Pope Francis, Catholics, and Christians in the news worldwide
https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/23/ecuador-rape-survivors-denied-safe-and-legal-abortion
I'd point out that the Church's teachings on life aren't contingent upon guilt or innocence, but rather on humanity. I'd like to see far fewer abortions. I'd also like to see an end to state execution and a turn away from our country's culture of violence.
Being against abortion because "babies are guiltless" isn't being particularly Catholic, especially if that's not accompanied by an equal devotion to being truly pro-life on issues beyond abortion.
As a mother who adopted three children --within days after their births -- and then was blessed with the experience of giving birth myself, I am most definitely pro-life! I am also against the death penalty
I salute and respect you for that! It's all too rare to find the combo of being both against abortion and being against the death penalty. I've been harsh on my comments, but I do sincerely respect and appreciate those who do try to have a consistent ethic of life.
PVW said:
It's all too rare to find the combo of being both against abortion and being against the death penalty.
Becoming significantly less rare, at least in my experience.
SouthernBaron said:
PVW said:Becoming significantly less rare, at least in my experience.
It's all too rare to find the combo of being both against abortion and being against the death penalty.
I hope that's true. Not a lot of evidence for that yet unfortunately:
http://www.people-press.org/2015/04/16/less-support-for-death-penalty-especially-among-democrats/
(about halfway down starts breaking survey results into more detail, including by religious affiliation).
Maybe the anecdotal evidence of decreasing support for the death penalty among Catholics just has yet to become visible at the national level? Here's to hoping that's actually a trend!
mtierney said:
Babies are guiltless
So are rape victims, yet you think they should suffer the further pain, indignity, and potential threat to their very lives of being forced to bear the child of their attacker?? In what world or religion is that acceptable?
Pope talk before Congress will be broadcast out to the public...
http://nyti.ms/1HObw8l
mtierney said:
As a mother who adopted three children --within days after their births -- and then was blessed with the experience of giving birth myself, I am most definitely pro-life! I am also against the death penalty
PVW said:
I salute and respect you for that! It's all too rare to find the combo of being both against abortion and being against the death penalty. I've been harsh on my comments, but I do sincerely respect and appreciate those who do try to have a consistent ethic of life.
What was the Church's reaction to the SCOTUS opinion upholding the death penalty by lethal injection which came about a week after the same-sex marriage ruling?
Does anyone know of a Priest who preached a sermon about it?
I found an answer to my question.
http://catholicsmobilizing.org/9837/response-to-glossip-v-gross-ruling/
I haven't seen any formal statement about the recent Supreme Court decision on the death penalty, but the U.S. Catholic Bishops did issue a statement when the Supreme Court accepted the case for review.
http://www.usccb.org/news/2015/15-019.cfm
Cardinal O’Malley and Archbishop Wenski Welcome Supreme Court Decision To Review Protocols for Use of Lethal Injection
...
“I welcome the Court’s decision to review this cruel practice,” said Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami. “Our nation has witnessed through recent executions, such as occurred in Oklahoma, how the use of the death penalty devalues human life and diminishes respect for human dignity. We bishops continue to say, we cannot teach killing is wrong by killing.”
...
The U.S. bishops have been advocating against the death penalty for over 40 years. In 2005, they initiated the Campaign to End the Use of the Death Penalty and continue to work closely with state Catholic Conferences, the Catholic Mobilizing Network and other groups towards the abolition of the death penalty in the United States.
The bishops join Pope Francis who in October 2014 called on Christians and all people of good will “to fight…for the abolition of the death penalty…in all its forms,” out of respect for human dignity.
Here is an excellent article on the clerical sexual abuse scandal and what it's meant for the church:
http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/how-clergy-abuse-survivors-have-changed-history
finnegan said:
Here is an excellent article on the clerical sexual abuse scandal and what it's meant for the church:
http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/how-clergy-abuse-survivors-have-changed-history
One of the most detailed account of this ugly and lamentable period in the Catholic Church. An excellent indication that the church is ready to accept responsibility is the fact that this report is the work of priests and published in the National Cathic Reporter!
Let's pray that Pope Francis continues to create change
mtierney said:
finnegan said:One of the most detailed account of this ugly and lamentable period in the Catholic Church. An excellent indication that the church is ready to accept responsibility is the fact that this report is the work of priests and published in the National Cathic Reporter!
