Maybe it's some sort of hopeless optimism, because I'm catholic, but I think that despite his publicly announced position towards gay marriage and contraception, he is a man of dialogue, he's very humble and is a "reachable" kind of person. I do think that, though he probably will not provide the ultimate "solution" or agreement for universally accepting gay marriage, contraception and such among the catholic community, he could pave the way for a serious start towards that. He does realize the times have changed, and he can't afford ignoring that or closing the door for the open discussion on the matter. Sometimes I do feel bad because there has been some serious criticism towards catholicism, and believe it or not, I do feel judged as well and feel like I'm put into a group of people I don't feel identified with (I'm even shy sometimes of saying I'm catholic, because of the constant jokes and everything). Not all of us catholics are judgemental or too rigid and old fashioned, and I know that the way I feel isn't comparable to the way gay people feel for example, which is an endless scrutiny, debate and fight for rights (which I hope they are fullfilled over time). I respect people of every race, religion and/or sexual preference as well as I respect atheists because they all have the right of choice. I don't consider myself a typical catholic because I choose to live and express my faith in my own way (i.e I'm not church frequent), but I only wish others would respect my faith the same way I respect theirs (or their lack of it). Anyway, time will tell where this new Pope will lead the Catholic Church into, I hope it'll be forward.
I'm not catholic but Pope Francis did gave a wonderful first impression on me. I just hope he will never change.
Ever think you aren't Catholic, but maybe simply Christian? I used to use that explanation once, considering how much I disagreed with Catholic doctrine.
I don't really understand when people label other Christians as bad Christians just because their beliefs do not align up with their own, that they just decided to pick from their scripture. If you want to be honest the best Christians are the types who hate gays, blacks, women, and support rape, don't wear polyester, don't shave, and sell their children. Note, I'm not trying to be offensive here but it all kind of annoys me, the way of things. And sure I think that the people who do support gay marriage and who aren't totally stuck in the 15th century are better people but that's not to say they're poor Christians.
And I think that you should read Leviticus 25:44-46, Exodus 21:2-6, Exodus 21:7, Romans 1:24-32, I Corinthians 11:8-9, Judges 19:24-25, Leviticus 21:5, and Leviticus 19:19 respectively.
While I agree that many of the parables and stories of the Bible may be outlandish by today's standards, I also get upset when people generalize about Christians, and more namely, Catholics. I don't know anyone that believes the Bible so thoroughly. Who has ever promoted those things you listed? While it's true some Christians choose to believe some "laws" of the Bible and ignore others, I would argue that they only believe those that are shared with a wide spread amount of people. I guess you could call them "common laws."
I just don't see how it's fair to label one Christian as worse than any other because of their beliefs that they choose randomly. That fact people don't follow the bible as strictly as the laws of it require is not relevant nor is that there is hardly anyone who promotes the bible and it's views as thoroughly as I've listed, it's that judging others because they're following different laws that are in the same scripture and ignoring the rest, to go calling others out as not true to their religion or such that annoys me. And as I've already stated, I think that people who ignore the bad parts of the bible and try to be the best person they can be is admirable, it still does not make them a better Christian A better person, yes.
Seems like there might be a change this time round, i'm not sure. He seems like a good leader though. And yeah, i'm Catholic.
lol I like seeing the church frantically back track and flounder as they're losing followers over all this. I don't see it so much as progress so much as them desperately clinging on to their waning control in a lot of places (Which is progress in of itself really, IMO).
Yes. Atheists also go to heaven, according to this pope. I just find it hard how many of them would find such a statement comforting as they probably do not believe in any kind of afterlife. (atheists can believe in the supernatural and an afterlife, just so you know.)
The great thing is that it's just the Pope saying this. His cardinals and the rest of the church is freaking the fuck out and regretting electing Francis as the Pope.
Well the good news for Francis is that there is no god to smite him for his actions. The bad news is that he probably has a lot more real people wanting to kill him.
This has been a growing concern of mine as of late. The Pope has been making many trailblazing statements for a man in his position, and I have a feeling many people are becoming angered. I pray no ill actions are taken against him, as he is a seemingly level-headed and logical Pope.
No joke. I hope he has a food taster. The first sane pope in the history of the Catholic church and half of the leadership probably wants him dead. Now let's see if he really wants to bring the church out of the dark ages and do something about all the pedophile priests besides move them around so they avoid prosecution.
Back in primary, my religion teacher said most theologists agree that God has probably never sent anyone to hell because of how noble he is. So I don't find Francis' remark astonishing. Although I've lost my faith in god over the past couple of months, so I don't care much about all this anyhow.