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Peter the Roman conspiracy

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« Reply #270 on: September 20, 2013, 12:12:18 pm »

Also - on further evaluation of what the MSM says vs. what Pope Frankie says - no, the MSM doesn't distort anything he says. But they will make the appearance of "slightly tweaking" what he says in their headlines, to MAKE IT LOOK LIKE there's "liberal media" bias. Then the next thing we know, all of these Roman Catholic "liberal media critics" like Brent Bozell, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, etc are all expressing outrage and stirring up their followers(further keeping them in the dark).

They pulled this same stunt when Bush and Cheney were pushing for the Iraq war months before the invasion.

Also - just imagine if Obama, Nancy Pelosi, or Joe Biden made these same comments Frankie did - no, not that I support either one, but nonetheless WND and other GOP establishment outlets would be outraged, and would be exposing the NY Times and other "liberal media" outlets for "going easy" on them.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2013, 12:15:36 pm by BornAgain2 » Report Spam   Logged
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« Reply #271 on: September 20, 2013, 12:47:00 pm »

Thursday, September 19, 2013


 

Pope Francis reveals his true face




By Michael Hoffman
 
www.revisionisthistory.org
 
In an interview filled with what we can only term theological gobbledegook with nary a reference to the Bible, but loads of mystical vertiginous malarkey, Francis the pope of Rome has come out with unprecedented cold-hearted malice toward defenseless, unborn children.
 
Let us anticipate the response of his defenders and rejoin in advance: no, the pope was not quoted out of context, or misquoted. We’re going to give you his quote in context; and it is said he was handed a copy of his interview and allowed to check and edit it before its publication in the Jesuit magazine, America.
 
Here are the pontiff’s documented words, in context. First on homosexuality:
 
“We need to proclaim the Gospel on every street corner,” the pope says, “preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing, even with our preaching, every kind of disease and wound. In Buenos Aires I used to receive letters from homosexual persons who are ‘socially wounded’ because they tell me that they feel like the church has always condemned them. But the church does not want to do this. During the return flight from Rio de Janeiro I said that if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge. By saying this, I said what the catechism says. Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person. 
 
“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.” (End quote).
 
Where in the catechism does it say the pontiff has no right to judge a homosexual?
 
What is this pope babbling about when he says, “...it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person”?
 
Furthermore, what is “gay” about sodomy? If God, as the pope claims, “endorses the existence” of a person who practices sodomy, how could God ever send that person to hell?
 
Nowhere does the pope mention a little something known as sin. He offers no reasons for the sodomite to stop sodomizing. After all, God Himself “endorses the existence” of the sodomite. So why not continue in one’s sins? What is the impetus for change?
 
The pontiff’s documented words, in context, on abortion and contraception:
 
"We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time...The church’s pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently...We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.”  (End quote).
 
Perhaps someone should tell the pope it is not necessary for the post-Vatican II Church to insist only on issues related to the Nazi “Holocaust," anti-semitism and the defense of Talmudic Judaism as possessing an unbroken covenant with God. "We have to find a new balance." Does the pope agree? Would he be caught dead saying that the pastoral ministry cannot be “obsessed” with the Nazi “Holocaust”?
 
We don't believe, short of a divine miracle, Francis would ever make such a statement, for unlike the dehumanized and marginalized unborn children awaiting the executioner's invasion of their mother's womb, the Nazi "Holocaust" lobby has enormous power on earth. The victims of the abortion holocaust have no such lobby with comparable power on earth.
 
Let us also not forget that this coffin-rider who calls himself pope is declaring that too much has been said against birth control (contraception). The people who brought the Gospel to the world, who inhabit the nations of Britain, Ireland, Europe, Canada, Australia and the United States, are self-extinguishing due to contraception being winked at by their religious leaders — and now it is minimized by the pope himself. This is incredible. It is totally revolutionary. Even the pope of Vatican II, Paul VI, devoted himself to composing the encyclical Humane Vitae, closing the door forever on artificial contraception. But Francis declares, "We have to find a new balance.” Between what, life and death? (Rev. 3:15).
 
According to fake prophecies cooked up during the Renaissance and attributed to the medieval St. Malachy, the current Pope Francis is the last pontiff, dubbed, in that phony prophecy, “Peter Romanus.”
 
We propose a new name for him, Diabolus Romanus.
 

Hoffman is the author of Usury in Christendom: The Mortal Sin that Was and Now is Not.
 
http://revisionistreview.blogspot.com/
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« Reply #272 on: September 20, 2013, 01:32:03 pm »

Quote
During the return flight from Rio de Janeiro I said that if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge. By saying this, I said what the catechism says. Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.

I disagree with the last part, but, otherwise, he's correct. We are not to judge salvation, but rather the fruits of a person, and that is where churchianity and cults fail, because they allow rotten fruit in the basket, which spoils it all.
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« Reply #273 on: September 21, 2013, 01:19:26 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/american-catholics-theyre-hearing-pope-francis-131052270.html
American Catholics like what they're hearing from Pope Francis

Pope Francis said in an interview this week that the Catholic Church's emphasis needs to turn from sexual issues to the ‘freshness and fragrance of the Gospel.’ Polls show most American Catholics agree.

9/21/13

Pope Francis shook up the Roman Catholic world this week with his comments about abortion, contraception, and gay marriage, saying such moral and doctrinal issues should not be overemphasized at the cost of “losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel."

In the United States, many Catholics hailed what the pope had to say in a lengthy interview in a Jesuit publication, which may not be surprising given attitudes here seen as more liberal than official church doctrine from Rome.

• By 55-43 percent, most American Catholics say abortion should be legal in “all or most cases,” according to a Washington Post/ABC poll in July.

• Eighty-two percent of Catholics in the US say birth control is morally acceptable, Gallup found last year – not much less than the 90 percent approval among all adults polled.

• In March, a Quinnipiac University National Poll found that most Catholic voters (54-38 percent) support same-sex marriage – higher than the 47-43 percent general approval rate. "Catholic voters are leading American voters toward support for same-sex marriage," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.


• Also, according to the Quinnipiac Poll, most American Catholics say priests should be allowed to marry (62-30 percent), say the church’s ban on contraception should be relaxed (64-28 percent, including 68-24 percent among women), and support Present Obama's position that religious-based institutions, such as hospitals and universities, must arrange for their insurance companies to provide birth control coverage for employees (51-41 percent).

“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods," Francis said in the article published Thursday in Jesuit journals in 16 countries. "We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel."

In a move no doubt intended to answer those church members and clergy – including some bishops – holding to a more traditionally conservative view, the pope on Friday spoke out on abortion.

Speaking to Catholic doctors at the Vatican, Pope Francis condemned the “throwaway culture” abortion promotes, saying, “Our response to this mentality is a ‘yes’ to life, decisive and without hesitation.”

“Every unborn child, though unjustly condemned to be aborted, has the face of the Lord, who even before his birth, and then as soon as he was born, experienced the rejection of the world,” he said.

Still, liberal Catholics in the US welcomed the pope’s message in the earlier interview.

“This message resonates with so many Catholics because it reflects our personal experiences—Catholics are gay and lesbian; Catholics use birth control and Catholics have abortions,” Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, said in a statement[/b].

“We truly hope that this is just the start; that Pope Francis doesn’t only talk the talk, but also walks the walk,” Mr. O’Brien said. “We hope he takes steps to ensure that his more open view of how the church should deal with people trickles down to his brother bishops around the world, who oversee large numbers of hospitals and medical centers.”

