@Cloudy@Ideaswithhair@justnormalkorean@Owl Pope Francis is smart enough to know what he's doing, and this includes the media tightrope. The world is in a pretty crappy place and The Church is crying out for a bastion of sanity in the turbulence. And we get this type of stuff. I'm willing to admit that I don't know what his holiness is doing and it's not my place to know. I'm also willing to admit that, from my perspective, a lot of it sucks. His criticisms of "reactionary" elements (read that as people like you and me) within the church is extremely hurtful to those of us who love The Church for what it means. Liberation theology does not belong in the church, and he's driving the most devout towards orthodoxy, small o and large.
@justnormalkorean@Cloudy@Ideaswithhair@Owl Howdy. Jesuits being a cryptic weirdo group has been going on for a while. Sometimes they do the work of our enemies, but sometimes they totally tank a nation's economy to crush a bigger spiritual and earthly problem. I don't like suggesting people plan-trust, obviously, but I've seen them do some pretty remarkable things.
@MoralPanic@Cloudy@Ideaswithhair@justnormalkorean@Owl I do agree with this. We're running out of time where we'll be able to openly read the Bible or follow Church teachings without being considered a "hate group". There's been concerted efforts to undermine Catholicism because of the unbending pro-life support. it would almost be better if tax exempt status was revoked, because fighting without a handicap will keep things true to scripture and church teachings and allow The Church to use its influence while free speech still exists within our country. We need more Fulton Sheen and less "gays can get a little blessing...as a treat".
@Ideaswithhair@Cloudy@justnormalkorean@Owl I don't think Cloudy is wrong for trusting The Church. It's not like this is the first bad pope in history. And that's assuming he is actually bad. The Church will survive and ultimately prune some of the worst elements, becoming stronger in the process. Church attendence is way up in the local Roman and Eastern churches near me, so I feel like people are seeing the need for it in spite of the nonsense.
@Ideaswithhair@Cloudy@justnormalkorean@Owl Institutions built and maintained by men will have the flaws of men baked in. Preserving and maintaining them is a perennial struggle. Even something as well written as The Book Of Concord still gets us to a point today with pastrixes possibly coming within a generation, and that's not a dig at Lutherans.
@Ideaswithhair@Cloudy@justnormalkorean@Owl Scripture says as much. Shepherds who lead their flocks astray will have much worse judgement than the leity who follow them.