Rome -- "May God forgive you." That's Cardinal Timothy Dolan's translation of a joke that Pope Francis told the College of Cardinals a day after being elected the 267th pontiff. Posted on 03/16/2013 12:42:32 AM PDT by Kaslin
Rome -- "May God forgive you." That's Cardinal Timothy Dolan's translation of a joke that Pope Francis told the College of Cardinals a day after being elected the 267th pontiff.
Having watched the prayerful mien of some of the cardinals going into the papal conclave that would elect Argentinean Jorge Mario Bergoglio pope, I have reason to believe that God had something to do with Papa Francisco, as the Romans call their bishop.
Others, of course, see it otherwise.
"I don't think he's what we need right now in the Catholic Church," Madeline Cuomo, the sister of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told Crain's New York Business. "We're looking to move the church forward, with gay marriage and women priests. He's going to turn back the clock."
Her father, former governor Mario Cuomo, had this to say: "(Cardinal) Dolan would probably have been closer to where the church is at the moment."
Funny he should endorse Cardinal Dolan, despite the fact that Dolan asked the current Gov. Cuomo to step back from his insistence that abortion access expand in the United States.
The governor, for his part, takes a more positive view of what he's seen of the new pope thus far: "I think it's exciting that he's from the Americas," he said. "His life story is inspirational in many ways. Obviously, we're just learning about him, but what you hear about him, the decisions he's made, the way he's led his life, the modesty of it, the humbleness of it, I think is quite praiseworthy."
The rating system here seems a bit unhelpful.
Forget being the leader -- as a member of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis believes the Word of God and lives it in more than an obligatory or agenda-driven way. The Gospel and the Sacraments are his mission and mandate. We best welcome him to the international scene, and into our lives, as a teacher, pastor and father.
When I stood in St. Peter's Square watching the white smoke and waiting for the Habemus Papam, I observed that the pilgrims gathered didn't desire to see a favored candidate so much as they wanted a Holy Father. The new pope leading the crowd in prayer was a spectacle of quiet devotion, a reminder of the inner life that undergirds society.
I mention the Cuomos because their comments well illustrate the central challenge of our time: secularism. Despite their status as a prominent Catholic family, they are advocates of legal abortion. Mario Cuomo is best known in this context as an early leader of a "personally opposed, but ... " approach to the issue in political life. It's an outgrowth of surrender to secularism, a capitulation to the privatization of religion, even or especially among professed believers. But that's not religion. Religion infuses life. Religious people who truly seek to live radical lives of love and service make democracy and civil society succeed.
"The Lord brings about a change in those who are faithful to Him," then-Cardinal Bergoglio said in an interview in 2007. He was talking bare-bones Catholic faith.
When he prepared to greet the crowds outside St. Peter's, flowing out and filling not just the Square but also the Via della Conciliazione, there was an odd peace. Odd, because it was so countercultural. Normally in cold, wet, packed crowds who find themselves waiting, there might be conflicts. Not anywhere I stood. It was as if that Holy Spirit the cardinals had said they would be conferring with had a presence outside the Sistine Chapel, too.
In that 2007 interview, Bergoglio said: "Staying, remaining faithful implies an outgoing. Precisely if one remains in the Lord one goes out of oneself." In other words, we don't change the faith, the faith changes us. We Americans, who tend to see the world in terms of politics and personality, might consider regarding Pope Francis as one who might just be able to help us, lead us out of unjust division and into a future with a deeper understanding of the source of his hope. He's not just another name in the news, but an apostle, the successor of Peter, a Holy Father.
The Church faces two threats: Islam and secularism AKA the dictatorship of relativism.
Its not at all clear whether it has the will or the strength to overcome them. As Cardinal Bergoglio, the Pope dismally failed to stem the tide of lapsed Catholics and the aggressive growth of secularism in his native Argentina. As Pope, at 76, one has the feeling it may be too much to expect him to do a better job of addressing these challenges than his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI did.
People in their old age don’t change much, not even Popes. I am however, prepared to be surprised even when I am not expecting it.
“We’re looking to move the church forward, with gay marriage and women priests. He’s going to turn back the clock.”
I read that and had to scroll back to the top to make sure it wasn’t our resident satirist writing this article.
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What you mean “we”???
News to everyone: The Cuomo’s are NOT Catholic. Since they no longer believe ALL that the Catholic Church teaches and professes, they are no longer in communion with the Church. I don’t know what Church they think they belong to, but it is ot ours.
The cafeteria was never opened in our Church.
Can anyone make sense of Cuomo (or anyone) saying “Personally, I think abortion is wrong, but...woman’s right to choose.”?
What is it they think is wrong about it?
If it has anything at all to do with the taking of a life, then they’ve just agreed that people can kill inconvenient life.
“Personally, I think abortion is wrong, but it’s not right to get in the way of someone who wants to kill people who are inconvenient to them.”
The second half makes it impossible for the first half to make sense.
Both liberals and Conservatives are thrilled with this selection......SOMEBODY is going to be disappointed....it is only a matter of time before we find out which group.
| We make a very serious mistake if we rely on media like the New York Times, Newsweek, CNN, or MSNBC for reliable news about religion. These news media simply don’t provide trustworthy information about religious faith—and sometimes they can’t provide it, either because of limited resources or because of their own editorial prejudices. These are secular operations focused on making a profit. They have very little sympathy for the Catholic faith, and quite a lot of aggressive skepticism toward any religious community that claims to preach and teach God’s truth. |
Things of the Church reported in the secular media, particularly about the Holy Father, need to be viewed with the most jaundiced eye.
At best, it's a whiny excuse for not being enough of a leader to actually build a consensus toward what he claims to know is the right thing. In reality, it's just a crooked lawyer's dodge justifying being a Catholic one hour a week and a pagan liberal Democrat hedonistic the other 167.
Madeline Cuomo, the sister of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told Crain’s New York Business. “We’re looking to move the church forward, with gay marriage and women priests.
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Who is “WE scumbag.?
Certainly not any Catholic who believes in the Church.
You are not looking to move the Church foward. You are working for Satan.By your own words you are sentencing yourself to an eternity in hell.
“I don’t think he’s what we need right now in the Catholic Church,” Madeline Cuomo, the sister of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told Crain’s New York Business. “We’re looking to move the church forward, with gay marriage and women priests. He’s going to turn back the clock.”
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Seriously, I double-checked the source when I read that to make sure I was not reading satire. Such a typical CINO comment.
The Cuomo’s are NOT Catholic.
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For sure.
I seem to recall, also, that the governor is shacking up with some woman at the governor’s mansion and even had her with him at some Mass in NY.
The conceit on parade here is believing the church is a mere earthly institution which can be reshaped according to human whim. At worst, she's calling Christ a liar.
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