Here is an excellent article on the clerical sexual abuse scandal and what it's meant for the church:
http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/how-clergy-abuse-survivors-have-changed-history
Let's pray that Pope Francis continues to create change
Well, the article is written by a priest (a Dominican) and published by NCR, but it is a long and depressing account of the clerics and, more importantly, survivors of sexual abuse by clergy, trying mostly in vain to alert and effect a response in the hierarchy. Including, importantly, John Paul II, who was made aware of clerical sexual abuse and institutional inaction in the mid - 1980's(!) The value of this article is in naming the survivors of clerical sexual abuse as change agents in the church. The final paragraph reads:
Survivors have changed the course of history for the church and have
accelerated the paradigm shift. If the Catholic church is to be known
not as a gilded monarchy of increasing irrelevance but as the people of
God, the change in direction hinted at by the new pope's words and
actions are crucial. If he does lead the way to a new image of the body
of Christ, it will be due in great part because the survivors have led
the way for him.
Where in the world is .......Pope Francis?
http://nytimes.com/popetrip
"I am a great fan of Pope Francis"
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Face the Nation, July 12, 2015, 11:00 AM
The Pope's trip through South America must be giving conservatives the vapors. And I like his response to those who say he sounds like a socialist. The Pope is sounding Christian.
mtierney said:
Pope talk before Congress will be broadcast out to the public...
http://nyti.ms/1HObw8l
As you continue to listen to the Pope, you begin to realize that he wouldn't necessarily be a Republican if he were interested in American politics. He is likely a pro life liberal. He's called out politicians as cowards for avoiding social programs, bowing to corporations, accepting austerity, and ignoring their obligations to the weakest and most voulnerable amongst us. Any other interpretation of thePope's intentions is disengeuous.
Fr. James Martin on the Pope's speech in Bolivia this past Thursday (the text of which was released in the form of a formal teaching document, according to something which I read someplace else) -
The Pope's clarion call for justice
It was the strongest language I can remember a pope using about the rights of the poor and about social justice. In a stunning, nearly revolutionary, speech on Thursday in Bolivia, Pope Francis said that working for justice is not simply a moral obligation. For Christians, it is a commandment.
"It is about giving to the poor and to people what is their right." Moreover, we cannot be content to stop at simple charity, when "a few drops fall whenever the poor shake a cup." No, what we need is deeper. What we need is change.
The Pope who took his name from the Apostle of the Poor excoriated a world where the poor are stripped of their rights by a system in which they have no voice.
"Do we realize that something is wrong in a world where there are so many farmworkers without land, so many families without a home, so many laborers without rights, so many persons whose dignity is not respected?"
...
Where do these ideas come from? Where do these words come from? Where does this call for justice come from? Where does the urge to seek forgiveness come from?
From the same place. Or rather, from the same person: Jesus Christ.
There can be no doubt that Pope Francis is focusing, over and over, on Jesus' invitation -- or as the Pope says more accurately "commandment" -- to care for the poor.
Jesus was born into poverty. He lived in a poor village. He worked in the carpentry trade; in his day, that ranked him below the peasantry. Later in his public ministry, the primary recipients of his preaching and often the very objects of that preaching were the poor.
The one litmus test he offers for entrance into heaven in the Gospel of Matthew was not how hard we pray, or how often we go to church, but how we treat the poor.
The rest -
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/09/living/martin-pope-justice/index.html
The speech to Congress should make for some interesting television viewing.
I wonder if Joe Wilson will shout out aything during the Pope's speech.
tjohn said:
The Pope's trip through South America must be giving conservatives the vapors. And I like his response to those who say he sounds like a socialist. The Pope is sounding Christian.
Why? The Pope is addressing inequities worldwide. His focus is not solely on America. For liberals to interpret his remarks as a slap at conservatives is myopic! America is great! Can it become even better? My bet is yes! Can the Pope provide spiritual guidance to the world? Yes
This is what the pope is saying is bad:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply-side_economics
Can you, mtierney, articulate in any meaningful way how liberals might view this as a stab at conservatives? It may take a moment of reflection and honesty on your part, so I'm guessing you won't or can't.
mtierney said:
tjohn said:Why? The Pope is addressing inequities worldwide. His focus is not solely on America. For liberals to interpret his remarks as a slap at conservatives is myopic! America is great! Can it become even better? My bet is yes! Can the Pope provide spiritual guidance to the world? Yes
The Pope's trip through South America must be giving conservatives the vapors. And I like his response to those who say he sounds like a socialist. The Pope is sounding Christian.
In other words, when Obama talks about solving wealth inequality that's dangerous, but when the Pope says the same thing, that's making America better?
When HRC speaks, the goal definitely speaks to "income redistribution." Income equality is a euphemism to fool folks.
The Pope, rather, urges that poverty, hunger, homelessness, and poor education be the focus for governments to address worldwide.
The United States IMO has been beacon for the world since World War 2 (where would Europe be today if not for the Marshall Plan?) What other nation gives $$$$, the wherewithal, time, and talents anywhere in the world when disasters strike?
