Vatican: Pope's Remarks on Children of Same-Sex, Couples Not Indicative of Change in Policy

The Vatican media spokesman warned Sunday against misinterpreting Pope Francis’s comments about children of same-sex and divorced couples during a meeting of leaders of male religious orders in November.

On Saturday, an AFP story announced “Pope Calls for Fresh Church Approach to Children of Gay Parents,” and said that the pope was calling for a “rethink in the way the Catholic Church deals with the children of gay couples and divorced parents.”

The article cited Pope Francis’s words in July, “If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?” and the fact that The Advocate, a gay advocacy publication, had chosen the pontiff as its “Person of the Year” in December.

The Vatican news website features an article written by Antonio Spadaro, SJ, the editor of La Civiltà Cattolica, the Rome-based Jesuit weekly, which recounts the private meeting between Pope Francis and the religious superiors.

The article, entitled “Wake up the World: Conversation with Pope Francis About the Religious Life,” states that the pope discussed some of his experiences in Buenos Aires regarding children:

And he recalled some of his experiences in Buenos Aires regarding the preparation necessary to welcome children in an educational context, little boys and girls, young adults who live in complex situations, especially family ones: “I remember the case of a very sad little girl who finally confided to her teacher the reason for her state of mind: ‘my mother’s fiancé doesn’t like me.’ The percentage of children studying in schools who have separated parents is very high. The situation in which we live now provides us with new challenges which sometimes are difficult for us to understand.

Children of 'gay' couples! What evil the world society has descended to and the evil is being led by a corrupted America led by a corrupted nobody who doesn't see anything wrong in homosexual behavior. He delved into it as a youth and is probably still involved.

In respect to the pope and the new Catholic Church, it is the so-called "reformers" who care only about the changing the value system.

Notice every progressive/modern Christian church has seen a rapid decline while their conservative/orthodox counter-parts have seen an increase in membership.

RE :”On Saturday, an AFP story announced “Pope Calls for Fresh Church Approach to Children of Gay Parents,” and said that the pope was calling for a “rethink in the way the Catholic Church deals with the children of gay couples and divorced parents.”
The article cited Pope Francis’s words in July, “If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?” and the fact that The Advocate, a gay advocacy publication, had chosen the pontiff as its “Person of the Year” in December. “

Sounds like the warm and fuzzy RNC.

I'm going to be careful here, so as not to offend you. I think the Pope is an educated man. He has spent most of his time studying philosophy and theology, which is common for most Cardinals and former Popes. He is fluent in German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Latin and English.

I know many are trying to take their bearings on the type of Pope he is setting out to be. Often this leads to misrepresentations of his past or especially current comments. Despite what many might think or read, here's a few pieces of information about his past in Argentina.....

"Bergoglio's influence seemed to stop at the presidential palace door after Nestor Kirchner and then his wife, Cristina Fernandez, took over the Argentina's government. His outspoken criticism couldn't prevent Argentina from becoming the Latin American country to legalize gay marriage, or stop Fernandez from promoting free contraception and artificial insemination."

And " His church had no say when the Argentine Supreme Court expanded access to legal abortions in rape cases, and when Bergoglio argued that gay adoptions discriminate against children, Fernandez compared his tone to "medieval times and the Inquisition."

These quotes come from Politico, which is hardly a conservative organization, yet they printed his clear positions on both gay marriage and adoptions. There are some controversial things he took on while in Argentina which offended some of the oppressed, who wanted him to stand up to the dictatorship. Feel free to read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/pope-francis-biography-key-facts-life-in-latin-america-and-background-88818_Page2.html#ixzz2pjBaYDu8

So I can see that you think he believes different things that you do, but in trying to keep discussions about him in a realistic realm, I don't think calling him uneducated is the right descriptor. While you may not agree with him on everything, I don't think he's uneducated. Nor do I think he's that far from most decent people's beliefs on many topics of the day.

His challenge is he's dealing with a church that has badly damaged itself after ignoring a pedophelia problem. He also grew up in a very impoverished land, where caring for the poor seems to be his biggest single concern. We in the United States have a bad taste in our mouth for how the Democrats go about caring for the poor (appropriating our tax dollars in wasteful amounts). I suspect Pope Francis would be stunned at that waste....but that's another matter. But uneducated? Not the right description.

Chers

The philosophy they teach in theological universities is not Marxism. Feel free to research what he wrote about in his doctoral thesis. Misquotes happen to many, he’s new and learning, but I’m pretty sure he knows English. As I said in my other post, he cares most about the poor and trying to help them. It doesn’t have to do with Marxism or being a Democrat or Socialist. I doubt I’ll be able to have any sort of dialogue here, so I’ll just stop. You can believe and comment as you wish, as can I. It’s still a free country where that sort of thing can occur.

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