Interview With Pope Francis In America Magazine

[Apotheoun]

I see.  So rather than plugging the hole in the Titanic they did a great job rearranging the deck chairs.  Sounds legit.  

Yeah, instead of doing it immediately he is going to do it more slowly, by once again - just like Benedict and John Paul II - moving around the same Cardinals. I mean there are only so many Cardinals.

[4588686]

I find it interesting that there seems to be a lot of people who are annoyed that the Pope isn't catering to them, and their interests.  The same sorts of people who got mad when the so-called "liberals" had the same reaction to Benedict.  The choir had our pope ministering to their desires - Benedict.  Every pope is going to emphasize different things, have different pet projects, and resonate strongly with different people.  Why does it have to be such a huge deal that Francis hasn't decided to cater to our immediate whims?  Why do we have to be so selfish for the Holy Father's attention? 

 

 

Because their marshal metaphors and siege rhetoric will start to look silly if people start looking at the pope as a figure meriting respect and who has something valuable to teach the materialist world.  

[Apotheoun]

Could he do something radical and maybe appoint some new Cardinals and shun the old ones? I doubt it.

Edited September 21, 2013 by Apotheoun

[Apteka]

Because their marshal metaphors and siege rhetoric will start to look silly if people start looking at the pope as a figure meriting respect and who has something valuable to teach the materialist world.  

 

And what might those valuable things be, Hasan? Since abortion and homosexuality are no longer relevant.

[Apotheoun]

I find it interesting that there seems to be a lot of people who are annoyed that the Pope isn't catering to them, and their interests.  The same sorts of people who got mad when the so-called "liberals" had the same reaction to Benedict.  The choir had our pope ministering to their desires - Benedict.  Every pope is going to emphasize different things, have different pet projects, and resonate strongly with different people.  Why does it have to be such a huge deal that Francis hasn't decided to cater to our immediate whims?  Why do we have to be so selfish for the Holy Father's attention? 

I don't expect Pope Francis to cater to my needs. Heck, he isn't even my patriarch, but I will admit that I get a bit annoyed when he does stupid stuff that my Orthodox friends ask me to justify. Of course I refuse to justify it, and that confuses them. I think Pope Francis may be making points with the news media, but he is losing points with many Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians who more and more see him as a modernist.

Edited September 21, 2013 by Apotheoun

[Apteka]

I don't expect Pope Francis to cater to my needs. Heck, he isn't even my patriarch, but I will admit that I get a bit annoyed when he does stupid stuff that my Orthodox friends ask me to justify. Of course I refuse to justify it, and that confuses them. I think Pope Francis may be making points with the news media, but he is losing points with many Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians who more and more see him as a modernist.

 

The Eastern Orthodox are too fixated on moral issues, Apotheoun. Your friends ought to get with the times, we've moved passed the abortion and homosexuality issues.

[Basilisa Marie]

I don't expect Pope Francis to cater to my needs. Heck, he isn't even my patriarch, but I will admit that I get a bit annoyed when he does stupid stuff that my Orthodox friends ask me to justify. Of course I refuse to justify it, and that confuses them. I think Pope Francis may be making points with the news media, but he is losing points with many Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians who more and more see him as a modernist.

 

Well, I think what you say here has a lot of fair points.  Though what you call making points with the news media, I'd call breaking down a lot of hostilities non-Catholics (and a ton of Catholics, too) have against the Church.  

[4588686]

And what might those valuable things be, Hasan? Since abortion and homosexuality are no longer relevant.

 

 

Interesting.  So you genuinely believe that the only things the Church has to say to the world pertain to gay sodomy and abortion

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the very personification of why the Church is quickly becoming irrelevant in the lives of most people.  

[Apotheoun]

The Eastern Orthodox are too fixated on moral issues, Apotheoun. Your friends ought to get with the times, we've moved passed the abortion and homosexuality issues.

They are concerned about moral issues and liturgical issues, and are beginning to wonder what is wrong with the Roman Church. Although I admit that a few of them say that the Roman Church fell into heresy at the time of the Great Schism, and that the present events are merely the continuing disintegration caused by that initial rupture. There are also a few who like to tell me that the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant sects are two sides of the same coin, and that Rome is no longer an Apostolic Church. I admit that I have a harder and harder time defending the Roman Church from these accusations.

Edited September 21, 2013 by Apotheoun

[Basilisa Marie]

The Eastern Orthodox are too fixated on moral issues, Apotheoun. Your friends ought to get with the times, we've moved passed the abortion and homosexuality issues.

 

Apteka, no one's actually said that in this thread.  It's not about ignoring or moving past or rendering unimportant or belittling pro-life and sexual ethics issues.  It's about making sure that they're not made more important than the message of Christ and salvation. It's about doing BOTH. 

[Apteka]

Interesting.  So you genuinely believe that the only things the Church has to say to the world pertain to gay sodomy and abortion

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the very personification of why the Church is quickly becoming irrelevant in the lives of most people.  

 

You're beating your own strawman, sweetie. I never said they were the *only* issues, but rather you no longer believe they are relevant, so now the fight can move on to bigger and better things. What might those be in Hasan's little world?

[4588686]

You're beating your own strawman, sweetie. I never said they were the *only* issues, but rather you no longer believe they are relevant, so now the fight can move on to bigger and better things. What might those be in Hasan's little world?

 

 

Maybe humility?  Compassion for the poor and the weak?  The pernicious effects of unchecked greed on the world?  Compassion and mercy in the face of aggression and hostility.  Chastising the powerful and the comfortable who take advantage of the impoverished, the socially weak.  

 

Do any of these issue ring a bell?  They're all issues that Jesus actually talked about.  They also pertain tho things currently going on in the world.  

Edited September 21, 2013 by Hasan

[PhuturePriest]

Apteka, no one's actually said that in this thread.  It's not about ignoring or moving past or rendering unimportant or belittling pro-life and sexual ethics issues.  It's about making sure that they're not made more important than the message of Christ and salvation. It's about doing BOTH. 

 

You did the stupid thing and actually read the article, didn't you? Pfft. Please, that's for chumps.

[Apotheoun]

Sadly, Basilisa Marie perception is often reality in the modern West. The Pope should be less interested in giving interviews to the media that are really about him as a person, and focus more on reforming the Roman Curia and trying to get the Roman Church's liturgy in order. For a man who is constantly referred to as humble he certainly likes giving interviews and being the center of attention.

[Apteka]

They are concerned about moral issues and liturgical issues, and are beginning to wonder what is wrong with the Roman Church. Although I admit that a few of them say that the Roman Church fell into heresy at the time of the Great Schism, and that the present events are merely the continuing disintegration caused by that initial rupture. There are also a few who like to tell me that the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant sects are two sides of the same coin, and that Rome is no longer an Apostolic Church. I admit that I have a harder and harder time defending the Roman Church from these accusations.

 

There's a hierarchy of truths, Apotheoun. Don't get fixated on the lesser items. No need to disrupt fruitful dialogue and ecumenical initiatives over such things!