Cardinals Pick First Latin American Pontiff, Pope Francis

[Mossfinn]

well papa frank, time to start work, clean out the peds, sell off some of the assets to build good housing for the poor, allow poor women condoned access to birth control, endorse a peaceful death for those suffering.

not in my lifetime probably.

all hail papa frank

He is actually strongly against birth control, Homosexuality and same sex marriages. He is old school catholic coming from an area with the largest catholic population.

Thought he was a Jesuit?

Just in case you are not joking, the Jesuits are an Order within the Catholic Church, second largest order to the Franciscans.

[Mossfinn]

I wonder if Global warming has 1.2 Billion followers

[uptheos]

Too bad the new Pope hates strongly disapproves of gays, women, and contraception. Maybe it would have been better if they didn't pick pick a Catholic.

Edited March 16, 2013 by uptheos

[Mossfinn]

I would suggest the Holy Father does not hate anyone.

[uptheos]

I would suggest the Holy Father does not hate anyone.

Adjustment made, you're right it's not for me to judge.

[jamhar]

Another conservative pope. So nothing will change.

Hopefully they will at least do some house cleaning.

We'll have to wait another turn for reform in the catholic church

[LuckyLew]

well papa frank, time to start work, clean out the peds, sell off some of the assets to build good housing for the poor, allow poor women condoned access to birth control, endorse a peaceful death for those suffering.

not in my lifetime probably.

all hail papa frank

IMO .... Not in anybody's lifetime

The catholic cult will never change

1000's of years behind and refusing to adapt to the changing times

Come to think of it Catholics and Thailand have a lot in common

[Mossfinn]

Another conservative pope. So nothing will change.

Hopefully they will at least do some house cleaning.

We'll have to wait another turn for reform in the catholic church

I am not so sure, he is a Jesuit after all, a powerful lobby within the Church itself. He is well known to be humble and will bring direct action in certain areas that need reform, particularly the Mafia within his own corrupt bureaucracy and he will certainly lend direct action towards the Worlds poor, not just espouse meaningless words.

However, his stance on Homosexuality and contraception, will be line with Catholic leanings, so yes a wait for reform in these areas will have to wait.

The battle within the Curia, will be intense, bloody and eventful, but I believe he will win this one.

[jamhar]

Mossfinn, maybe you're right.

"Oh, how I would like a poor Church, and for the poor."

That doesn't sound like a "status quo" type of a pope.

OK, i'm an optimist again!

[rgs2001uk]

Another conservative pope. So nothing will change.

Hopefully they will at least do some house cleaning.

We'll have to wait another turn for reform in the catholic church

I am not so sure, he is a Jesuit after all, a powerful lobby within the Church itself. He is well known to be humble and will bring direct action in certain areas that need reform, particularly the Mafia within his own corrupt bureaucracy and he will certainly lend direct action towards the Worlds poor, not just espouse meaningless words.

However, his stance on Homosexuality and contraception, will be line with Catholic leanings, so yes a wait for reform in these areas will have to wait.

The battle within the Curia, will be intense, bloody and eventful, but I believe he will win this one.

However, his stance on Homosexuality and contraception, will be line with Catholic leanings,

So basically, the wrapping paper and packaging has changed, the contents remain the same.

[Jingthing]

Another conservative pope. So nothing will change.

Hopefully they will at least do some house cleaning.

We'll have to wait another turn for reform in the catholic church

I am not so sure, he is a Jesuit after all, a powerful lobby within the Church itself. He is well known to be humble and will bring direct action in certain areas that need reform, particularly the Mafia within his own corrupt bureaucracy and he will certainly lend direct action towards the Worlds poor, not just espouse meaningless words.

However, his stance on Homosexuality and contraception, will be line with Catholic leanings, so yes a wait for reform in these areas will have to wait.

The battle within the Curia, will be intense, bloody and eventful, but I believe he will win this one.

However, his stance on Homosexuality and contraception, will be line with Catholic leanings,

So basically, the wrapping paper and packaging has changed, the contents remain the same.