We also hope that this attitude starts to take effect immediately at the United Nations, where the Vatican continues to take extreme positions against contraception, abortion and sexual and reproductive rights, having a very negative impact on the lives of Catholics and non-Catholics throughout the world,” he said.

As the Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project pointed out last week, the pope has made headlines by condemning the use of chemical weapons, leading a prayer vigil for peace in Syria, vowing to reform the Vatican bureaucracy, washing the feet of young prisoners (including two women) during a Holy Thursday ceremony, and taking a humble approach to the trappings of the papacy, including his decision to reside in a modest residence rather than more spacious accommodations.

A Pew poll taken Sept. 4-8 shows that 79 percent of US Catholics view Pope Francis favorably. “Francis receives his strongest support from those who say they attend Mass at least once a week, with 86% of this group expressing a favorable view of the pontiff,” Pew reported.

The pope’s evident popularity is not lost on the church hierarchy in the United States.

Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, last week said in an interview with his diocesan newspaper that he was "a little bit disappointed" that Francis hadn't spoken out about abortion.

On Friday, in an official statement responding to the pope's remarkable interview in La Civilta Cattolica, Bishop Tobin said he admired Francis' leadership.

"Being a Catholic doesn't mean having to choose between doctrine and charity, between truth and love. It includes both. We are grateful to Pope Francis for reminding us of that vision," Tobin said.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who as head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has taken a lead role in voicing the U.S. church's opposition to contraception and gay marriage, said the church isn't the only one obsessed with such issues – today's culture is.

"Every pope has a different strategy," Cardinal Dolan told "CBS This Morning." ''What I think he's saying is, those are important issues and the church has got to keep talking about them, but we need to talk about them in a fresh new way. If we keep kind of a negative finger-wagging tone, it's counterproductive.”

“I think what he’s saying is those are important issues, but we need to talk about those issues in a fresh, new way,” Dolan said. “Instead of talking about these hot-button issues, why don’t we talk about tenderness and mercy and the love we have for one another?”

To which most American Catholics evidently say, “Amen.”
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« Reply #274 on: September 22, 2013, 08:50:52 am »

French imams to meet pope

AFP | 21 Sep 2013, 10:01

A group of 10 French imams will meet Pope Francis on Wednesday in the latest sign of rapprochement between the Vatican and the Muslim world.

The meeting has been organised by Marek Halter, a French Jewish author known for promoting religious tolerance who has organised similar initiatives in the past.

"I thought: Here's a pope who can do what the previous pope didn't do. He can reconcile Christianity with Islam," Halter said.

Relations between the Vatican and the Muslim world were strained in recent years and Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's Cairo-based highest seat of learning, broke off ties with Francis's predecessor Benedict XVI for what it regarded as controversial statements.

Benedict had strongly called for protection of Christian minorities after a January 2011 suicide bombing at a church in Egypt.

He also sparked fury in the Muslim world in 2006 when he recounted an anecdote in which a Byzantine emperor described Prophet Mohammed as a warmonger who spread evil.

But Francis has made several conciliatory gestures. In August he called for "mutual respect" between Christianity and Islam.

The public meeting is due to take place in Saint Peter's Square in Rome during the weekly papal audience, and will last some 15 minutes.

Hassen Chalghoumi, a Muslim community leader in the Paris suburb of Drancy who is in favour of France's burqa ban, will be among those travelling to Rome aboard the plane of Tunisian film producer Tarak Ben Ammar, a friend of Halter's.

http://m.thelocal.fr//20130921/french-imams-to-meet-pope
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« Reply #275 on: September 22, 2013, 01:04:47 pm »

This from the head of the Catholic Church!!!!

Pope Francis Criticizes Global Economy For Worshipping A 'God Called Money'   

Pope Francis threw out his prepared Mass on Sunday to make an improvised address on unemployment and the suffering caused by a world economy that worships “this god called money.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/religion/christianity/catholicism/pope-francis-criticizes-global-economy-worshipping-god-called

Wealth of Roman Catholic Church impossible to calculate
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/03/08/wealth-of-roman-catholic-church-impossible-to-calculate/

The Vatican Billions
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/vatican/vatican_billions.htm

 Roll Eyes
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« Reply #276 on: September 22, 2013, 08:46:49 pm »

It seems like these Illuminati types will almost always telegraph their punches - pretty much, this "consumerism" economy started shortly after the NIV bible(1978) was put on the market(during the Reagan years, which was also the same time when Reagan re-established ties with the Vatican).

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/22/20638292-pope-attacks-global-economy-for-worshipping-god-of-money?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=1
9/22/13
Pope attacks global economy for worshipping 'god of money'

CAGLIARI, Sardinia — Pope Francis made one of his strongest attacks on the global economic system on Sunday, saying it could no longer be based on a "god called money" and urged the unemployed to fight for work.

Francis, at the start of a day-long trip to the Sardinian capital, Cagliari, put aside his prepared text at a meeting with unemployed workers, including miners in hard hats who told him of their situation, and improvised for nearly 20 minutes.

"I find suffering here ... It weakens you and robs you of hope," he said. "Excuse me if I use strong words, but where there is no work there is no dignity."

He discarded his prepared speech after listening to Francesco Mattana, a 45-year-old married father of three who lost his job with an alternative energy company four years ago.

Mattana, his voice trembling, told the pope that unemployment "oppresses you and wears you out to the depths of your soul."

The crowd of about 20,000 people in a square near the city port chanted what Francis called a prayer for "work, work, work." They cheered each time he spoke of the rights of workers and the personal devastation caused by joblessness.

The pope, who later celebrated Mass for some 300,000 people outside the city's cathedral, told them: "We don't want this globalised economic system which does us so much harm. Men and women have to be at the centre (of an economic system) as God wants, not money."

"The world has become an idolator of this god called money," he said.

Sardinia's coast is famous for its idyllic beaches, exclusive resorts and seaside palatial residences of some of the world's richest people, including former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and a host of Hollywood actors.

But much of the island, particularly its large cities and the vast agricultural and industrial interior, has been blighted by the economic crisis, with factories closed and mines operating at low capacity.

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT, CLOSING MINES 

Cagliari has a youth unemployment rate of about 51 percent. The Sulcis area in the southwest of the island is threatened with more unemployment from the looming closures of the Carbosulcis coal mine and an aluminum smelter.

The pope made clear that his assessment was not limited to the local situation.

"It is not a problem of Italy and Europe ... It is the consequence of a world choice, of an economic system that brings about this tragedy, an economic system that has at its centre an idol which is called money," he said to the cheers of the crowd.

While Francis's predecessor Benedict also called for changes to economic systems, he was more likely to use dense intellectual language.

Francis, who as bishop of Buenos Aires sided with unemployed workers in their conflict with government austerity plans, ended his improvised speech with a prayer asking God to "give us work and teach us to fight for work".

Francis said he did not want the crowd to see him as a smiling "cordial manager of the Church who comes here and says to you 'have courage'".

He added: "I don't want this. I want this courage to come from inside me and push me to do everything I can as a pastor and a man."

Francis brought tears to the eyes of some in the crowd when he told his own family's story of emigration from Italy to Argentina and how they lost everything in the Great Depression.

"I was not born yet, but as a child I remember hearing talk of this suffering," he said.

Francis said globalization had brought with it a culture where the weakest in society suffered the most and often, those on the fringes "fall away", including the elderly, who he said were victims of a "hidden euthanasia" caused by neglect of those no longer considered productive.

