matt
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Post by matt on Sept 20, 2013 7:58:37 GMT 1
Huff Post Article: Pope Francis faulted the Roman Catholic church for focusing too much on gays, abortion and contraception, saying the church has become "obsessed" with those issues to the detriment of its larger mission to be "home for all," according to an extensive new interview published Thursday. The church can share its views on homosexuality, abortion and other issues, but should not "interfere spiritually" with the lives of gays and lesbians, the pope added in the interview, which was published in La Civilta Cattolica, a Rome-based Jesuit journal. “We have to find a new balance, otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel," Francis said in the interview. "The church has sometimes locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules,' Francis said. "The people of God want pastors, not clergy acting like bureaucrats or government officials." The 12,000-word interview ranges widely, touching upon the pope's personal faith, the role of women and nuns in the church, Latin Mass and even the pope's favorite artists. "He's very open honest and candid like we have not seen in a pope before. He critiques people who focus too much on tradition, who want to go to time in the past that does not exist anymore," said Fr. James Martin of America Magazine, which published an English translation of the interview. "He reminds people that thinking with the church, in obedience, does not just mean thinking with the hierarchy, that church is a lot bigger than its hierarchy." www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/pope-francis-gay_n_3954776.html |
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Post by Rudy on Sept 20, 2013 22:32:13 GMT 1
I totally agree Matt. This pope may prove to be the biggest blessing for the Roman Catholic church in a very long time.
I hope he may soon meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama - I'm pretty sure they would get along very well.
Just an illustration of what is happening in the Catholic church in our village; as our center moved to a new location not too long ago, we have contacted the local Protestant and Catholic churches (as well as the local Babaji ashram). We suggested some kind of meeting to get to know each other - perhaps very informal, just to make clear we have no intention to create a 'religious competion' in this small village.
I always thought that the Catholics tended to be more open-minded then the Protestants, but the reverse proved true!
The Catholics kindly refused, because they had some sort of orders 'from above' to not get involved in these things. Interestingly enough, they were also confiding that the numbers of church-goers were going down and down, without any new influx. Apparently the kind ladies we talked to were totally unaware that these two things could have something to do with each other...
I feel this pope is a genuine spiritual practitioner, and not a bureaucrat in a multi-national 'church-business'. If he had lived a few centuries ago, he could well have been poisoned already... I wish him a long and very healthy life in which he can get many people on this planet to care for each other, rather then attacking minorities out of pure righteousness.
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matt
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Post by matt on Sept 21, 2013 1:41:34 GMT 1
I always thought that the Catholics tended to be more open-minded then the Protestants, but the reverse proved true! The Catholics kindly refused, because they had some sort of orders 'from above' to not get involved in these things. Interestingly enough, they were also confiding that the numbers of church-goers were going down and down, without any new influx. Apparently the kind ladies we talked to were totally unaware that these two things could have something to do with each other...  LOL, Hmmm... yeah, that is a little clueless. Well, Pope Benedict said he wanted a smaller, purer church, but if the congregation is all over 80 and out of touch it might get too small very quickly. A couple of centuries ago? I think that is being kind, didn't the last liberal Pope die suddenly and mysteriously after a very short papacy in the 1970's? I think the fact that they can not perform an autopsy on a Pope's body probably let someone off the hook. I also wish him a long and productive life. With over a billion Roman Catholics in the world, he could be a very positive influence. I think it will also be very interesting to watch him. I was really surprised at how frank he was in that article. Not at all a politician, but as you say, a serious person. It will be very interesting to see him meet HH the Dalai Lama. I wonder what they will talk about? |
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matt
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Post by matt on Sept 21, 2013 1:43:52 GMT 1
I also am very encouraged by the attitude of the new Iranian President. Let's hope the West can respond in kind. I have a feeling this could be a time of great change.