He is much worse on gay issues than many of the potential cardinals. Pope Francis was actively working to influence the secular government in Argentina to work against gay civil rights under their laws. Doctrine within the church is one thing; the church (as it has throughout history and still does) working to gain power over governments of nations in a theocratic manner is another. This Pope Francis has explicitly called gay marriage the work of SATAN. There is no ambiguity there. No moderation there. That is the voice of an EXTREMELY conservative cleric.

Is this a concern to the world? Yes it is. I think especially in Africa where a number of countries are influenced by Christian rhetoric to legislate and enforce horrific national laws totally criminalizing homosexuality.

Edited March 17, 2013 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Some more opinions about the REAL background of Pope Francis.

The main points here are that some progressives think because of his emphasis on the poor, he is allied with liberation theology. No. His record is strongly AGAINST liberation theology.

Also many people are confused about his Jesuit brand. There are different kinds of Jesuits. Pope Francis is NOT the progressive kind.

Many commentators have already taken a pessimistic approach, claiming
that Pope Francis will essentially be more of the same. Like his
predecessor, he is a conservative pope who will stick to traditional
doctrine on controversial issues such as abortion and sexuality. The
liberals are bound for disappointment once again.

True
– he is an Argentinean, the first non-European pope since Gregory III
in the 8th century. However, he has European DNA, both metaphorically
(because of his traditional opinions) and genealogically (his father was
an Italian), so his South American origins do not necessarily imply a
change in Catholicism's center of gravity.

Notwithstanding
his emphasis on the poor, it seems that throughout his career Bergoglio
was always careful not to associate himself or engage too deeply in
issues that had tense political resonance.

He
opposed liberation theology, a socially and politically critical
Catholic movement that flourished in Latin America during the '70s and
'80s, but was later crushed by Church officials. He seemed to have
abstained from strongly and openly challenging the Junta's rule in
Argentina, and he opposed the more liberal trends in his own Jesuit
order, which tended to be more politically active.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/francis-a-socially-conscious-politically-passive-pope

Edited March 18, 2013 by Jingthing

[Exsexyman]

Some more opinions about the REAL background of Pope Francis.

The main points here are that some progressives think because of his emphasis on the poor, he is allied with liberation theology. No. His record is strongly AGAINST liberation theology.

Also many people are confused about his Jesuit brand. There are different kinds of Jesuits. Pope Francis is NOT the progressive kind.

Many commentators have already taken a pessimistic approach, claiming

that Pope Francis will essentially be more of the same. Like his

predecessor, he is a conservative pope who will stick to traditional

doctrine on controversial issues such as abortion and sexuality. The

liberals are bound for disappointment once again.

True

– he is an Argentinean, the first non-European pope since Gregory III

in the 8th century. However, he has European DNA, both metaphorically

(because of his traditional opinions) and genealogically (his father was

an Italian), so his South American origins do not necessarily imply a

change in Catholicism's center of gravity.

Notwithstanding

his emphasis on the poor, it seems that throughout his career Bergoglio

was always careful not to associate himself or engage too deeply in

issues that had tense political resonance.

He

opposed liberation theology, a socially and politically critical

Catholic movement that flourished in Latin America during the '70s and

'80s, but was later crushed by Church officials. He seemed to have

abstained from strongly and openly challenging the Junta's rule in

Argentina, and he opposed the more liberal trends in his own Jesuit

order, which tended to be more politically active.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/francis-a-socially-conscious-politically-passive-pope

It would appear from many reports that the new Pope not only abstained from opposing the right wing junta's rule during the 70s, he actually threw some of his more liberal fellow priests in to the right wing death squads. The last one apparently had Nazi leanings in his youth, now the new one would appear to also have a murky past. To put some perspective on the philosophy of the Catholic hierarchy it is important never to forget that many, many of the most wanted and evil Nazi war criminals were protected and given sanctuary by the Catholic church at the end of the second world war, and their escape to South America was facilitated with Vatican passports. Also, i don't understand why a new Pope has to be so old when they get the top job, the last one was 78 when he was appointed, this one is 76. Too old.

[Jingthing]

I am not really convinced that Pope Francis acted especially evilly during the Argie right wing dictatorship, but he certainly didn't risk his life to oppose it as did so many other Catholic clerics in different South American countries. In my book, if I made the rules of future saints, I would rank those who risked their lives as more saintly.