"To defend this economic culture, a throwaway culture has been installed. We throw away grandparents, and we throw away young people. We have to say no to his throwaway culture. We want a just system that helps everyone," he said.
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« Reply #277 on: September 22, 2013, 08:49:54 pm »

French imams to meet pope

AFP | 21 Sep 2013, 10:01

A group of 10 French imams will meet Pope Francis on Wednesday in the latest sign of rapprochement between the Vatican and the Muslim world.

The meeting has been organised by Marek Halter, a French Jewish author known for promoting religious tolerance who has organised similar initiatives in the past.

"I thought: Here's a pope who can do what the previous pope didn't do. He can reconcile Christianity with Islam," Halter said.

Relations between the Vatican and the Muslim world were strained in recent years and Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's Cairo-based highest seat of learning, broke off ties with Francis's predecessor Benedict XVI for what it regarded as controversial statements.

Benedict had strongly called for protection of Christian minorities after a January 2011 suicide bombing at a church in Egypt.

He also sparked fury in the Muslim world in 2006 when he recounted an anecdote in which a Byzantine emperor described Prophet Mohammed as a warmonger who spread evil.

But Francis has made several conciliatory gestures. In August he called for "mutual respect" between Christianity and Islam.

The public meeting is due to take place in Saint Peter's Square in Rome during the weekly papal audience, and will last some 15 minutes.

Hassen Chalghoumi, a Muslim community leader in the Paris suburb of Drancy who is in favour of France's burqa ban, will be among those travelling to Rome aboard the plane of Tunisian film producer Tarak Ben Ammar, a friend of Halter's.

http://m.thelocal.fr//20130921/french-imams-to-meet-pope

Yes, we are on the cusp of things now.
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« Reply #278 on: September 24, 2013, 07:58:57 am »

"I thought: Here's a pope who can do what the previous pope didn't do. He can reconcile Christianity with Islam," Halter said.

Pope expresses good will to Muslims in letter to Sunni imam

Cairo, Egypt, Sep 23, 2013 / 01:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has indicated respect “for Islam and Muslims” in a letter to the head of the main cultural institution of Sunni Islam, marking the end of Ramadan.
 
Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar University, perhaps the highest authority in Sunni thought, received the Pope’s letter at the hands of Archbishop Jean-Paul Gobel, apostolic nuncio to Egypt, on Sept. 17, Fides News Agency reported.
 
A statement from the Cairo-based university said that the Holy Father’s letter expressed hope in the attempt to further “understanding among Christians and Muslims in the world” and “to build peace and justice.”
 
Secretary of the Patriarchate of Alexandria of the Catholic Copts, Fr. Hani Bakhoum, told the agency that the Roman Pontiff’s letter “is a way of expressing the deep sense of respect and affection that the Catholic Church, the Holy See and the Pope have towards all Muslims and especially of al-Azhar, which is the most representative institution of moderate Sunni Islam.”
 
“Surely this letter will help over time to put aside any misunderstanding and also resume to bilateral dialogue with the Holy See.”
 
Following an attack on the Coptic Cathedral in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve in 2011, dialogue between the Holy See and al-Azhar was interrupted when, according to Fides, the university “interpreted Pope Benedict XVI’s statements on the need to protect Christians in Egypt and the Middle East as an undue Western interference.”

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-expresses-good-will-to-muslims-in-letter-to-sunni-imam/
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« Reply #279 on: September 24, 2013, 08:27:17 am »

This is interesting...

2 popes reach out to atheists in apparent campaign

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has emerged from his self-imposed silence inside the Vatican to publish a lengthy letter to one of Italy's most well-known atheists. In it, he defends his record on handling sexually abusive priests and discusses everything from evolution to theology to the figure of Jesus Christ.

Excerpts of the letter were published Tuesday by La Repubblica, the same newspaper which just two weeks ago published a similar letter from Pope Francis to its own atheist publisher.

The letters indicate the two men in white — who live across the Vatican gardens from one another — are pursuing a collaborative campaign of sorts to engage non-believers. It's a melding of papacies past and present that has no precedent.

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/world/article/2-popes-reach-out-to-atheists-in-apparent-campaign-4838638.php
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« Reply #280 on: September 24, 2013, 11:19:10 am »

This is interesting...

2 popes reach out to atheists in apparent campaign

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has emerged from his self-imposed silence inside the Vatican to publish a lengthy letter to one of Italy's most well-known atheists. In it, he defends his record on handling sexually abusive priests and discusses everything from evolution to theology to the figure of Jesus Christ.

Excerpts of the letter were published Tuesday by La Repubblica, the same newspaper which just two weeks ago published a similar letter from Pope Francis to its own atheist publisher.

The letters indicate the two men in white — who live across the Vatican gardens from one another — are pursuing a collaborative campaign of sorts to engage non-believers. It's a melding of papacies past and present that has no precedent.

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/world/article/2-popes-reach-out-to-atheists-in-apparent-campaign-4838638.php

Yes this definitely is - looks like Benedict hasn't gone away.

BTW - wonder what Life Site News has to say about all this! Roll Eyes
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« Reply #281 on: September 24, 2013, 01:53:51 pm »

Not that I'm a Catholic historian, but I've never heard of two popes interacting like this. Usually the previous is dead, so it usually isn't even possible. It's unique, but I don't really see it as some significant event, but it is interesting.
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« Reply #282 on: September 24, 2013, 01:56:18 pm »

Not that I'm a Catholic historian, but I've never heard of two popes interacting like this. Usually the previous is dead, so it usually isn't even possible. It's unique, but I don't really see it as some significant event, but it is interesting.

actually theres been a lot of Popes at the same time, even a couple of woman popes. heck they have fought wars against each other to see who will be pope.
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« Reply #283 on: September 24, 2013, 01:57:02 pm »

Not that I'm a Catholic historian, but I've never heard of two popes interacting like this. Usually the previous is dead, so it usually isn't even possible. It's unique, but I don't really see it as some significant event, but it is interesting.

Yeah, was thinking of the same thing too.
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« Reply #284 on: September 24, 2013, 02:18:58 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/pope-defends-immigrant-rights-denounces-slave-labour-102943699.html
Pope defends immigrant rights, denounces 'slave labor'
9/24/13

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis urged countries on Tuesday to welcome and respect migrants and refugees and not treat them as "pawns on the chessboard of humanity".

Francis, who has made the defense of the poor and vulnerable a cornerstone of his papacy, said in a message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees that there should be a change in attitude on the part of host countries.

"Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity," he said in the message, which is sent to government and international institutions such as the United Nations.

"They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more."

He also repeated his condemnation of "slave labor" and trafficking, developing his criticism of a "throwaway culture".

Francis has often used the term to denounce a modern society where people who are not productive, such as the elderly, are neglected and cast off as if they were objects no longer useful.

Immigration is a divisive issue in Europe and beyond. France's far-right National Front, which has an anti-immigrant policy, has been buoyed by improving poll numbers.

Italy's first black minister, Cecile Kyenge, who was born in Africa, has been the butt of racist comments from the anti-immigrant Northern League because she supports automatic citizenship for immigrant children born in Italy.

The steady flow of refugee boats is a also hot issue in Australia, polarizing voters this month's election.

The pope, whose own ancestors left Italy for Argentina in the early 20th century and lived through the Great Depression, called for "the elimination of prejudices and presuppositions" in the approach to migration.

