I haven't found anything I don't love about you. Your walk with God and selflessness are an example to everyone. I am blessed that we are friends.
Kitty

"Mercy triumphs over judgment."

rubicon, you are one of the posters i most respect on this forum...but this is only one statement by this pope. he also made a statement about our obligation to be involved in politics because politics accomplishes the good of the people. i am sure he is not being politically correct on these issues and he emphasizes that he is a son of the church and upholds the teachings of the church. i think he just believes we attract more flies with sugar than with vinegar :) saving souls requires first attracting them to Christ's grace.
that is the mandate of the Church, after all. Let them come unto Me! and thank you my friends for your kind words....

The words of Pope Francis have been distorted by the secular press. He did not say the Church would allow abortion, Euthanasia, artificial contraception, homosexual acts, etc. He just reiterated what we always have known: sins can be forgiven in Confession through a priest. But one of the prime promises a penitent must make to obtain absolution is to not commit the sin again, just like the women adulterer who was going to be stoned and He forgave her sin.

I miss Pope Benedict XVI, ein Bayr

Is he the last Pope?? ?Woody3

All the negative response from inside the Catholic Church so far, has come from the conservative leaning theologians and educators. So much to my surprise, the term politically correct, is being used to describe Pope Francis.

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Chachacha, you and the Pope rock.

It is good to see this kind of questioning and comments. As a practicing Catholic, I understand the difference between a Cafeteria Catholic and a Practicing Catholic. When one enters a cafeteria, there are a whole world of choices, pick and choose. Whereas, Practicing Catholics follow the precepts of the Catholic Church, period. Our Pope has redefined the heart and soul of what a Catholic should be: one faithful to the dogma and eager to follow in Christ's footsteps. For Catholics, the center of our faith is the Eucharist, the Pope, the Magesterium, the Sacraments, and our Catholic tradition. And, as practicing Catholics, our vision should be outward, not and inward faith.

IMHO - Pope Francis is trying to bring the Catholic Church into the 21st century.

Greatest commandment is, "to love your GOD with all your heart".

Second greatest commandment is, "to love one another, as I have loved you".

As an admitted "cafeteria Catholic", I would place God first, ahead of all the items on your particular list, as the focus of my faith.

I am not Catholic, but I like the way you think Joe.

It's about time...from a very disillusioned former Catholic.

I have a hard time understanding how Catholics in many diocese can continue to support the church financially when they are paying millions of dollars to victims of abuse by clergy. In Kansas City Bishop Finn has been convicted - let me repeat - CONVICTED - of failure to report known instances of abuse, yet he remains the Bishop of the Kansas City/St. Joseph diocese. I have talked with some Catholic friends and asked how this can be, when Joe Paterno, a mere football coach, was run out of his job by press and public opinion, for allegedly not doing "enough", even after he reported the single case he was aware of to his superiors? The head of a large religious organization covered up abuse by priests under his direction and he remains in a job supposedly requiring near purity? It would seem logical to me that if the Catholic Church wants to clean up its act and its reputation, it needs to a. get rid of ALL the people in its official positions that have had anything to do with the abuse cases, and b. get rid of the ridiculous requirement of chastity in the priesthood, which would appear to anyone with common sense to be a factor in attracting potential pedophiles or turning certain men into pedophiles.

Because Ed, there is a huge difference between the "institutional" church and the community of God.


It is a huge shame and a terrible thing, the abuse of children and especially from those who wear the cloak of the clergy... but it isn't the center of our faith. It isn't the heart of our religion. It isn't the reason we go to church.


We go to church because we love God and find His presence there.


Should we stop?


Sometimes I attend daily Mass. It is a beautiful thing to enter the quiet church in the morning and find several hundred people there on their knees. I am guessing that they are saying please and thank you. It is the faith they have clung to for their entire life.


This morning was the funeral of a 93 year old man who had been married to his wife for 68 years. She was in the front pew as we all celebrated his life.


There is still good in the Catholic Church. Just as there is much good in all churches. I am sure you feel love toward your own church. You can't throw the baby out with the bath water.


These are just my own personal feelings.