Posted on 07/07/2014 2:47:06 AM PDT by piusv
In his first interview with a female journalist since his election to the spiritual leadership of the world's 1.2 billion baptised Catholics, Pope Francis dodged a string of questions about whether he intended raising the status of women in his church and made a joke about women being "taken from a rib". The pope said women were "the most beautiful thing God has made". And he added: "Theology cannot be done without this feminine touch." He agreed not enough was said about women and promised that steps were being taken to remedy the situation. But when his interviewer, the Vatican correspondent of the Rome daily Il Messaggero, Franca Giansoldati, asked him whether he could detect an underlying misogyny in the Catholic church, Francis replied: "The fact is that woman was taken from a rib." Giansoldati wrote that he then laughed "heartily" before saying: "I'm joking. That was a joke." The 77-year-old pontiff went on: "The issue of women needs to be gone into in more depth, otherwise you can't understand the church itself." But did he envisage, say, appointing a woman to head a Vatican department? "Well," replied the pope cryptically. "Priests often end up under the sway of their housekeepers." In a conversation that highlighted both his theologically conservative side and his economically radical one, Francis returned to his argument that people should have children rather than pets, even if the task was more demanding. "The emotional relationship with animals is easier, more programmable," he said. "An animal is not free whereas having a child is a complex matter."
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Agreed. Mixing it up with the media is a failing proposition.
I’m not Catholic, but I respect the Pope’s position in this world and I look to him for spiritual guidance among other religious leaders. I miss Pope John Paul II too.
I am not a Catholic but it appears to me that the pope is really a nice guy and a Christian.
He does not know how to fight, and where the media and women`s rights are concerned that is just what it is, a big fight.
The Churches, both Catholic and protestant have taken people into their numbers just for the sake of big membership.
Many of them do not believe in the Bible any more than the media does, to many it is just a man made organization and they are making it more so.
So I am glad I am not the Pope.
My Church is almost as screwed up as this country right now. If he were to come out and tell the truth half the Church would be up in arms. It sucks!
Wouldn’t it be better to follow God’s teachings in this matter and submit my will to His?
While in Church many years ago all of the congregation were making comments.
The preacher ask a certain woman what she thought, she reminded the preacher that the Bible tells women to keep silent in Church and that she believed what the Bible said.
And by the way, even before that she was a woman who every one liked and respected as I have no doubt you are also, thank you for the comment.
Pope Francis shouldn’t have joked about it,>>>>>
I am not Catholic so I don`t know but I think the pope is a decent man but just don`t know how to do this kind of fighting.
Alex:
I must admit, I was thinking of this line from Archie as well when he was debating with Mike and Gloria on this issue. Classic!
I'm all for any opportunity to get them to stop talking.
He is neither a trained philosopher, as Pope Jon Paul II was, nor a trained theologian as Pope Benedict was. I think Pope Francis is a “solid Jesuit priest”, I think he is best at just meeting with people and living the Gospel by his actions. I think he is sincere, but I think he is not savvy at all and living in Argentina, not in the West, he still does not understand how to deal with the secular Western Press.
As for the Devil, I have heard more of the Devil from Pope Francis than what I have heard in a long time. He definitely is not afraid to speak of that. So I don’t think the Devil is using him, that is bit to far for me.
He needs to take a cue from Pope Benedict and be very measured, reflective and thoughtful when dealing with the press. He has this personality of stating things off the cuff and when you do that, the various press groups, secular vs. religious, and within religious, Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish, are going to interpret it through their own lens when you make off the cuff remarks. Lesson, stop the off the cuff stuff, although, in this case, I think the man made a joke so I think we can cut him some slack. The only people up in arms are the far left feminist on one extreme and fundamentalist of various stripes on the other, Catholic included. He did not deny the underlying theology of the Book of Genesis, by the time of Saint Augustine, every major theologian recognized that the Bible could use Allegory as a mode to tell what is a “Theological truth”, in fact, with respect to the Genesis Creation story(s}, Saint Augustine said as much.
Some Catholics here need to chill out, and it seems even some protestants here are cutting the Pope some slack.
I think he just needs to stay away from the media. Maybe he's a nerdy type not used to the spotlight?