"Not infrequently, the arrival of migrants, displaced persons, asylum-seekers and refugees gives rise to suspicion and hostility. There is a fear that society will become less secure, that identity and culture will be lost, that competition for jobs will become stiffer and even that criminal activity will increase," he said.

"CHANGE OF ATTITUDE"

In his message, Francis decried companies and businesses that exploited migrants and refugees, many of whom work for low day wages in agriculture and in illegal factories in Italy and elsewhere in Europe.

"Particularly disturbing are those situations where migration is not only involuntary, but actually set in motion by various forms of human trafficking and enslavement. Nowadays, 'slave labor' is common currency," he said.

In July, Francis chose Lampedusa, the tiny island off Sicily that has been the first port of safety for untold thousands of migrants crossing by sea from North Africa seeking a better life in Europe, as the place for his first trip outside Rome to draw attention to the plight of refugees.

"A change of attitude towards migrants and refugees is needed on the part of everyone, moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and marginalization - all typical of a throwaway culture - towards attitudes based on a culture of encounter, the only culture capable of building a better, more just and fraternal world," he said in the message.

Earlier this month, when he visited a refugee center in Rome, Francis said disused church buildings should be used to house asylum-seekers.

Francis has been a frequent critic of globalization and on Sunday made one of his strongest attacks on the global economic system, saying it could not longer be based "on a god called money".

In his message on Tuesday, Francis said migrants and refugees were also suffering from the effects of globalization.

"Development cannot be reduced to economic growth alone, often attained without a thought for the poor and the vulnerable," he said in the message.
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« Reply #285 on: September 27, 2013, 05:21:05 pm »

Pope Francis contemplates appointing a female cardinal
9/23/13
http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/09/23/inenglish/1379952868_934748.html

It’s not a joke. It’s something that Pope Francis has thought about before: naming a woman cardinal. Those who know the pope, both before and after he took over from Ratzinger, say that the first Jesuit pontiff is not only surprising people with his comments, but also with his actions. And this has been happening throughout his first six months in the role.

Those who think that Francis – who has all the simplicity of a parish priest – is a naïve man are wrong. This pope isn’t an ordinary pope. He has come to St. Peter’s with concrete plans for the Catholic Church: he wants to revive Christianity by taking it back to its origins.

The symbolism of his actions began when he first appeared on the balcony at St. Peter’s, calling himself “a bishop” and asking the people to bless him. Since then, he has wasted no time in making unexpected decisions, which have shocked those both inside and outside the Church.

And he will continue to do so, especially with his plans to appoint a female cardinal. He knows that a woman’s role in the Church is an unresolved issue that cannot wait any longer. He was clear about this during his interview with La Civiltà Cattolica last week. “The Church cannot be herself without the woman and her role,” he said. “The woman is essential for the Church. Mary, a woman, is more important than the bishops. I say this because we must not confuse the function with the dignity.”

In other words, it was as if Pope Francis was saying: “The Church isn’t complete because the woman’s role is missing.”

How can he introduce that essential component? He answered the question himself during the interview: “We must therefore investigate further the role of women in the Church. We have to work harder to develop a profound theology of the woman.”

And that theology, according to the pope, cannot be construed within the Vatican’s walls.” The feminine genius is needed wherever we make important decisions,” he said.

He may pave the way with discussions that urgently put the issue of a woman’s role in the Church on the table, or better yet, “in front of the altar.” And one of those gestures could be the naming of the first female cardinal. Is that feat impossible? No, because canonical law states that cardinals don’t have to be priests, they can be deacons.

Some would argue that women are not allowed to be deacons as they were 800 years ago among the first Christian communities. But this is one of the reforms that Francis has in mind; it is not based on any dogma. A woman could become a deaconess tomorrow if he so desired.

As Phyllis Zagano of Loyola University in Chicago, an expert on the issue, wrote: “A female deaconess is not an idea for the future. It is an issue for the present and today.”

Zagano brought up the matter with Cardinal Ratzinger before he became pope. “This is something that is being studied,” he told her. Pope Benedict XVI did not follow through but Pope Francis might.

The Armenian Apostolic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church, which have close links to the Vatican, both have deaconesses.

Any woman who is appointed deaconess can indeed become a cardinal without having to change canonical law.

Cardinals serve as advisors to the pope and their primary function is to elect a new pontiff.

“Knowing this pope, he wouldn’t hesitate before appointing a woman cardinal,” said one Jesuit priest. “And he would indeed enjoy being the first pope to allow women to participate in the selection of a new pontiff.”
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« Reply #286 on: September 30, 2013, 11:07:45 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/pope-unveil-sainthood-date-john-paul-ii-john-022413901.html

Former popes to be made saints on April 27
9/30/13

Vatican City (AFP) - The Vatican on Monday said late popes John Paul II and John XXIII would be made saints at an unprecedented joint ceremony on April 27, 2014 in a bid to unite Catholic conservatives and liberals.

Pope Francis made the historic announcement at a meeting of cardinals known as a consistory.

The canonisation of the two popes is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Rome.

The popular Polish pope John Paul and his Italian predecessor known as "Good Pope John", are two of modern-day Catholicism's most influential figures.

The double sainthood is seen by Vatican watchers as an attempt to breach a traditional left-right divide in the Church.

"John XXIII is generally a hero to the church's progressive wing while John Paul II is typically lionized by Catholic conservatives," said John Allen, from the National Catholic Reporter, a US weekly.

Allen said the decision could be interpreted as "a statement that any attempt to set them at odds is artificial, and that what they had in common is more fundamental than any perceived differences".

Sainthood normally requires two "confirmed" miracles, though Francis has approved the canonisation of John XXIII (1958-1963) -- with whom he shares a common touch and reformist views -- based on just one.

John Paul II, who served as pontiff from 1978 to 2005, was credited with his first miracle just six months after his death, when a French nun said she had been cured, through prayer, of Parkinson’s -- a disease he had also suffered from.

His second miracle was reportedly carried out on a woman in Costa Rica, who said she was healed from a serious brain condition by praying for John Paul's intercession on the same day he was beatified in 2011.

The Polish pope was popular throughout his 27-year papacy and helped topple Communism -- although he alienated many with his conservative views and was blamed for hushing up paedophile priest scandals.

At his funeral in 2005, crowds of mourners cried "Santo Subito!" -- "Sainthood Now!" -- prompting the Vatican to speed up the path to sainthood, which normally begins five years after death.

John XXIII made his name by calling the historic Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) which overhauled the Church's rituals and doctrines and reached out to other faiths.

Many compare the Italian pope, who died in 1963, with the current head of the Roman Catholic Church for their similar pastoral attitudes, humble, open manner and sense of humour.

The reportedly miraculous healing of an Italian nun who had severe internal hemorrhages was attributed to John XXIII when he was beatified in 2000.

Francis is believed to have waived the need for a second miracle because his canonisation had been called for by the participants of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, who wanted to pay homage to the man who ushered the Church into modern times.

Francis also promises to be a reformist pope, planning an overhaul of the Vatican bureaucracy and finances and promising a "poor Church for the poor".

On Tuesday, he will begin three days of talks with an advisory board of eight cardinals he has appointed to help him clean up the troubled Roman Curia -- the intrigue-filled administration -- and improve communication between the Vatican and local churches.

Vatican experts say it is not clear whether details from the meetings will be made public, but liberal Catholics hope that the conciliatory tone adopted by Francis on many issues will translate into action.

