which he called “backward.” He warned that such an attitude leads to a climate of closure, which was erroneous.
“Doing this, you lose the true tradition and you turn to ideologies to have support. In other words, ideologies replace faith,” he said.
“The vision of the doctrine of the church as a monolith is wrong,” he added. “When you go backward, you make something closed off, disconnected from the roots of the church,” which then has devastating effects on morality.
“I want to remind these people that backwardness is useless, and they must understand that there’s a correct evolution in the understanding of questions of faith and morals,” that allows for doctrine to progress and consolidate over time.
Francis has previously acknowledged the criticism directed at him from some U.S. conservatives, once quipping that it was an “honor” to be attacked by Americans.
August 28, 2023 at 2:00 pm
“I want to remind these people that if they get off the wrong exit, it is useless to go back and get on the correct road. They must continue on the wrong road.”
Umm, yeah that makes sense.
August 30, 2023 at 12:00 am
Sorry, Matt, I can’t disagree with Pope Francis on this one. If we’re just a society of people who are angry at people breaking the rules, that is insular, it’s not a living faith; it doesn’t encounter people where they are.
It’s not the Jesus who protected and forgave the adulterous woman. We need to speak the Truth when and how people can hear it and leave our judgements at the door. Not our brains or our courage
I think it’s a valid criticism. I think the Pope does a lot things that I think are dead wrong, China, global warming, Germany, but he’s got a point here
August 30, 2023 at 11:07 am
Good observation. But taking the event you cite; Jesus forgave the sin and the woman knowing what was good and true was transformed into the daughter of God she was intended to be before the distortion of her sexual understanding or abuse. So much of what this is about is NOT rejecting forgiveness and transformation, it is removing the sin completely. To listen to some bishops today, Jesus would approach the woman in adultery and say, you are perfect as you are, there is no sin to forgive. continue as you were. Redefining what we know is a distortion of God’s natural law (sin), to make people feel welcome is NOT how Jesus did it. And if that is where we are heading, then Jesus presence diminishes in our life and in our world. I dont think people are saying reject the sinner. They are saying reject the idea that there is no sin and we should not be transformed by Christ but validated by affirmations of our sin.
September 4, 2023 at 5:22 am
Very nicely stated, Professor.
August 30, 2023 at 3:47 am
The pope criticises Catholics who uphold the church’s teachings as they have stood for thousands of years. He calls them rigid or backward looking. Yes, Christ reached out to sinners, but he did so in order to get them to repent. He upheld his father’s commandments and called upon sinners to do the same. Yes, he saved the woman caught in the act of adultery from being stoned to death. But he then advised her”to sin no more”.
August 31, 2023 at 6:04 am
Like usual, the pope is never specific in what he criticizes which leads us to speculate about what he considers backward or rigid. If upholding the ancient truths is backward, count me in.
September 4, 2023 at 6:29 pm
It’s difficult having respect for our Pope AS the pope but we must realize that the Holy Spirit allowed him to be elected. We may not agree with him, but the amount of vitriol that is directed at him bothers me because he was elected as the leader of the Catholic Church and there should be at least the respect of the office holder. There is no two ways about it. I surely hope we are not brought up to account for the language and hatred directed at him.
Perhaps, and this is what I am believing more and more, that he was elected and has been allowed to be the catalyst of the purging of our Church of the unfaithful. Remember, you leave this Church because of ONE man then you put your soul in danger. Despite Christ admonitions of the Pharisees and Sadducee’s he NEVER advocated the faithful to leave the Jewish faith. Why? Because they were the the teachers and authorities of the Jewish faith. Christ founded this Church. The Catholic Church. Leave it and explain why to God the Father.