I think that if one sentence gets so many different people in a raving tizzy over so many conflicting points, the problem is with all of those people, not the Pope.
I think the Pope is good. I believe that he’s trying to stay humble, but the media exploits everything he says. That is where his naivete works against him and the Church.
Even in my small church, Lutheran Missouri Synod, women are concerned with their “place”. I’ve only know God for 10 years now but it bothers me when the men of our church do not speak the truth or tip-toe around it so as not to offend anyone. I don’t mean that men should say, “shut up and sit down,” but they should point to what Paul spoke of in regard to women in the church and their authority. I’ve noticed that the more responsibilities that women take on in the church, the less men step up. That is a great loss in my opinion.
Some women think that it's a boys club and the boys are just being sexist. I think we can agree that the roles for men and women are different both within the Church and without. Can a man change a diaper and nurture a child? Of course they can, will they do it the same way a woman would? Probably not. There is nothing wrong with that.
Being a woman I can teach a boy to throw a football. (yes I know how), but I can't teach him how to be a man's man, because I am not a man.
I think it’s important to remember that Pope Francis is not trying to avoid criticism of himself. He’s trying to evangelize the world under very difficult conditions.
It could be that more people besides my ironical son (sitting across the room) and me will notice that people who otherwise have nothing in common are criticizing the Pope, and they’ll think, “Maybe we should pay attention to the guy who’s consistent.”
Then again who cares what they think. The Holy Father no matter what he says or does has a target on him.
I once had a philosophical discussion on the nature of sin and does the priest take on the sins of confessees. It was about the time that JPII was being criticized for not stepping down in his illness. Of course we know Benedict got criticized for stepping down. So they never can win. I was in the JPII was teaching us how to embrace suffering by his example and how to die. Quite moving, although it was tough to watch his decline. But then again the Crucifixion was no picnic either.
Then again who cares what they think. The Holy Father no matter what he says or does has a target on him.
Exactly. Before anyone has a cow, I'm not saying Pope Francis is Jesus ... but just consider the example. Jesus didn't worry about what his enemies were going to say about Him. He didn't worry about what his friends thought about Him! He didn't carefully calculate every word to make sure nobody could possibly misunderstand or twist it. He just pursued the mission of redemption.
When Jesus commissioned Peter, He didn't say, "Make sure you never say anything that people of ill-will can pretend to misunderstand." He said, "Feed my sheep, feed my lambs, tend my sheep."
A FReeper who uses the Council of Trent as his screen name is against Catholic Fundamentalism. Do you guys get that?
He did not deny the underlying theology of the Book of Genesis, by the time of Saint Augustine, every major theologian recognized that the Bible could use Allegory as a mode to tell what is a “Theological truth”, in fact, with respect to the Genesis Creation story(s}, Saint Augustine said as much.
I wish some day someone would take the time to explain to me why only the Book of Genesis is an allegory whose sole purpose is to teach "underlying theology." Why not Exodus? Why not Numbers? Why not Joshua? Why not Jonah? Why always and only Genesis? I could understand if the advocates of "underlying theology" consistently rejected all Biblical miracle tales, but they do not. They accept them all while insisting on the absolutely unique impossibility of the facticity of Genesis.
Maybe J*sus was an allegory.
I’ve only know God for 10 years now but it bothers me when the men of our church do not speak the truth or tip-toe around it so as not to offend anyone.
I have never been a Church member although i became a believer over 40 years ago but time makes no difference.
I do not want to become a Church member because i do not want to give my all to the church and for that reason am not fit to be a member.
Many Churches will make a member of any and all who come along.
But acts 4;32 to acts 5:14 tells us a little different story of what an actual Church member really is although it is hard to determine exactly, also 1 Timothy 5:9 to 16 gives us more insight on the matter.
The Gospel is for any one who will heed it but a few people were chosen to preach Christ and for service to the Church but most were to keep on planting corn so to speak and i am one of them.
But since i am a member on this web site and an unpaid one to my regret i can speak freely here and so can you.
Thanks for the reply.
Lord knows if there is anything I am good at, it's messing up!
The Apostles were a comedy of errors, and so are we.
Who said Genesis is the only allegory? I must have missed something? Surely no one thinks Jonah was literally in the belly of a whale, do they?
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