Topics may include the role of women in the Church, whether priests should be able to marry, if Catholics who remarry should receive the Eucharist and the Church's position on homosexuality and gay clergy.
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« Reply #287 on: October 01, 2013, 05:09:53 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/pope-urges-reform-wants-church-modern-spirit-122534863.html
Pope urges reform, wants church with modern spirit
10/1/13

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis says he doesn't want a "Vatican-centric" church concerned about itself but a missionary church that reaches out to the poor, the young, the elderly and even to non-believers. That's the vision he laid out as he opened a landmark meeting Tuesday on reforming the 2,000-year-old institution.

**This is the same thing the Emergent Church pushes...no surprise, as the EC is pushing RCC agendas.

Francis convened the inaugural meeting of his eight cardinal advisers for three days of brainstorming on revamping the antiquated Vatican bureaucracy and other reforms. The move fulfills a key mandate of the cardinals who elected him: They wanted a pope who would involve local church leaders in helping make decisions about the 1.2-billion strong church.

The closed-door meeting got underway against the backdrop of one of the most tangible signs that change is already afoot: The secretive Vatican bank, under investigation for alleged money-laundering by Italian prosecutors, released its first-ever annual report Tuesday, the latest step toward financial transparency championed by Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI.

Net earnings at the bank, known as the Institute for Religious Works, rose more than four-fold to 86.6 million euros ($116.95 million) in 2012, the report said. More than 50 million euros of that was given to the pope for his charitable works.

Francis has put the Vatican bank on notice, forming a commission of inquiry to look into its activities amid accusations by Italian prosecutors that its clients may have used its lax controls to launder money. The bank's two top managers have already resigned and a Vatican monsignor has been arrested after trying to smuggle 20 million euros into Italy from Switzerland without declaring it at customs.

Francis has formed another commission of inquiry to look into the Vatican's overall financial health, but his decision to name the eight cardinals from around the world as a permanent advisory panel represents the most significant sign that he wants to shake things up at the Vatican.

No decisions are expected this week and Francis himself has said the reform process will take time.

The eight cardinals include Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston and a longtime friend of Francis; Cardinals Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, India; Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo; and Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany, all of whom head bishops conferences in their regions.

It's unclear how this parallel cabinet will work with the outdated Vatican bureaucracy that constitutes a pope's primary cabinet, known as the Vatican Curia. A scandal over leaked papal documents last year showed the Curia to be a dysfunctional warren of political infighting and turf battles, fueling calls for reform from the cardinals.

On the same day the inaugural "Group of Eight" meeting started, Rome daily La Repubblica published a lengthy interview with Francis, in which he denounced the "Vatican-centric" nature of the Holy See administration and acknowledged that popes in the past had been infatuated with the pomp of the Vatican.

"Heads of the church have often been narcissists, flattered and thrilled by their courtiers," Francis said. "The court is the leprosy of the papacy."

For someone who has said he abhors giving interviews, Francis has made himself remarkably amenable to taking questions about his faith and vision for the church.

The pope also explained his affinity for his namesake St. Francis, whose tomb he will visit Friday in Assisi, the hilltop town where St. Francis preached his gospel of poverty and caring for the most destitute.

Francis said he wanted a missionary church just like that: "We need to give hope to young people, help the aged and open ourselves toward the future and spread love."

**It seems like in our modern-day culture, it's the young people that are being targeted first and foremost, and that includes churches doing it too. No surprise b/c part of the Jesuit agenda a long time ago was to take over the education system.

He said the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meetings that brought the church into the modern world, had promised such an opening to people of other faiths and non-believers but the church hadn't made progress since then.

"I have the humility and ambition to do so," he said.

During the interview, Francis showed his wry sense of humor — there was talk about the pope and his atheist interviewer trying to convert one another — but also his very human fears right after he was elected, when he said he was "seized by a great anxiety."

"To make it go away and relax, I closed my eyes and made every thought disappear, even the thought of refusing to accept the position, as the liturgical procedure allows," he recounted.

"At a certain point I was filled with a great light. It lasted a moment, but to me it seemed very long. Then the light faded, I got up suddenly and walked into the room where the cardinals were waiting."

He said he signed the acceptance form and went out on the balcony to be introduced to the world as Pope Francis.
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« Reply #288 on: October 02, 2013, 06:18:36 am »

He is really pushing this into the new-age, we are witnessing the merging of the two beliefs...

Pope Francis stirs debate yet again with interview with an atheist Italian journalist
By Michelle Boorstein and Elizabeth Tenety, Published: October 1

Pope Francis cranked up his charm offensive on the world outside the Vatican on Tuesday, saying in the second widely shared media interview in two weeks that each person “must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them” and calling efforts to convert people to Christianity “solemn nonsense.”

The Vatican’s head seemed intent on distancing himself from its power, saying church leaders “have often been narcissists” and “clericalism should not have anything to do with Christianity.”

The interview with atheist Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari set off another round of debate about what the pope meant: Was he saying that people can make up their own minds, even if they disagree with church teachings? Or was this self-described “son of the church” just using casual language to describe classic church teaching about how people need to come to Catholic doctrine of their free will?

A top official with the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, took the unprecedented step of rebuking Francis, writing that the pope’s interview was “a theological wreck” and that Francis was dabbling dangerously in relativism.

“What these interviews seem continually to do is what evangelical theologian Carl Henry warned Protestants of in the 20th century, of severing the love of God from the holiness of God,” wrote the Rev. Russell Moore, a past dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and head of the convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. “We must speak with tenderness and gentleness, but with an authoritative word from God.”

Some conservative Catholics were also taken aback by the interview.

“My e-mail is filled with notes from people who need to be talked off the ledge,” wrote the Rev. John Zuhlsdorf, author of one of the more popular blogs for Catholic conservatives.

In what is quickly becoming classic Pope Francis, the back story of the interview was dramatically simple. The leader of the largest church in the world apparently picked up the phone and called Scalfari, founder of La Repubblica, who had requested an interview.

“Why so surprised?” the pope asked Scalfari (after being patched through by a shaky secretary at the newspaper). “You wrote me a letter asking to meet me in person. I had the same wish, so I’m calling to fix an appointment. Let me look at my diary: I can’t do Wednesday, nor Monday; would Tuesday suit you?”

After they set the time, Scalfari said he wasn’t sure how to end the call and asked for an embrace by phone. “Of course, a hug from me too,” the pope told him. “Then we will do it in person, goodbye.”

The interview was wide-ranging, including the pope’s story of a Communist friend he had as a young man (who was later tortured and killed by the Argentine military), a few movie recommendations as well as a mystical experience he had the night he was picked to be pope.

“My head was completely empty and I was seized by a great anxiety. To make it go away and relax I closed my eyes and made every thought disappear, even the thought of refusing to accept the position, as the liturgical procedure allows,” he said. “I closed my eyes and I no longer had any anxiety or emotion. At a certain point I was filled with a great light.”

But the parts of the interview that will be pored over are theological — the uncomplicated, unqualified language Francis uses to speak about faith. In this interview, as in the one two weeks ago by a group of Jesuit publications, connection to God doesn’t seem to depend on church hierarchy.

Asked if there is a single vision of good, and who decides, Francis says:

“Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is good . . . Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place.”

Asked if he feels touched by grace, Francis tells the atheist reporter that the holy quality “is the amount of light in our souls, not knowledge nor reason. Even you, without knowing it, could be touched by grace.”

