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Once upon a time, yours truly was a Catholic school girl in New Jersey. Go right ahead and let the stereotypes fly because yes, I grew up in a very Italian Catholic family. There were pictures of the Pope. My aunt used to visit with all of the saints every Sunday after Mass. I would go to Mass every day during Lent before school started. That was, until I started questioning the theology behind things. And, until I started questioning the Pope.
I never quite understood how he had the direct line to God while the rest of us 12 year-old kids had to confess to a priest in a booth that we dropped several f-bombs that month before Holy Communion. I, one day, told Father Peter that from there on out, I would take my potty mouth to God and ended up reprimanded for my eyeliner and on detention whilst loudly reciting the Rosary for all ears to hear.
A bit scarred from my experience as a Catholic, I have a lot of good friends who still remain dedicated to the Catholic Church. Sadly, though, (I may get struck down by thunder), I have always found The Pope to be an out-of-touch-with-reality figurehead. Take the latest from Pope Francis for example.
Pope Francis made some comments to reporters while flying to Rome after a visit to Morocco a few days ago, and when asked about the efforts of several nations, including the US and Spain, to build walls and fences to keep out migrants, Francis made this remark:
Those who build walls will become prisoners of the walls they put up. This is history.”-Pope Francis
This wasn’t the first time Pope Francis took a swipe at the border wall controversy:
Spoken from a private jet no less.
So, being that there are walls around Vatican City, is Francis a prisoner? Do we need to bust down the walls to break him out? Or should we build a bridge for all to enter during all hours of the day? No armed guards necessary.
You mean like this wall, @Pontifex ? pic.twitter.com/iMie7A1G55
— Stu (@R0ssman) April 2, 2019
Oh, hi @Pontifex. Can you tell me if there are any walls around the Vatican? Asking for friend … https://t.co/Qm4LTmhalz
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) April 2, 2019
Yeah, right. As if this will ever happen:
Sell the artwork in the Vatican and give the proceeds to the poor. Also tear down the wall that surrounds the Vatican, then we can talk
— Chris Daleo (@DaleoChris) April 2, 2019
Pope Francis has become a liberal darling with his perspective on globalization:
If a globalization tries to make everybody even, as if it were a sphere, that globalization destroys the richness and the specificities of each person and each people. If a globalization tries to unite everyone, but does so respecting each individual, each person, each richness, each specificity, respecting each people, that globalization is good and it enables us to keep growing and take us to peace.
It is excellent, because people may grow,” he said. “It gives dignity to every man and women. It gives rights.”-Pope Francis, 2015
Just a few little problems here. The Pope lives in a sheltered bubble. We are not all “even”, nor will we ever be. We are not united nor will we ever be. Globalization is an ideology that leaves one group acquiescing to conform to another. Very seldom will all parties agree amicably if they are all to be mixed in as the same group. There will be disrespect, fighting and differences of beliefs and opinions. Will some have civilized discourse? Sure. But not all will behave this way. And the Pope telling people to “be kind, be generous and be civil” from behind his bullet-proof glass is not going to improve matters. Actually, it’s laughable. And really, we’d like not to laugh at the Pope…but for crying out loud…could GOD hand him a clue from the Clue Phone?!
the pope says no walls well in that case remove his wall of protected glass then
— robert fortney (@sasmf6e) April 2, 2019
This is not meant to anger, offend or point the finger at Catholics. Remember, I am a recovering one. The same could be said for all religions whose leaders embrace the “do as I say, not as I do” doctrine. Pastors at big, Christian megachurches do the same thing by encouraging attendees to be giving and loving from a stage tricked out with state-of-the-art sound equipment whilst congregants suffer and these leaders happily go back to their gated communities. Same old, same old.
And none, I repeat, NONE of it is of God.
If Pope Francis wants to take care of “the world” and make it a better place, how’s about taking care of his OWN house? You know, the one in which 13 year-old choir boys have been molested? Yeah, THAT one. He could start there and maybe move on to a worldwide initiative to rid all nations of pedophilia. That could be a start to something good instead of him standing on his pedestal and virtue-signaling about how much better we would be as a global community. Strangely enough, on this matter, Pope Francis is mum.
Photo Credit: FlickR/Creative Commons/Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
Scott says: Sadly, Pope Francis was elected based on the obama / clinton model.. it was “his turn”, or at least that of someone from South / Central America. and as is becoming more and more apparent by the day, South / Central America are not areas that are interested in actually fixing their own problems. The try the whole socialist thing, until the house of cards collapses, then they simultaneously blame the US, and run to her to save them. Francis is just a perfect example of this mindset.
GWB says: My aunt used to visit with all of the saints every Sunday after Mass.
That phrase has TOTALLY different meaning between Roman Catholics and, say, Southern Baptists! LOL.
I have always found The Pope to be an out-of-touch-with-reality figurehead
Sometimes he’s a really good guy (like, John Paul II) in a funny hat. But, as a non-Roman, I have to say that “really good guy” is inadequate for my purposes of being an intermediary with G-d. Fortunately I have one that goes well beyond “really good guy” and well into “perfect”.
This is history.
Really, dude? Please, point me to incidents of that historical trend. No? How about you, Bueller? Anyone?
It gives dignity to every man and women. It gives rights.
No, Pointifex, it does NOT. G-d gives those things. His appointed governments here on Earth should protect what G-d has gifted to each and every human being. Which is why Roman opposition to the death penalty is such a horrid misapplication of Scripture.
We are not all “even”,
I think that part was a “Don’t Do” from the Dude In The Funny Hat, not a “Do”. (Hey, sometimes he gets it right.)
Really, though? Globalism is about putting the entire Earth under one governing power. That always seems to turn out poorly, if Scripture is any example. (Why do I know this and the Pope does not?!)
from behind his bullet-proof glass
OK, there’s one actual example of walls for keeping people out making those behind them prisoners.
maybe move on to a….
How about he stick to promoting the Gospel? Since that’s the purpose of the Church on Earth. It isn’t to make Heaven on Earth, it’s to prepare people to survive Earth and go to Heaven. But, yeah, also work on those logs in your eye that your very own un-Scriptural policies promote and exacerbate.
(And, concur with Scott on how/why Francis got the nod.)
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