The Pope Francis Thread

[Del]

You can tell the quality of a man by the company that he keeps.

From Catholic Vote:
Pope Francis: ‘Conservative’ Means ‘Suicidal Attitude’

CV NEWS FEED // CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Thursday posted a short, edited clip in which Pope Francis appears to suggest “conservative” American bishops who have criticized his pontificate have a “suicidal attitude.”

Francis will feature this coming Sunday in a pre-recorded interview with CBS’ Norah O’Donnell. The “60 Minutes” X (formerly Twitter) account posted the 39-second clip of the interview as a preview of the upcoming episode.

“There are conservative bishops in the United States that oppose your new efforts to revisit teachings and traditions,” O’Donnell says to Francis in the clip. “How do you address their criticism?”

“You used an adjective, ‘conservative,’” Francis answers, laughing. “‘Conservative’ is one who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that.”

“It is a suicidal attitude,” the pope added. “Because one thing is to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past. But quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box.”

The Pope addresses his conservative critics in the church.

"Conservative is one who clings to something and does not want to see beyond that. It is a suicidal attitude," says Pope Francis. This Sunday on 60 Minutes, the Pope sits down with @NorahODonnell.

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) May 16, 2024

On Thursday – the same day “60 Minutes” posted the clip – Francis met with Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at a climate change conference in the Vatican.

Hochul is a self-professed Catholic who supports abortion.

“Look no further than the words of Pope Francis,” Hochul said at the Joint Summit on Climate. “You heard them today. He laid it out … what God expects us to do during our time on this planet.”

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences hosted the summit.

In statement issued after meeting #PopeFrancis at #Vatican climate conference, @GovKathyHochul states “We have a moral responsibility to make the world a better place for future generations.”
Hochul has committed at least $48 million to abortion funding in NY since May 2022.

— Michael Haynes (@MLJHaynes) May 16, 2024

At the same conference, Francis also met with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, another invited speaker. Khan is an avowed leftist and staunch supporter of the LGBTQ movement.

I'm determined for London to continue as a world leader in tackling the climate emergency.

By bringing us together, His Holiness Pope Francis has shown real faith in the work we are doing to ensure a brighter future for all.

(Click on title if you want original article and links to the cited twitter posts.)

[Hovannes]

You can tell the quality of a man by the company that he keeps.

?

[Del]

You can tell the quality of a man by the company that he keeps.

?

This picture is telling.

Greta is a sweet young woman, but she is autistic. She has a tunnel-vision focus on one narrative, and sadly unable to see any other truths that balance reality. She was recently at a pro-Hamas protest, because those are her people.

Francis is old, infirm, and similarly fixed in his thinking, unable to see the rest of reality. He thinks that the Latin Mass is just for nostalgic old people, for Christ's sake. (He didn't even complain when Biden's FBI investigated Traditional Catholics as domestic terrorists.)

I don't think Greta and Francis are evil. Just foolish.

Francis can't see that his environment-only morality is fiercely oppressive to the world's poor. Instead, he hangs out with elitist pseudo-catholics like Biden, Pelosi, Hochul, and Newsom. Faithful Catholics are not welcome.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/church-in-asia/2024/08/vatican-casts-bishops-recognition-as-victory-for-popes-china-policy

Vatican casts bishop’s recognition as victory for Pope’s China policy

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ROME — In what is being cast by the Vatican as a victory for Pope Francis’s China policy, Beijing has officially recognized a 95-year-old prelate as the bishop of the northern diocese of Tianjin, who previously had been subject to long periods in jail and under house arrest for his refusal to join a government-sponsored church body.

Bishop Melchiorre Shi Honghzen was recognized by the government in a ceremony in a local hotel rather than the Tianjin cathedral, by Shi’s choice, in a sign of the essentially civil rather than ecclesiastical nature of the act.

The diocese, which numbers some 56,000 Catholics, had lacked a bishop accepted by both church and state since 2005.

A statement from the Vatican Press Office on Wednesday said that the development “constitutes a positive fruit of the dialogue developed over the years between the Holy See and the Chinese government.”

The recognition of Shi, who was named the coadjutor bishop of Tianjin in 1982 and who succeeded to the bishop’s position in 2019, comes just weeks ahead of what is widely expected to be the renewal of a provisional agreement between Rome and Beijing over the appointment of bishops first reached in 2018.

[…]

According to Chinese media, the recognition ceremony took place in the presence of Bishop Joseph Li Shan of Beijing, head of the government-sponsored “Patriotic Association” that oversees Catholic affairs in China. Although Li was appointed to his post by the government, he obtained recognition from Pope Benedict XVI.

Media reports suggest that during the ceremony, Shi was required to swear “to uphold the national constitution, to protect the unity and social harmony of China, to love both country and church and to always uphold the direction of Sinicization of Catholicism in China.”