Chris Ruddy, a theologian at Catholic University, noted that Pope Benedict XVI had co-
authored a book with an atheist that said that “seekers and believers . . . must move towards one another,” but that Francis had clearly taken the concept of engagement to a new level. Catholic teaching, he noted, calls for people to follow their own consciences — but is referring to “formed” consciences steeped with education and prayer in proper doctrine.

“What the pope said can be taken a bunch of different ways. And it can certainly be taken in a relativistic way. And I imagine it will be received that way by some people,” Ruddy said. “But I don’t see the pope saying: ‘You have your idea, I have mine and it’s all good.’ I see him saying: ‘We have to respect persons and their search for truth.’ ”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/pope-francis-stirs-debate-yet-again-with-interview-with-an-atheist-italian-journalist/2013/10/01/9e7a6790-2acb-11e3-97a3-ff2758228523_print.html
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« Reply #289 on: October 02, 2013, 09:47:42 am »

This Pope is using his words so craftily, that it's just enough to stir both debate and strife.

Like I mentioned earlier, at one GOP establishment forum I look at, they are still debating heavily with each other over his comments(some are seeing his true colors, while others think his comments are somehow being taken out of context).

BUT - this is how the Hegelian Dialectic game is played. When all is said and done, all of this never-ending debate and strife will end up merging all camps together.
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« Reply #290 on: October 04, 2013, 11:38:17 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/u-catholics-back-pope-francis-changing-churchs-focus-100249104.html
10/4/13
U.S. Catholics back Pope Francis on changing church's focus

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pope Francis' comments that the Catholic Church should not focus so much on homosexuality, abortion and contraception have met with strong approval from U.S. Catholics, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Friday.

Sixty-eight percent of American Catholics agree with comments the Pope made to that effect in an interview published last month in the Jesuit magazine Civilta Cattolica, while 23 percent disagreed, according to the poll. There was little difference in opinion between observant and less-observant Catholics, women and men, and among age groups, the poll found.

American Catholics also like their new pope, with 89 percent having a "favorable" or "very favorable" opinion, and only 4 percent voicing an unfavorable opinion, the poll found.

"Maybe they were just waiting for a Jesuit," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Hamden, Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. Francis is the first pope from the religious order of the Jesuits, an order known for its intellectuals and iconoclasts.

In the interview, Francis reaffirmed traditional church teachings, but said the church must "find a new balance" or risk seeing its entire moral edifice collapse "like a house of cards."

The poll also found that 60 percent of American Catholics support women's ordination - though the Pope had recently reaffirmed the ban on women's ordination. Support is highest among those who attend services less frequently and Catholics over the age of 65.

The survey also found that Catholic opinion on abortion is similar to the opinion of all American adults - with 52 percent of Catholics saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 53 percent of the general public.

The poll surveyed 1,776 American adults, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points, and 392 Catholics with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; editing by Scott Malone and Matthew Lewis)
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« Reply #291 on: October 05, 2013, 05:32:37 am »

Pope Francis marks Assisi visit with call for church to shun worldliness
During visit to Assisi where Saint Francis lived in 12th century, pontiff says worldliness leads to vanity, arrogance and pride


The Roman Catholic church, from the lowliest priest to the pontiff himself, must strip itself of all vanity, arrogance and pride and humbly serve the poorest members of society, Pope Francis has said.

The pope's appeal, made in the central Italian town of Assisi where his namesake Saint Francis lived in the 12th century, comes amid a drive by Francis to turn around a church plagued by financial and sexual abuse scandals.

Saint Francis is revered by Catholics and many other Christians for his simple values, poverty and love of nature, qualities the Argentinian-born Francis has made the keynote of his papacy since his election in March.

"This is a good occasion to invite the church to strip itself of worldliness," he said in a room that marks the spot where Saint Francis stripped naked as a young man, renounced his wealthy family and set out to serve the poor.

"There is a danger that threatens everyone in the church, all of us. The danger of worldliness. It leads us to vanity, arrogance and pride," said Francis in the richly frescoed room of the residence of the archbishop of Assisi.

As he has often done, Francis spoke impromptu after putting aside prepared versions of two speeches, clearly moved by the sick and the poor people present in the room.

Francis has brought a new style of openness, consultation and simplicity to the Vatican. A few days after his election he said he wanted to see "a church that is poor and for the poor".

He has shunned the spacious papal apartments for spartan quarters in a Vatican guesthouse and has urged all members of the clergy, regardless of rank, to spurn comfort and get out among the poor and needy.

Francis said all members of the church, including bishops, cardinals and the pope himself, had to avoid the pitfalls of attaching importance to worldly things and to be more humble.

"Worldliness brings us to vanity, arrogance, pride and these are idols … All of us have to strip ourselves of this worldliness," he said.

Francis, the first non-European pope in 1,300 years and the first from Latin America, has formed three committees to advise him on making the Vatican more transparent, particularly in its financial dealings.

He has also said that Catholic convents and monasteries that are empty should be opened up to house migrants and refugees.

Francis was visibly moved when he heard the stories of some of the poor people in the room. "Many of you have been stripped by this savage world that does not give employment, that does not help, that does not care if there are children in the world who are dying of hunger, does not care if so many families have nothing to eat," he said.

He decried a world "that does not care about many people who have to flee poverty and hunger, flee seeking freedom and many times they find death, as happened yesterday in Lampedusa".

Francis was referring to the sinking of a migrant boat off the southern Italian island, in which more than 300 people are believed to have died. "Today is a day for crying," Francis said of the tragedy.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/04/pope-francis-assisi-church-worldliness

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« Reply #292 on: October 05, 2013, 05:34:10 am »

POPE TRIP TO ST. FRANCIS' TOWN HIGHLIGHTS GOALS

 Pope Francis broke bread with the poor and embraced the disabled on a pilgrimage to his namesake's hometown Friday, urging the faithful to follow the example of the 13th-century St. Francis, who renounced a wealthy, dissolute lifestyle to embrace a life of poverty and service to the poor.

According to tradition, God told St. Francis to "repair my house," and the first pope to take the saint's name has made clear that he sees that as his own mission as well.

For Francis, that means reaching out to the most marginalized among the church's 1.2 billion followers, reforming the broken Vatican bureaucracy, and allowing the faithful to shake things up in their dioceses - even at the annoyance of their bishops - if that's what it takes to better spread God's word.

After all, the pope said, St. Francis was a radical himself in his complete devotion to his faith - a model that can serve Catholics today.

Here are the main goals Pope Francis has set out for his church, highlighted during his visit to the hilltop town of Assisi, whose native son has inspired his papacy:

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A CHURCH `THAT IS POOR AND FOR THE POOR'

Francis had lunch with a group of poor at a soup kitchen after demanding that the faithful "strip" themselves of their worldly attachment to wealth, which he said is killing the church and its souls. He delivered that exhortation during the most evocative stop of the day, in the simple room where St. Francis stripped off his clothes, renounced his wealth and vowed to live a life of poverty. Since becoming pope in March, Francis has made it clear that one of his principal objectives is a church that is humble, looks out for the poorest and brings them hope. The "slum pope," as he is known because of his work in Argentina's shantytowns, recently denounced the "idolatry" of money and encouraged those without the "dignity" of work.