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matt
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Posts: 425
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Post by matt on Sept 21, 2013 20:39:39 GMT 1
You know I actually have a great deal of respect for Pope Benedict, the former Cardinal Ratzinger. This was obviously a deeply conservative individual, and so I was prepared somewhat mentally for that when he was elected by the cardinals. But right then, in that moment that his (for Catholics Divinely inspired) election was announced, I decided that I would do everything I could to have a positive attitude toward him, and think of him as Buddha. This actually made perfect sense to me, because we disagreed about so many things. I believe people like that are a real potential gold mine for any serious meditator. All the more so when the disagreements are about religion, spirituality and their roles in society, because that really brings the disagreements home to a personal and potentially emotional place. Perhaps some of you remember my writing about deconstruction on the previous forum. This is the potential difference affords us, the possibility of actually de-constructing our ego a little. So you see, that is years of practice at work, because I was extremely lucky, I could have easily followed life long habits and cursed his selection, and felt angry every time I read his name, but instead, I had acquired just enough positive karma to recognize that trap for what it is and say, "No, he is Buddha, I will regard him as Buddha, because I am not enlightened and so I really do not have the right answers, I am not as smart as I believe I am, and we disagree. This is an opportunity!" And you know, I never felt angry with him, and he was never as bad as I feared, and actually much better. He was the first pope ever to say there is a valid use for condoms that does not involve water balloons. He basically allowed their use in helping prevent the spread of aids amongst gay men in Africa. There were a lot of little things like that, that in the context of Catholicism are not so little. Finally he did the most extraordinary thing. HE RETIRED. An act that had no precedence for 600 years. And what if he had not, and instead he developed dementia, as I believe John Paul II did at the end. Arch-conservatives could have entrenched themselves around him, used him, and things would be very different now. So I am glad I had earned a little grace, and I am glad that Pope Benedict was a person of real Integrity. And maybe those two things are not completely divorced. I am not saying I caused anything, but my attitude did not make things worse.  |
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dan
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Post by dan on Nov 29, 2013 7:19:01 GMT 1
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matt
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Post by matt on Nov 29, 2013 19:43:02 GMT 1
I think you mis-typed, Dan, the head line reads: Pope Francis Understands Economics Better Than Most Politicians." "The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings"-Pope Francis I posted a link to an article about this same paper he wrote on Face-book a few days ago. It is really wonderful that there is a Pope who is doing good work. I think this will have an interesting effect on American politics, because in the 1970's an ultra-conservative political operator began approaching fundamentalist ministers with the idea of Catholics and Protestant fundamentalists joining in arms to create a conservative political movement, in part aimed at banning abortion after the Roe-vs-Wade ruling by the US Supreme Court. At first Jerry Falwell and others really believed in being A-political, and were not interested in banning abortion. They said, "abortion is a Catholic issue," but eventually Jerry Falwell changed his mind, and joined in and created the Moral Majority. Eventually all the fundamentalist churches began preaching politics, and super-wealth found an amazing coalition to fight its no-taxes-on-the-very-rich campaigns in the guise of the so-called culture wars. Already, conservatives like Sarah Palin are expressing dismay about the messages of Pope Francis. He may manage to undermine the raison d' existence of a major and destructive political coalition in the US, simply by honestly preaching the Gospels as he interprets them. I think world wide, he will have a very positive effect. I hope he manages to clean up the Vatican Bank, and I wish him well in all his endeavors. There are so many issues, economics and the environment, humanity needs to take a wiser approach to. I believe he is already helping with this. Maybe all those people reciting the Golden Light Sutra is having some effect on world leaders? At any rate he is a very hopeful sign. |
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matt
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Posts: 425
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Post by matt on May 10, 2014 8:23:08 GMT 1
Certainly we will continue to experience ecological decline and rising human populations. Given the breadth and the depth of our problems as interconnected societies, I am so happy to see a Catholic Pope making so much sense. Copied from Huffington Post:
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Pope Francis called Friday for governments to redistribute wealth to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today.
Francis made the appeal during a speech to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of major U.N. agencies who are meeting in Rome this week.
Latin America's first pope has frequently lashed out at the injustices of capitalism and the global economic system that excludes so much of humanity.
On Friday, Francis called for the United Nations to promote a "worldwide ethical mobilization" of solidarity with the poor in a new spirit of generosity.
He said a more equal form of economic progress can be had through "the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state, as well as indispensable cooperation between the private sector and civil society."
Francis had a similar message to the World Economic Forum in January and in h is apostolic exhortation "The Joy of the Gospel." That document, which denounced trickle-down economic theories as unproven and naive, provoked criticism in the U.S. that he was Marxist.
Francis has denied he's Marxist, and spent years in Argentina battling Marxist excesses of liberation theology. But he has said from the outset that he wants a church that "is poor and for the poor" and ministers to the most marginal of society.
On Friday, he urged the U.N. to promote development goals that attack the root causes of poverty and hunger, protect the environment and ensure "dignified" labor for all.
"Specifically, this involves challenging all forms of injustices and resisting the economy of exclusion, the throwaway culture and the culture of death which nowadays sadly risk becoming passively accepted," he said.
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LOL, Hmmm... yeah, that is a little clueless. Well, Pope Benedict said he wanted a smaller, purer church, but if the congregation is all over 80 and out of touch it might get too small very quickly.