Pope Francis, Catholics, and Christians in the news worldwide
Jasmo said:
Meanwhile, the Pope may not be as liberal as believed:
At this point, I don't think anyone was expecting a change in the definition of a sacrament (which is what the statement from an office at the Vatican was about).
This article discusses the Pope's decision in more depth:
So privileged to have visited the Holy Land with my husband.
mtierney said:
There is no fool like an old stalker fool.
As a (relatively) young man, I agree.
Required reading for those of us caught up in this rapidly changing society....
That article sets forth a very American, conservative view that uses the label "Christian".
It's not a Catholic view, and it shouldn't be confused for one, just because it's posted in the "Pope Francis" thread.
I read the article. I was most surprised by this paragraph:
In Mahoney’s view, Jesus “offered a call to repentance, not a project to promote political liberation.” “Repentance, not utopia,” according to the philosopher Max Scheler, “is the greatest revolutionary force in the world.”
As a non-Christian I always thought Jesus's "call" was "Do unto others..." and what he said about the Poor, the Meek, the Just.
As to identity politics who is a greater practitioner of that than the conservative Evangelicals?
BTW what these writers see as "secular" Reform Rabbis would see essential to their theology of Judaism.
I see that we are on page 100 of this thread. Looking back at my early posts I have to say it has been such a joy to be pleasantly surprised by Pope Francis. Sometimes, the right man comes along at the right time in the right place. I am an agnostic who leans towards atheism but Pope Francis humility and genuine love inspire me.
The hope he continues to fight the good fight for may years to come.
It’s been awhile since posting here, but this link is too good to let slip past.
I had fun smashing red eggs with my Greek friends - my egg kept winning! 
so, Kalo Pascha to our Greek MOLers and their families, may they all be well and happy.
Nun sees death as a destination...
Technology based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels needs to be replaced without delay. There is reason to hope that humanity at the dawn of the 21st century will be remembered for having generously shouldered its grave responsibilities. #LaudatoSiWeek
Shots of the pope- you need to use arrow key to scroll through
https://time.com/72446/time-100-pope-francis-most-surpising-photos/
I always liked the one of him paying his bill.
Pope goes all "radical Marxist" again today.
We are all part of this gift of creation. We are a part of nature, not separated from it. This is what the Bible tells us.
The current environmental situation calls us to act now with urgency to become ever more responsible stewards of creation and to restore the nature that we have been damaging and exploiting for too long. Otherwise, we risk destroying the very basis on which we depend. We risk floods, and hunger and severe consequences for ourselves and for future generations. This is what many scientists tell us.
We need to take care of each other, and of the weakest among us. Continuing down this path of exploitation and destruction – of humans, and of nature – is unjust and unwise. This is what a responsible conscience would tell us.
The pastor of St. Mary’s two-church parish in Township of Ocean asks his parishioners to come back to the pews — dramatically!
As the Covid lock down winds down, and before all the restrictions become bad memories, I hope MOLer took a look at one Catholic priest’s clean-up! I posted it on June 6th. Msgr. Ken, aka Fr. Ken, is a “people’s” priest here in Ocean County.
Uh oh, this sounds pretty political and divisive:
"Catholic bishops on Friday voted to create guidelines on the meaning of Communion, a move that could be an early step toward limiting the serving of the Eucharist to President Biden and other politicians who support abortion rights."
The Roman Catholic Church has a right to its doctrines and beliefs and its clergy has the right to insist that its members follow those beliefs. But right do they have to require members who hold public elective office to use that secular authority to impose their beliefs on non-members. Why should Catholic doctrine mean that a Hindu doctor performing an abortion on a Jewish Woman should be arrested by a Baptist police officer and put on trial before a Muslim judge?
Such attitude ignores the separation of Church and State. It confuses Religion with Governance.
If someone can explain the error in my thinking let me know.
"Did the bishops vote to ban politicians from receiving Holy Communion? No, this was not up for vote or debate. The bishops made no decision about barring anyone from receiving Holy Communion."
"Are the bishops going to issue a national policy on withholding Communion from
politicians? No. There will be no national policy on withholding Communion from politicians."
In the United States, the conservative point of view….
mtierney said:
In the United States, the conservative point of view….
Just to be clear, the document I gave the link to was issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is evident to anyone who takes the time to click on the link.
mtierney said:
In the United States, the conservative point of view….
Always useful to have the conservative counterpoint to the Catholic position.
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Meanwhile, the Pope may not be as liberal as believed:
https://www.reuters.com/article/vatican-lgbt/update-1-catholic-church-cannot-bless-same-sex-unions-vatican-idUSL1N2LD0RE