---

A CHURCH THAT WELCOMES AND DOESN'T JUDGE

Francis' first stop in Assisi was to an institute that cares for gravely disabled children, who in the words of the director are often seen as "stones cast aside," invisible and neglected by the world. Francis caressed and kissed each child, saying their "scars need to be recognized and listened to." It was part of the simple message of love that he has brought to others often considered outcasts, such as drug addicts and convicts. His "who am I to judge?" comment about gays over the summer was another reflection of this message of merciful welcome. It represented a radical shift in tone for the Vatican. Catholic teaching holds that all people should be treated with dignity and respect, so Francis was making no change in doctrine. But church teaching also holds that gay acts are "intrinsically disordered" - a point Francis has neglected to emphasize in favor of a message of inclusion.

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A FEMININE CHURCH

Francis has called for a greater role for women in the governance of the church, while ruling out female ordination. He says the church itself is female, that Jesus Christ was married to the church and that Mary is more important than all the apostles. On Friday, Francis paid special attention to the women of the church, visiting the cloistered Sisters of St. Clare, an order founded by one of St. Francis' followers. In the Basilica of St. Clare, Pope Francis told the nuns that they must be mothers to the church and be joyful. "It makes me sad when I find sisters who aren't joyful," he lamented. "They might smile, but with just a smile they could be flight attendants!" He showed that same sense of humor later when he told a story about a mother who lamented that her 30-year-old son still hadn't gotten married - a reference to a generation of Italian men who seem unwilling to move out: "Signora," Francis recalled telling her. "Stop ironing his shirts!"

---

A CHURCH THAT IS `MESSY' AND GOES OUTSIDE THE SACRISTY

St. Francis was considered a radical disobedient for having renounced everything and given himself entirely to his faith, but that's just the type of radical witness Pope Francis wants for today's Catholics. Francis told Argentine pilgrims during World Youth Day in July to make a "mess" in their dioceses and shake things up. He hopes the church will stop being so inward-looking, and instead go out to the peripheries to spread the faith, just like St. Francis. The pope's first trip outside Rome was to Lampedusa, a southern Italian island closer to Africa than the Italian mainland. His eulogy for all migrants lost at sea denounced a "globalization of indifference," a prescient message given Thursday's shipwreck off Lampedusa that killed scores of migrants. As black mourning ribbons hung from Assisi's banners, Francis proclaimed Friday "a day of tears."

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A CHURCH THAT WORKS FOR PEACE AND CARES FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

Assisi is known for its message of peace, drawing people of all faiths - and no faith - for annual peace pilgrimages to the basilica dominating the hill and its magnificent frescos by Giotto and Cimabue. The town takes its cue from St. Francis, who preached a message of peace and care for nature. But Pope Francis lamented Friday that the saint's message is often misunderstood, "sweetened" into something he didn't represent. A Vatican spokesman put it this way: "Too often his message is lost and we reduce his role to that of a gentle, whimsical hippie who fed birds, smelled flowers and tamed wild wolves." Pope Francis said the saint's message was to truly "love one another as I have loved you," calling for an end to all the wars in the Middle East, especially Syria. The pope has been steadfast in his call for peace in Syria, inspiring hundreds of thousands of people around the world to hold a day of fasting and prayer when it appeared military strikes against the Damascus regime were imminent.

---

A REFORMED CHURCH

Francis was elected on a mandate to reform the church, and he has set about doing that. One of his first stops Friday was to pray at the sanctuary of St. Damian, where the saint in 1205 famously was told to take a broken church and rebuild it. The pope has just finished three days of meetings with advisers from churches around the globe helping him rewrite the main blueprint for how the Catholic Church is governed. Ideas include having a "moderator" to make the Vatican bureaucracy run more smoothly and a diminished role for the Vatican's powerful secretary of state. In an indication that a shift is already underway, the secretary of state didn't accompany Francis to Assisi, though his eight cardinal advisers did - a symbolic changing of the guard in favor of less centralized church authority. The reforms also include involving lay men and women more in the life of the church. Just as St. Francis wanted.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_VATICAN_POPE_ASSISI?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-10-04-07-28-50
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« Reply #293 on: October 07, 2013, 10:12:05 am »

Pope Francis: ‘I Believe In God, Not In A Catholic God’

Pope Francis has been making headlines ever since the pontiff was announced as the Roman Catholic Church’s leader, and now he’s getting even more attention because he recently said, “I believe in God, not in a Catholic God.” He essentially took a dig at the Catholic Church hierarchy by condemning its “Vatican-centric view.”

“I believe in God, not in a Catholic God, there is no Catholic God, there is God and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation,” the pope said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, as quoted by the Inquisitr. “Jesus is my teacher and my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light and the Creator. This is my Being. Do you think we are very far apart?”
 
The pontiff added he does not agree with everything his religion stands for: “This Vatican-centric view neglects the world around us,” he said. “I do not share this view, and I’ll do everything I can to change to it.”
 
Pope Francis plans to do so by being more involved with the community. He stated his plan: “The church is or should go back to being a community of God’s people, and priests, pastors and bishops who have the care of souls, are at the service of the people of God.”
 
Eugenio Scalfari, the co-founder and former editor of La Repubblica was surprised to get the exclusive interview with the pope in the first place, but even more so once he talked to him.
 
“‘God is not Catholic,’” Scalfari quoted the pope as saying, according to NBC News. Confused, he asked Pope Francis to elaborate, and the pontiff reportedly replied, “‘God is universal, and we are catholic in the sense of the way we worship him.’”
 
Pope Francis was reportedly taken aback when he was elected pope by the conclave in March. He thought about refusing for a moment, but then accepted his role. “When in the conclave they elected me pope, I asked for some time alone before I accepted,” he said in the interview. “I was overwhelmed by great anxiety, then I closed my eyes and all thoughts, including the possibility of refusing, went away.”

http://www.ibtimes.com/pope-francis-i-believe-god-not-catholic-god-1415620?utm
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« Reply #294 on: October 07, 2013, 10:15:38 am »

Quote
“I believe in God, not in a Catholic God, there is no Catholic God, there is God and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation,” the pope said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, as quoted by the Inquisitr. “Jesus is my teacher and my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light and the Creator. This is my Being. Do you think we are very far apart?”

Quote
“‘God is universal, and we are catholic in the sense of the way we worship him.’”

 Huh First he doesnt belive in the catholic god, but he believes in the universal god?  lets see here...

Quote
What "Catholic" Means

The Greek roots of the term "Catholic" mean "according to (kata-) the whole (holos)," or more colloquially, "universal." At the beginning of the second century, we find in the letters of Ignatius the first surviving use of the term "Catholic" in reference to the Church. At that time, or shortly thereafter, it was used to refer to a single, visible communion, separate from others.

rest: http://www.catholic.com/tracts/what-catholic-means

SOOOOOoooo... we can see that Frank is lying again, as he does believe in the catholic god. And i know her name  Wink
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« Reply #295 on: October 07, 2013, 11:08:35 am »

It's obvious over the games Pope Frankie is playing with the Catholic Church pews - he's getting everyone to argue and debate among themselves. At one GOP establishment forum I look at(for news articles), they are doing just that - while some are seeing his true colors, there are others that are really fighting hard and pushing back like either his comments were somehow taken out of context or somehow he was speaking in a different context.

Ultimately, all this will do is wear everyone out in the Hegelian Dialectic process - there will come a day when Frankie will explicitly endorse gay marriage and atheism, and all of his flock will end up buying everything he says(ie-the "liberal media" critics like Brent Bozell and Sean Hannity will do the same).
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« Reply #296 on: October 07, 2013, 03:22:55 pm »

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“Jesus is my teacher and my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light and the Creator

While subtle, he still adheres to the Catholic trinity tradition, separating God the Father from Jesus, and then incorrectly claiming that God is the light, when clearly scripture says Jesus is the light of the world. And he doesn't acknowledge that it is in fact more correct to say that it is the Holy Ghost that is his teacher, though the indwelling of the Holy Ghost is Jesus Christ in you.

