Pope Francis condemned the “very strong, organised, reactionary attitude” in the US church and said Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.

Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the US Catholic Church, saying they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.

Francis’ comments were an acknowledgment of the divisions in the US Catholic Church, which has been split between progressives and conservatives who long found support in the doctrinaire papacies of St John Paul II and Benedict XVI, particularly on issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.

    • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      They’re already doing that, have been for a long time. I have a Baptist coworker who thinks Catholicism isn’t real Christianity…

    • 30mag@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      It sounds like they’ve already been doing that according to this article.

      Many conservatives have blasted Francis’ emphasis instead on social justice issues such as the environment and the poor, while also branding as heretical his opening to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive the sacraments.

      • rambaroo@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        Even the most minimal amount of compassion is a sin to these people. They’re just straight up evil at this point.

    • zib@kbin.social
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      2 years ago

      You know you fucked up bad when even the Pope is saying, “Whoa, slow it down there with the fascism, bud”.

      • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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        2 years ago

        American Catholics have largely voted Democrat for much of the last century. This flip-flop to voting Republican is relatively recent.

        It seems to me to be a bit of a religio-coup. Bishops have some autonomy, and Priests some as well. It’s become increasingly common that both are in opposition to Rome on certain behaviors related to politics, and exactly how strongly they should be pushing people to vote and for what reasons. The dehumanization of Biden (publicly refusing him Eucharist) for his nuanced pro-choice views is in direct contradiction of papal behavior going back at least to the turn of the 20th century. Telling people that in voting, any sin is forgivable except being pro-choice… well, there’s no basis in Canon Law for that attitude.

        I live in a very Catholic area, and have a lot of Catholic family. Talking to them, they mention their priests say “you can vote for either party, as long as they’re pro-life”. The Abortion issue is not the only or greatest issue to Rome. It is AN issue, but disagreeing with the Church is generally not going to earn their full enmity unless you are preaching your disagreement. Biden (the target of that local church smear campaign) is absolutely not preaching pro-choice to anyone.

        Pope Francis is right to be saying that because American Catholic Leadership has gone WAY astray from what Catholicism allows or mandates of them.

    • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works
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      2 years ago

      Conservatives are mostly christian, but if they aren’t catholic the pope has little sway over what they do. And they love dissing catholics so yes they will more than they have been already.

    • Justagamer@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      If you have a throwaway email to see comments on the Newsmax site, it is Catholics and whatnot saying the Pope isn’t the real part of the religion anymore.

    • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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      That schism happened with Vatican II. After that point, it seems like Popes have regularly been political instead of doing what they knew was right, because they seem to think slight improvement by the congregation is better than alienating the conservative membership. I think the growth Sedevacantism terrifies them more than anything. The group is clearly heretical by every Catholic doctrine, but so popular you will not see any formal declaration that they are in a state of excommunication.

      The thing is, we non-Catholics should be rooting the religion on to shed that craziness. Whether you like religion or not, Catholicism is not going anywhere and a progressive Catholic Church is better than a Regressive Catholic Church.

  • WorldWideLem@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    This is the fruits of the GOP strategy that’s been going on for decades to strengthen their support through Christian believers. The Pope is just recognizing the impact of that from the religious side, whereas Barry Goldwater warned of it’s impact from the political side.

    Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.

    It certainly is a terrible damn problem, and we’re knee deep in the shit right now.

    • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      American conservatives really hate that this pope prioritizes Jesus-y stuff like love, forgiveness, and taking care of your fellow humans.

      I have a bunch of Catholic family members that are much more into being angry, fighting to shove dogma down everyone’s throat, and not helping anyone that doesn’t sit in the pew next to them.

        • PeleSpirit@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          I’m in episode 2 out of 4 and so far,

          spoiler

          It’s about a girl from a family that lived on Vatican grounds who was kidnapped. We know the mob and the Vatican are working together and the pope tried to cover it up. The pope was backing a Polish group that was going after communism in Russia. The US and the pope were on the same side for this one issue. The bank on the Italian side of the Vatican walls were laundering money so the pope could send money to the group that was going after communism. The girl who was kidnapped and probably killed was a warning to the pope that the mafia wanted their money back since the money was supposed to go both ways, but stopped at the Vatican. The last time we have info on the girl is that the mafia dropper her off to a person dressed as a priest.

          That’s how I understand it, it’s complicated and they’re going through it as the journalist discovers information. This journalist is amazing and did a deep dive on their finances. I grew up catholic and still think of the religion and a lot of my friends and family as awesome, but that church was corrupt all the way down to the small parishes. The small parishes just did it in a different way.

          • Syrc@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            Mind you, none of that is 100% true. It’s just one of the most likely hypotheses. No one will ever know for sure what the hell happened to that girl.

            • PeleSpirit@lemmy.world
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              Read the journalist’s books on the finances or “Vatileaks”, it’s more likely than not.

  • RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works
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    2 years ago

    Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives

    Media needs to find another word for speaking up in opposition to something.

  • BKXcY86CHs2k8Coz@sh.itjust.works
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    2 years ago

    Didn’t this guy pay a personal visit to the christofascist who refused to grant a gay marriage license September 2015? Guy wore a similar hat anyway.

  • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
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    2 years ago

    Note that he said this in a private conversation, not an official statement.

    He will backtrack on this in less than a week, he always does this little dance.

  • macrocephalic@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.

    Isn’t god supposed to be unchanging according to their book?

    • Brown5500@sh.itjust.works
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      2 years ago

      That’s actually more of a doctrine that is made up by the organization and less something explicitly stated in the book. There probably are some psalms or other references that use the word (translated as) “unchanging”, but in context, the original audience would probably not have interpreted it in the same way. Think God’s love and power will never fail, not God will literally never experience anything or change. In the 10 commandments story, Moses has a conversation with god and changes his mind.

    • tomi000@lemmy.world
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      Not sure about the details but God being unchanging shouldnt coflict with humans changing.

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    2 years ago

    Change over time? What, we getting new words from God? Gonna add a newer testament?