Don't be shocked by Pope Francis

CNN ^ | 9-20-13 | William Donohue

[afraidfortherepublic]

CNN) -- Not in my lifetime have I witnessed a pope who has so quickly succeeded in making more Catholics, and non-Catholics, hyperventilate than Pope Francis. Indeed, some are ready to jump off the bleachers. They all need to calm down.

Pope Francis is delightfully frank, and that is what makes him positively engaging. He is also provocative in the best sense of that word. He seeks to challenge us and shake us out of our comfort zone. But he is not about to turn the Catholic Church upside down and inside out. Such talk is pure lunacy.

In a three-part meeting in Rome with Catholic journalists last month, Pope Francis offered his thoughts on a wide range of subjects; they were published Thursday by America magazine, the Jesuit weekly. Everyone should read it for themselves.

[edwinland]

“He seeks to challenge us and shake us out of our comfort zone.

Isn’t that what Moochelle said about her candidate husband? How did THAT work out... “

Let me answer your question: it worked out very badly because that is not the job of the President or any other elected offical in a Constitutional republic. His job, and all of their jobs, is to do what we tell them to do while safeguarding our liberties.

The job of Jesus Christ, however, is different, and it indeed involves getting all of us sinners out of our selves, out of our comfort zones, and into a loving relationship with God and our neighbor. That’s the job that Pope Francis (and frankly all Christians) are tasked by God to cooperate with.

If you don’t understand the difference between the salvific work of Jesus Christ (which all Christians are called to cooperate with) and the role of President Obama in our Constitutional republic, then you should send your resume to Organizing for Action because they might just make you Executive Director.

[Old Sarge]

Obviously, you didn’t see the sarcasm...

[Olog-hai]

He (Pope Francis) wants us to oppose same-sex marriage. He also doesn't want us to reject lesbians and gays because they are homosexual. This is sound Catholic teaching. …

The Bible has a markedly different view from that teaching.

I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: / Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. / But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

— 1 Corinthians 5:9-11

The types therein mentioned that remain unrepentant cannot stay in the church. They have to be rejected precisely because of what is in their heart, especially if it gets expressed in practice.

[Olog-hai]

Read the last paragraph in that article.

[Bridesheadfan]

Bill Donohue makes 500 grand a year defending churchmen and their malfeasance. Yeah, he defends the Church from media attacks and bigotry. But he also defends churchmen who have indefensible things. He's one of the guys who parroted the idea that the media's expose of the priest scandals were an attack on the Church from the secular press. Granted, the MSM loves to attack the Church, but in these cases, the churchmen brought the attacks on themselves because of their indefensible behavior.

And now, of course, he'll cover for the present Pope, who is himself causing grave scandal by his words and actions. Because the donations will stop pouring in if he calls a spade a spade, and realizes that some of the most egregious attacks on the Church are coming from within,as Pope Benedict himself said when he visited Fatima a few years ago.

[Bridesheadfan]

Yes, I did read the article. I've known of Bill Donohue and his work for years. I read some of his books long before he became the head of the Catholic League. He's a windbag who doesn't do a very good job defending the Church even when he's correct, because he comes off as a blustering fool. He's also come out in favor of domestic partnerships(as an alternative to gay marriage), and is an apologist for the apostate clergy who have abandoned the Faith. Unless you are Bill Donohue, or work with him, I probably know more about him than you, as I've followed his career for a very long time.

[Wonder Warthog]

"The types therein mentioned that remain unrepentant cannot stay in the church."

There is nothing about Pope Francis' statement that implies other than the above. Just because someone has homosexual TENDENCIES, they should not be disparaged. Practitioners of an active gay lifestyle are to be rejected.

[Wonder Warthog]

"But he also defends churchmen who have indefensible things. He's one of the guys who parroted the idea that the media's expose of the priest scandals were an attack on the Church from the secular press."

My wife gets the Catholic League newsletter (which I also read). I have seen nothing there that supports your contentions.

Yeah, Donohue is abrasive, and "in your face" in his activism, which I find somewhat off-putting. But sometimes those tactics are needed.

[Olog-hai]

Think of it in terms of Matthew 5:28. The “tendencies” have to be gone out of one’s heart to be truly repentant.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Think of it in terms of Matthew 5:28. The “tendencies” have to be gone out of one’s heart to be truly repentant."

Not really.

Having such tendencies and resisting the temptation to dwell act on them reduces the severity from mortal to venial sin.

Still sinful, yes....but the difference "is" significant.

[Bridesheadfan]

You won’t find it in the newsletter, but when the scandals were breaking in the press, Donohue was all over the airwaves accusing the MSM of bigotry. Don’t get me wrong, I know that the MSM loved exposing the dirty laundry of the Catholic Church. But the reality is that the leaders of the Church were at fault here, and they didn’t deserve to be defended.

[Wonder Warthog]

"But the reality is that the leaders of the Church were at fault here, and they didn’t deserve to be defended."

Nope. Sorry. But the "reality" is that the only fault of the Church as a whole was to buy into the false meme of the efficacy of modern psychology, which was selling the idea that homosexuals could maintain chastity as easily as heterosexuals, and to drop the screening-out processes that had been present in seminaries for centuries specifically to keep such people out of the priesthood. Such processes having been instituted by those who knew from experience that homosexuality was a mental disorder, and such disordered people did not belong in the priesthood.

Perhaps some of those allowed in could control their disorder, but too many could not, and once "in" the church, many of them reached the levels of bishop and other leadership position...some in seminaries. How many of those who protected the offenders were also of the same persuasion?

"When the scandals were breaking" was twenty or thirty years ago. The seminaries have since been or are being reformed, and the scrutiny is much tighter.

So, my take on it is that some leaders deserved to be defended and some not, depending on circumstances. But there is no question that the current hoopla TODAY is almost entirely ginned up by the queer-loving media.

Certainly the media is ALWAYS out to discredit the Church, by any and all means possible. So I think that initially, Donohue was working under the idea that this was just another scandal whipped up with the media. I would also bet that Donohue dropped any "protectiveness" of any leader once reasonable proof surfaced.

Note...."when the scandals were breaking" I wasn't a Roman Catholic, and MY opinion at that time was that the situation was grossly exaggerated by the media.