“Sinicization” is a term referring to the assimilation of non-Chinese societies or groups into Chinese culture. It’s generated controversy among critics, including retired Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong, who see it as a smokescreen for the government to exercise control over the church.

Asia News, a Catholic media outlet which has specialized in coverage of the church in China, noted Tuesday that by not at the same time announcing the appointment of a coadjutor bishop to assist the 95-year-old Li, the future of the Tianjin diocese seems uncertain despite the new recognition.

In an interview with the Jesuit province of China earlier this month, Pope Francis expressed his desire to visit the country and also voiced admiration for the Chinese church and culture.

Francis described Chinese Catholics as people “who are faithful, they are faithful. It is a faithful people who have gone through so much and remained faithful.”

“The Chinese are masters of patience, masters of waiting, you have the ‘virus of hope,” the pope said. “It’s a very beautiful thing.”

[Hovannes]

Has Francis commented on the six named hostages whose releases were being negotiated, being murdered execution style?
Or of the dead being held hostage?
That would be interesting to know!

[Del]

Has Francis commented on the six named hostages whose releases were being negotiated, being murdered execution style?
Or of the dead being held hostage?
That would be interesting to know!

There are mass protests in Israel (hundreds of thousands) this weekend. I could only find one story on this (ABC News). Details were surprisingly vague for something this big.

According to ABC, the mob believes that Netanyahu could have done something that Hamas would agree with, resulting in a cease-fire and return of the surviving hostages.

As Hamas has insisted that Hamas remain in control and the leaders of the Oct. 7 attack remain free and in charge, I could see why Netanyahu would not submit to that.

[Hovannes]

Murdering hostages is evil.
I would have expected Francis to speak to that.

[Del]

This thread did not notice Francis saying anything about Gaza until this post, about 6 weeks after the attacks on Oct. 7.

https://x.com/ian_mckelvey/status/17278 ... 47516?s=20

I did NOT see that coming.

Pope Francis on Israel’s assault on Gaza: “This is not war, it is terrorism”.

Apparently, the rabbis of Italy were pretty upset at the time.

I don't know if Francis likes Jews any more than he likes Latin-Mass Catholics.

[Wosbald]

+JMJ+

Source: Crux
Link: cruxnow DOT com/church-in-the-middle-east/2024/10/pope-holy-land-leaders-call-for-oct-7-to-be-day-of-prayer-fasting-for-peace

Pope, Holy Land leaders call for Oct. 7 to be day of prayer, fasting for peace

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ROME — With the war in Gaza morphing into a full-blown regional conflict as the first anniversary of hostilities approaches, the Church’s leading voice in the Holy Land has called on believers to observe an Oct. 7 day of prayer and fasting for peace.

In a recent statement, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, noted that “for the past year the Holy Land, and not only, has been plunged into a vortex of violence and hatred never seen or experienced before.”

“The intensity and impact of the tragedies we have witnessed in the past twelve months have deeply lacerated our conscience and our sense of humanity,” he said.

In light of this, as the first anniversary approaches of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which prompted a retaliatory offensive that has since spun into an escalating regional conflict, Pizzaballa invited faithful to observe Oct. 7 as “a day of prayer, fasting and penance.”

This, he said, is because Oct. 7 is now “a date that has become symbolic of the drama we are experiencing.”

[…]

Francis echoed Pizzaballa’s call for a day of prayer and fasting on Oct. 7, publishing a post Thursday on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, asking everyone “to take part in a day of #Prayer and fasting for #Peace in the world” on Oct. 7.

In his statement, Pizzaballa lamented that the violence unfolding in the Middle East “has also found its way into political and social language and actions.”

“It has struck a profound blow to the common feeling of belonging to the Holy Land, to the consciousness of being part of a plan of Providence that wanted us here to build together His Kingdom of peace and justice, and not to make it instead a reservoir of hatred and contempt, of mutual rejection and annihilation,” he said.

Pizzaballa reiterated his condemnation of “this senseless war” and the destruction it has resulted in, and called on all parties to “stop this drift of violence” and to find a way out of the conflict.

“We can only call once again on those in authority and those who bear the grave responsibility of making decisions in this context, to a commitment to justice and respect for every person’s right to freedom, dignity and peace,” he said.

He said believers themselves have a duty to work for peace, first of all by rejecting feelings of hatred and instead choosing to do good for everyone.

“By committing ourselves, each in our own community contexts and in the forms we can, we should support those in need, help those who are personally invested to alleviate the suffering of those affected by this war, and promote every action of peace, reconciliation and encounter,” he said.

Pizzaballa stressed the need for conversion and prayer, and noted that October is also the month dedicated to the rosary.

“May each of us, with the rosary or in whatever form he or she sees fit, personally but better again in community, find a moment to pause and pray,” bringing to God “our desire for peace and reconciliation,” he said.