Pope Francis / Catholic Church

[murphy_p_t]

Pope Francis garners a substantial amount of press. How has this impacted your view of the Church? Would this cause you to be open to exploring the claims of the Catholic Church further and/or move closer to the Church?

I'm interested in your opinion in this simple poll and any comments.

[moda0306]

I like the Pope. I like a lot of Catholics I know. Groups suck. Can't say much has changed.

[LazyInvestor]

This pope sounds like a Marxist.

[Fred]

Pope Francis garners a substantial amount of press. How has this impacted your view of the Church? Would this cause you to be open to exploring the claims of the Catholic Church further and/or move closer to the Church?

I extensively examined the claims of the Catholic church to the point of actually reading the whole Catechism all the way through, on my road to atheism.

But the answer is no, there is nothing about him that would make me more interested in Catholicism. A more interesting story is why his predecessor resigned and was whisked off in a helicopter to wherever he is now (assuming he is still alive because I don't remember hearing anything to the contrary).

[Xan]

Pope Francis garners a substantial amount of press. How has this impacted your view of the Church? Would this cause you to be open to exploring the claims of the Catholic Church further and/or move closer to the Church?

I extensively examined the claims of the Catholic church to the point of actually reading the whole Catechism all the way through, on my road to atheism.

But the answer is no, there is nothing about him that would make me more interested in Catholicism. A more interesting story is why his predecessor resigned and was whisked off in a helicopter to wherever he is now (assuming he is still alive because I don't remember hearing anything to the contrary).

I'm not sure what you're talking about.  He has an apartment at the Vatican.  He makes occasional appearances.

[Fred]

Pope Francis garners a substantial amount of press. How has this impacted your view of the Church? Would this cause you to be open to exploring the claims of the Catholic Church further and/or move closer to the Church?

I extensively examined the claims of the Catholic church to the point of actually reading the whole Catechism all the way through, on my road to atheism.

But the answer is no, there is nothing about him that would make me more interested in Catholicism. A more interesting story is why his predecessor resigned and was whisked off in a helicopter to wherever he is now (assuming he is still alive because I don't remember hearing anything to the contrary).

I'm not sure what you're talking about.  He has an apartment at the Vatican.  He makes occasional appearances.

I'm referring to a PBS documentary I saw where he was whisked off in a helicopter to some retreat after he resigned. I didn't know he had an apartment at the Vatican. I assumed he was still wherever they took him to devote his life to prayer and meditation.

Been waiting for the interview on 60 minutes or a Barbara Walter's special to question him about why he did it. If what was said in that documentary is true I doubt we'll ever see such a thing.

[Xan]

Here's an interesting article about the "dual pope" situation:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... ic/359816/

The least interesting part is that he went to the summer palace in Gandolfo while the monastery which was to be (and is) his permanent home was being renovated.

[dualstow]

~ he is a huge improvement over his predecessor, but still has a long way to go before Catholicism moves into the 21st century.

This is a good place for the maxim, You cannot be all things to all people.
As he moves into the 21st century, he is of course alienating all the traditional Catholics who don't want things to change. As a non-Catholic and non-Christian whose voice doesn't really count, I appreciate Pope Francis' progressiveness. He's really accessible.

I wonder if there will be a new schism, though.

[Ad Orientem]

I used to be Catholic. All of the nuttiness of the post Vatican II era drove me out and the Red Pope has done nothing to make me look back. I am very happy in the Orthodox Church.

[MediumTex]

~ he is a huge improvement over his predecessor, but still has a long way to go before Catholicism moves into the 21st century.

This is a good place for the maxim, You cannot be all things to all people.
As he moves into the 21st century, he is of course alienating all the traditional Catholics who don't want things to change. As a non-Catholic and non-Christian whose voice doesn't really count, I appreciate Pope Francis' progressiveness. He's really accessible.

I wonder if there will be a new schism, though.

I think that Francis is a far better pope than the Emperor from the latest Star Wars trilogy.

No question.

[barrett]

I will add that IMHO he is a huge improvement over his predecessor, but still has a long way to go before Catholicism moves into the 21st century.

Yeah, he's better than his predecessors but these changes are really only coming about because the masses are no longer under the control of the church. Catholics are really only concerned about becoming irrelevant so they keep moving the goal posts to boost membership. Basically it's getting incrementally easier to not go to hell. This is a really good thing for young people who shouldn't be made to fear a made up place. Just my opinion, of course.

[MediumTex]

I will add that IMHO he is a huge improvement over his predecessor, but still has a long way to go before Catholicism moves into the 21st century.

Yeah, he's better than his predecessors but these changes are really only coming about because the masses are no longer under the control of the church. Catholics are really only concerned about becoming irrelevant so they keep moving the goal posts to boost membership. Basically it's getting incrementally easier to not go to hell. This is a really good thing for young people who shouldn't be made to fear a made up place. Just my opinion, of course.

It's sort of the spiritual equivalent of the way a nation lowers its standards for the military during times of war.

[murphy_p_t]

A more interesting story is why his predecessor resigned...

Two of the forces at play, in my view...

"At the launch of the book in Brussels this week, the cardinal said he was part of a secret club of cardinals opposed to Pope Benedict XVI."

"He called it a "mafia" club that bore the name of St. Gallen. The group wanted a drastic reform of the Church, to make it "much more modern", and for Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to head it. The group, which also comprised Cardinal Walter Kasper and the late Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, has been documented in Austen Ivereigh's biography of Pope Francis, The Great Reformer."

http://m.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pen ... tS6tHuV1jh



Furthermore, Vatican blocked from SWIFT / atm
http://eponymousflower.blogspot.com/201 ... world.html

[Fred]

A more interesting story is why his predecessor resigned...

Two of the forces at play, in my view...

"At the launch of the book in Brussels this week, the cardinal said he was part of a secret club of cardinals opposed to Pope Benedict XVI."

"He called it a "mafia" club that bore the name of St. Gallen. The group wanted a drastic reform of the Church, to make it "much more modern", and for Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to head it. The group, which also comprised Cardinal Walter Kasper and the late Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, has been documented in Austen Ivereigh's biography of Pope Francis, The Great Reformer."

http://m.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pen ... tS6tHuV1jh



Furthermore, Vatican blocked from SWIFT / atm
http://eponymousflower.blogspot.com/201 ... world.html

The PBS documentary reminded me of Nixon being whisked off in the helicopter after resigning. It went on to paint a picture of corruption in the Vatican having to do with sex and money. They basically said if you wanted a gay hookup in Rome, the Vatican was the place to go and had video to back it up. The money part was about covering up scandals involving sexual abuse, mostly with boys, because of contributions to the church by wealthy donors, mostly centering on one person in Mexico as I recall it.