"...doctrines of men..."
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« Reply #297 on: October 10, 2013, 01:15:03 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/casual-pope-puts-vatican-alert-quips-132010700.html
Casual pope puts Vatican on alert with quips
10/9/13

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has grabbed headlines with his off-the-cuff homilies, crowd-pleasing one-liners and lengthy interviews during which he has pontificated on everything from the church's "obsession" with rules to how he won't judge gays. But his chattiness has gotten him into some trouble, and the Vatican has gone into damage-control mode to clarify, correct or put his comments into context. Here's a look at some of Francis' more eyebrow-raising comments, and the efforts by the Vatican's spin doctors to address them.

___

DID FRANCIS REALLY CONSIDER TURNING DOWN THE JOB?

In an interview with the Rome daily La Repubblica, editor Eugenio Scalfari quoted the pope as saying he was "seized by a great anxiety" moments after his election and asked the cardinals in the Sistine Chapel to give him a few minutes time to think things over.

"To make it go away and relax, I closed my eyes and made every thought disappear, even the thought of refusing to accept the position, as the liturgical procedure allows," he was quoted as saying. "At a certain point I was filled with a great light. It lasted a moment, but to me it seemed very long. Then the light faded, I got up suddenly and walked into the room where the cardinals were waiting." The pope was quoted as saying he signed the acceptance form and went out on the balcony to be introduced to the world as Pope Francis.

But the Rev. Thomas Rosica, who helps with Vatican media relations, later said the interview didn't reflect Francis' real words. He said Scalfari neither recorded the conversation nor took notes, reconstructing the conversation from memory and printing it as a verbatim interview. The Vatican doesn't dispute the overall thrust of the interview, which Scalfari said he submitted to Francis for review and which the Vatican newspaper reprinted verbatim. But Rosica said the purported "mystical" experience recounted by Repubblica after the election didn't happen, though Francis himself has said previously and in public that "I didn't want to be pope."

___

CAN ATHEISTS BE SAVED?

One of the novelties introduced by Francis has been his daily 7 a.m. Mass in the Vatican hotel, to which groups and individuals are invited. Francis delivers homilies each day, the contents of which are summarized by Vatican Radio. On May 22, he caused no shortage of confusion when he suggested that even atheists could find salvation.

According to church teaching, the Catholic Church holds the "fullness of the means of salvation" — a message that has long been taken to mean that only Catholics can find salvation. But in his homily, Francis said: "The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! 'Father, the atheists?' Even the atheists. Everyone!"

Rosica issued a lengthy "explanatory note" a few days later after being inundated with questions about whether Francis was changing church doctrine on salvation. He noted that church teaching also holds that "those who through no fault of their own" don't know about Jesus but seek God and try to do his will can also attain eternal salvation.

"Always keep in mind the audience and context of Pope Francis' homilies," Rosica cautioned. "His words are not spoken in the context of a theological faculty or academy nor in interreligious dialogue or debate. He speaks in the context of Mass."

___

SHOULD THE VATICAN BANK BE SAVED?

On April 24, Francis invited members of the Vatican bank to join him for Mass in the hotel. The Institute for Religious Works, as the bank is known, has been plagued by scandals — most recently over the arrest of a Vatican monsignor on charges he tried to smuggle some 20 million euro ($26 million) into Italy from Switzerland without declaring it at customs.

Given the scandals, the arrival of a reform-minded, non-nonsense pope has prompted a flurry of speculation that Francis might shut the bank down. So imagine the headlines that followed his April 24 homily, when he lamented how the church can sometimes become too bureaucratic, too much like an aid group, and that bureaucracies are necessary up to a point.

"The church isn't an NGO, it's a story of love," Francis told the bank's staff in the pews. "But there are the IOR folks here, excuse me, OK? Everything is necessary, offices are necessary, OK, but they're only necessary up to a certain point: as a help to this story of love. But when the organization loses this primary place, when the love is gone, the poor church becomes an NGO. And this isn't the way to go."

Archbishop Angelo Becciu, under secretary of the Vatican secretariat of state, told the Vatican newspaper a few days later that Francis was by no means hinting that he might shut down the Vatican bank.

___

THE VICAR OF CHRIST SAID WHAT?

Sometimes, Francis' one-liners don't warrant Vatican clarification, but they're worth repeating simply because they came from the lips of the Successor of Peter, Vicar of Christ, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church:

— Francis urged the church to "strip" itself of its worldy attachment to wealth during his Oct. 4 trip to Assisi and focus instead on the basics of Christ's teachings. "You might say, 'Can't we have a more human Christianity, without the cross, without Jesus, without stripping ourselves?'" he asked rhetorically. "In this way we'd become pastry-shop Christians, like a pretty cake and nice sweet things. Pretty, but not true Christians."

—Francis was asked June 7 why he chose to live in the Vatican hotel rather than the fancier Apostolic Palace where his predecessors lived. "If I was living alone, isolated, it wouldn't be good for me," he told students of Jesuit schools. "A professor asked me the same question, 'Why don't you go and live there (in the papal apartments)'? And I replied: 'Listen to me professor, it is for psychiatric reasons.'"

—The pope has urged nuns and sisters to be like joyful mothers to the church, caring for its flock, and not act like they're "old maids." ''It makes me sad when I find sisters who aren't joyful," he lamented during his Oct. 4 visit to a cloistered convent in Assisi. "They might smile, but with just a smile they could be flight attendants!"

Given Francis' wry sense of humor and willingness to regularly ditch speeches prepared for him, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said he wants the faithful to know the difference between a pontifical joke and an encyclical, a clever quip in a homily and infallible teaching.

"There are different genres of expression, some are magisterial and official, others are more pastoral," Lombardi told The Associated Press. "They have a different doctrinal value."


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« Reply #298 on: October 11, 2013, 11:52:22 am »

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/10/vatican-misspells-jesus-name-on-papal-medal/
Vatican Misspells Jesus’ Name on Papal Medal
10/10/13

Someone is going to be saying a “mea culpa.”

A medal issued by the Vatican commemorating Pope Francis’ first year as the Bishop of Rome included a rather glaring spelling error, a typo of Biblical proportions.

Engraved with the Latin phrase that the pope says inspired him to join the priesthood as a young man, Italy’s state mint misspelled the name of Jesus, calling the son of God Lesus instead.

The medals, of which 6,000 were pressed in silver and bronze and another 200 in gold, have now been recalled. The design included a portrait of Pope Francis on the obverse and on the reverse a work by the artist Mariangela Crisciotti.

The medals were to go on sale Tuesday and include the Latin inscription: “Vidit ergo Jesus publicanum et quia miserando atque eligendo vidit, ait illi sequere me,” according to the Vatican press office.

Mistakenly, however, the word “Lesus” was printed instead.

The phrase it the pope’s motto. It means, “Jesus, therefore, saw the publican, and because he saw by having mercy and by choosing, He said to him, ‘Follow me.’”

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« Reply #299 on: October 11, 2013, 02:09:44 pm »

How ironic. And even more so by them having that verse reference about following Jesus, with the pope's image on the other side. Roll Eyes
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