Pope Francis, changing Christianity?

[Montag]

I just didn't care for the Wrath of Khan uniforms. I do like the newer Trek films uniform style.

[AWS260]

The Vatican tweaks U.S. conservative Catholics.

Two close associates of Pope Francis have accused American Catholic ultraconservatives of making an alliance of “hate” with evangelical Christians to back President Trump, further alienating a group already out of the Vatican’s good graces.

The authors, writing in a Vatican-vetted journal, singled out Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, as a “supporter of an apocalyptic geopolitics” that has stymied action against climate change and exploited fears of migrants and Muslims with calls for “walls and purifying deportations.”

The article warns that conservative American Catholics have strayed dangerously into the deepening political polarization in the United States. The writers even declare that the worldview of American evangelical and hard-line Catholics, which is based on a literal interpretation of the Bible, is “not too far apart’’ from jihadists.

It is not clear if the article, appearing in La Civiltà Cattolica, received the pope’s direct blessing, but it was extraordinary coming from a journal that carries the Holy See’s seal of approval.

[Moliere]

‘China is the best implementer of Catholic social doctrine,’ says Vatican bishop

[Zarathud]

Trump colludes with Russia, the Pope colludes with the Chinese. The Pope is at least serving the Catholic Church's goal of being allowed to operate freely in a foreign state.

[Isgrimnur]

WaPo

The Vatican announced Monday that it would open up its secret archives on the World War II papacy of Pope Pius XII, whom some scholars have accused of keeping silent about the Holocaust.

Jewish organizations have long called for the Vatican’s archives from this period to be made accessible, saying the then-pope turned a blind eye to the systematic persecution of Jews by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. But Pius’s actions during this period are up for debate, and others say he worked behind the scenes to help Jews.

“The church is not afraid of history,” Pope Francis told members of the Vatican’s Secret Archives division. He said the period of Pius’s papacy from 1939 to 1958 would be opened to researchers on March 2, 2020.
...
Pius was declared “venerable” in 2009, part of the process toward sainthood. But the questions about his conduct during the war have likely slowed or stalled the process. Three of the four popes that succeeded Pius XII have already been sainted, including Paul VI last year.

[Isgrimnur]

The Hill

A coalition of conservative Catholic clergy and academics have accused Pope Francis of heresy, citing what they call overly liberal positions on topics like religious diversity, homosexuality and communion for divorced Catholics.

“We take this measure as a last resort to respond to the accumulating harm caused by Pope Francis’s words and actions over several years, which have given rise to one of the worst crises in the history of the Catholic Church,” the coalition wrote in a 20-page letter to the College of Bishops, published Tuesday by the conservative Catholic site LifeSiteNews.

The letter singles out the 2016 papal document “Amoris Laetitia” (The Joy of Love) for special criticism. In the document, Francis called for making the Catholic Church more welcome toward “imperfect” members, such as divorced Catholics who have remarried in civil ceremonies.

Church law does not allow remarried divorced people who have not received an annulment to receive communion unless they abstain from sex with their current spouse. Francis called for flexibility on this doctrine, allowing priests and bishops to make case-by-case decisions.

The letter also lambastes Francis for saying Martin Luther’s intentions in sparking the Protestant Reformation “were not mistaken,” and for signing a joint 2016 statement with Lutheran leaders expressing gratitude for the Reformation’s “theological gifts.”

[GreenGoo]

Oh yeah, he's much worse than the systemic coverup of abuse. (one of the) Worst crisis in the history of the church, for sure. I'm certain God is simply furious.

[Victoria Raverna]

Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking law Thursday requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-up by their superiors to church authorities.

[Drazzil]

Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking law Thursday requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-up by their superiors to church authorities.

I like Pope Francis. He seems like a good man... Unlike Benedict who always had a sneer on his face like he just got through skinning a barrel full of puppies.

[Drazzil]

You know, I always wondered about that. Why the heck did ol Benedict always sneer at the cameras?

[Isgrimnur]

RDF - resting demon face

[Drazzil]

RDF - resting demon face

[disarm]

Maybe this explains it...

[Freyland]

I think a Pope using Force Lightening would spike the conversion rate considerably.

[Isgrimnur]

WaPo

The Vatican announced Monday that it would open up its secret archives on the World War II papacy of Pope Pius XII, whom some scholars have accused of keeping silent about the Holocaust.

NPR

After decades of pressure from historians and Jewish groups, the Vatican on Monday began allowing scholars access to the archives of Pope Pius XII, the controversial World War II-era pontiff.
...
More than 150 scholars have applied to study documents covering his papacy, which lasted from 1939 to 1958. Typically, the Vatican waits 70 years after the end of a pontificate to open its archives to scholars.