The Pope addresses a lack of spirituality today. That is also his message to to the world.
mtierney said:
When HRC speaks, the goal definitely speaks to "income redistribution." Income equality is a euphemism to fool folks.
The Pope, rather, urges that poverty, hunger, homelessness, and poor education be the focus for governments to address worldwide.
Please don't "spin" the Pope's teaching as part of your repeating of the right-wing attacks ("income redistribution!"). Thanks in advance.
nohero said:
mtierney said:Please don't "spin" the Pope's teaching as part of your repeating of the right-wing attacks ("income redistribution!"). Thanks in advance.
When HRC speaks, the goal definitely speaks to "income redistribution." Income equality is a euphemism to fool folks.
The Pope, rather, urges that poverty, hunger, homelessness, and poor education be the focus for governments to address worldwide.
A (wo)man hears what (s)he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
--Simon & Garfunkel "The Boxer"
Somehow the lyrics pop into my head every time I open the thread.
Crux
Covering all things Catholic
PAPAL TRAVEL
Pope Francis: Families are like fine wine, with the best yet to come
Pilgrims hold up their hands to be blessed by Pope Francis during a Mass at the Samanes Park in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Monday. Hundreds of thousands endured blistering heat and humidity for a chance to hear the pope during his visit to the nation’s largest city. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent July 6, 2015
GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador — Pope Francis preached about the importance of the family, which he described as “the nearest hospital, the first school for the young, and the best home for the elderly” in front of several hundred thousand worshippers during the first stop in his three-nation tour of South America.
“How many of our adolescents and young people sense that [happiness, love, and plenty] are no longer found in their homes?” Francis asked. “How many women, sad and lonely, wonder when love left, when it slipped away from their lives? How many elderly people feel left out of family celebrations, cast aside and longing each day for a little love?”
Francis said that unemployment, illness and difficult situations which families experience can also lead to a lack of love in the family life.
He asked for “fervent prayers” for October’s Synod on the Family, saying that the two-week long meeting of Catholic bishops would be devoted to finding concrete solutions to the difficult and significant challenges facing families.
“I ask you to pray fervently for this intention, so that Christ can take what might seem to us impure, scandalous, or threatening, and turn it into a miracle” he said.
A Vatican spokesman tried to get ahead of any spin about what Francis may have had in mind when he mentioned threats.
“The pope hopes this Synod will help people to move from situations of sin to a state of grace; he’s not referring to anything specific,” Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters during the flight Quito to Guayaquil.
During the homily, published by Vatican Radio, Francis invited the gathered faithful to be led by Mary, saying that she’s not a “mother-in-law who revels in our lack of experience, our mistakes and the things we forget to do,” but a mother, attentive and concerned.
Within the family, Francis said, no one is disposable, and said that miracles are performed “with what little we have.” Many times, he said, family life is not ideal nor “what we dreamed of,” nor even what “should have been.”
The pope urged society to invest in the family, because despite what statistics say, the richest, deepest, and most beautiful things are yet to come.
“The time is coming when we will taste love daily, when our children will come to appreciate the home we share, and our elderly will be present each day in the joys of life,” Francis said.
The Mass was celebrated in Guayaquil’s Los Samanes Park, the largest one in the city, under a blazing sun with temperatures soaring into the 90s accompanied with high humidity. The park remains under construction, but was chosen nonetheless because it is the only place large enough to hold the number of worshippers.
With 4 million inhabitants, Guayaquil is the largest city in the country, but local officials were forced to use the park, amounting to little more than a large, empty plot of dust, in order to accommodate nearly a quarter of the city inhabitants.
Thousands present held up signs thanking Francis for the visit, asking for prayers, or inviting him to their countries. One read, “Guayaquil prays for persecuted Christians,” highlighting a concern close to the pope’s heart. Worshippers waved several national flags, including from many Latin American nations, as well as the Stars and Stripes.
As expected, at times Francis strayed from his prepared remarks, at one point sharing a personal story about his own childhood.
“When my mom was asked which one of her five children she loved the most, she’d said each one was like a finger: If you pinch one, it hurts as much as if you’d pinched the other,” the pope said, pretending to pinch one of his fingers.
Francis returned to Spanish-speaking South America for the first time since he was elected pope this Sunday. He will continue his eight-day whirlwind tour in Bolivia and then on to Paraguay.
The backbone of Tuesday’s 17-minute homily was the wedding story at Cana. According to the text, Mary, a guest to the wedding with her son, convinced Jesus to perform his first known miracle, turning water into wine. The pope compared the family to the wine.
“The finest of wines will come for every person who stakes everything on love. And it will come in spite of all the variables and statistics which say otherwise; the best wine is yet to come for those who today feel hopelessly lost,” he said.
Inés San Martín
Inés San Martín is the Vatican correspondent for Crux, stationed in Rome.