Posted on 01/23/2014 12:12:50 PM PST by marshmallow
What has intrigued me most about Pope Francis is not the way in which Catholics -- well, most of them, anyway -- have embraced him but the way in which countless Protestants have moved into his fan club.
More is at play here than simple celebrity in our overwrought pop culture. At least, I hope so.
The Protestant fascination with him hasn't broken down the many theological, liturgical and structural barriers that still exist between Protestantism and Catholicism, but it has softened them a bit and it has caused some Protestants to want to figure out what makes Francis tick, what Jesuit theology is all about and what ground we Protestants might share in common with Catholics.
My own congregation is a good example of this phenomenon. Our pastor, Paul Rock, recently began a sermon series he's calling "Jesus, the Pope and a Protestant Walk Into a Bar." His sermons, which started Sunday, can be found here [1].
(Excerpt) Read more at ncronline.org ...
When he talks about capitalism and economics in general, he sounds a lot like BHO to me.
He is going to do lunch with satan obamao soon.
I’m sure they will find a lot in common.
As a nondenominational Protestant and former Catholic, I like Francis’ regular-guy approachability, but some of his issue stances (not all) seem more in line with the liberals we rail about here on a regular basis.
As a practicing Catholic, the Pope’s policy views to me seem very typical of the Church leadership: Conservative on social issues, very liberal on domestic policy, immigration, the death penalty, big goverrnment, high taxes, and income redistribution.
I believe the breakdown of the wall began when the College of Cardinals elected a non Italian pope from Poland.
Given it's a PCUSA congregation, I'd say they're a great example of it!
Related thread:
Joel Olsteen Joins With Catholics To Convert Confused Protestants
Rock ribbed Baptist don’t pay much attention one way or the other.
I can’t wait for the report.
have embraced him but the way in which countless Protestants have moved into his fan club.”
Um, not so much.
And that’s coming from a Protestant admirer of the two predecessors......
Would Jesus have been as cordial with a mass murderer? At least he didn’t offer the devil a chair.
I'm beginning to think that some of our FRoman Catholic friends have a secret attraction to the PCUSA and the ELCA :)
Inevitably these churches are members of the World Council of Churches. The PC(USA) and the usual suspects are all members.
They eventually get a tingle, after they first check to make sure it’s not a stream. Poor things don’t know whether to stand proudly or squat in shame, such is the situation Francis has them in.
I tend to think that liberal, less strict-type Protestants (and I don’t necessarily mean liberal in a political sense) are more likely to embrace him. However, I do not think that Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Bible-only type Protestants do. I think this bears out right here on this site.
And I think you are right. Just as conservative Catholics do not seem too keen on embracing him, neither do conservative non-Catholics.
We have those?
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