[Pyperkub]

The Hill

A coalition of conservative Catholic clergy and academics have accused Pope Francis of heresy, citing what they call overly liberal positions on topics like religious diversity, homosexuality and communion for divorced Catholics.

“We take this measure as a last resort to respond to the accumulating harm caused by Pope Francis’s words and actions over several years, which have given rise to one of the worst crises in the history of the Catholic Church,” the coalition wrote in a 20-page letter to the College of Bishops, published Tuesday by the conservative Catholic site LifeSiteNews.

The letter singles out the 2016 papal document “Amoris Laetitia” (The Joy of Love) for special criticism. In the document, Francis called for making the Catholic Church more welcome toward “imperfect” members, such as divorced Catholics who have remarried in civil ceremonies.

Church law does not allow remarried divorced people who have not received an annulment to receive communion unless they abstain from sex with their current spouse. Francis called for flexibility on this doctrine, allowing priests and bishops to make case-by-case decisions.

The letter also lambastes Francis for saying Martin Luther’s intentions in sparking the Protestant Reformation “were not mistaken,” and for signing a joint 2016 statement with Lutheran leaders expressing gratitude for the Reformation’s “theological gifts.”

Check me if I'm wrong, but these are the same people who think Trump is fit to be President, correct?

[Holman]

Check me if I'm wrong, but these are the same people who think Trump is fit to be President, correct?

It's 20 cranks who are reactionary enough to believe that the Vatican should still be strenuously denouncing Protestantism.

[stessier]

Check me if I'm wrong, but these are the same people who think Trump is fit to be President, correct?

It's 20 cranks who are reactionary enough to believe that the Vatican should still be strenuously denouncing Protestantism.

It's much more than that (although still a small minority). I had no idea they existed until I moved to my current parish. One priest thinks any music made after the 1300s is sacreligious. It's kind of nuts.

[Isgrimnur]

CNN

Pope Francis has criticized couples who choose to have pets instead of children as selfish, arguing that their decision to forgo parenthood leads to a loss of "humanity" and is a detriment to civilization.

The Pope made the comments Wednesday while speaking to a general audience about Saint Joseph, Jesus' earthly father.

Francis was lauding Joseph's decision to bring up Jesus as "among the highest forms of love" when he veered into the topic of adoption and orphaned children today. He then turned his focus on couples that opt for animals instead of children.

[Drazzil]

CNN

Pope Francis has criticized couples who choose to have pets instead of children as selfish, arguing that their decision to forgo parenthood leads to a loss of "humanity" and is a detriment to civilization.

The Pope made the comments Wednesday while speaking to a general audience about Saint Joseph, Jesus' earthly father.

Francis was lauding Joseph's decision to bring up Jesus as "among the highest forms of love" when he veered into the topic of adoption and orphaned children today. He then turned his focus on couples that opt for animals instead of children.

Okay Silent...

[Isgrimnur]

Pope calls for Italians to have more babies as birthrate drops across Europe

Pope Francis has urged Italians to have more children as Europe is hit by tumbling birthrates.

Talking on Friday, the Pope called for long-term policies to help families and warned that the country’s demographic crisis was threatening the future.

“The number of births is the first indicator of the hope of a people,” Francis told an annual gathering of pro-family groups. “Without children and young people, a country loses its desire for the future.”

It was Francis’s latest appeal for Italy – and beyond that Europe – to invert what he has called the demographic winter facing many industrialised countries.

Italy’s birth rate, already one of the lowest in the world, has been falling steadily for about 15 years and reached a record low last year with 379,000 babies born.

With the Vatican’s strong backing, the right-wing government of prime minister Giorgia Meloni has mounted a campaign to encourage at least 500,000 births annually by 2033, a rate that demographers say is necessary to prevent the economy from collapsing under the weight of Italy’s ageing population.

Francis called for long-term political strategies and policies to encourage couples to have children, including an end to precarious work contracts and impediments to buying homes, and viable alternatives so women don’t have to choose between motherhood and careers.

“The problem of our world is not children being born: it is selfishness, consumerism and individualism which make people sated, lonely and unhappy," Francis said.

[hepcat]

Thanos wasn’t TOTALLY wrong, so if we can achieve that kind of balance without murdering people, why shouldn’t we?

[Victoria Raverna]

Maybe to help that goal, Pope need to support clerical marriage? Vatican need to contribute to the solution, too.

[hepcat]

Way too many inappropriate jokes come to mind with that….

[Kraken]

If only there was some way they could import young new workers....

The US birthrate is also low and falling, yet we've added 14 million jobs over the past four years, surpassing the pre-pandemic labor force by 4.5 million. Where are all those new workers coming from? They aren't being born here.