Pope Francis: Catholic Church must focus beyond "small-minded rules"

CBS ^ | 19 Sep 13 | CBS staff writer

[SkyPilot]

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis has warned that the Catholic Church's moral structure might "fall like a house of cards" if it doesn't balance its divisive rules about abortion, gays and contraception with the greater need to make it a merciful, more welcoming place for all.

Six months into his papacy, Francis set out his vision for the church and his priorities as pope in a lengthy and remarkably blunt interview with La Civilta Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit magazine. It was published simultaneously Thursday in Jesuit journals in 16 countries, including America magazine in the U.S.

John Allen, a senior correspondent with the National Catholic Reporter, told CBS Radio News the pope is not changing church policy but makes it clear that he wants a less judgmental church.

"I think he is conscious that he's at a sort of make-or-break moment where the kind of pope he wants to be - if he wants to affect real change - he's got to be explicit about it," Allen said.

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In the 12,000-word article, Francis expands on his ground-breaking comments over the summer about gays and acknowledges some of his own faults. He sheds light on his favorite composers, artists, authors and films (Mozart, Caravaggio, Dostoevsky and Fellini's "La Strada") and says he prays even while at the dentist's office.

But his vision of what the church should be stands out, primarily because it contrasts so sharply with many of the priorities of his immediate predecessors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. They were both intellectuals for whom doctrine was paramount, an orientation that guided the selection of a generation of bishops and cardinals around the globe.

[epow]

I said that if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge.

Maybe you aren't sir, but the God who you claim to serve and represent here on Earth is and He does judge. And in His Word (Genesis ch 19 & Romans ch 1) he makes it unmistakably clear that homosexual acts are sinful. Gen ch 19 clearly shows that homosexual acts committed by Sodom's and Gomorrah's inhabitants were the primary reason why it was necessary for God to destroy those cities and all their inhabitants. Also, in Romans ch 1 Paul tells us that the universal practice of homosexual acts by both sexes were the main reason why God destroyed the antediluvian world and all it's people except Noah and family with a global flood.

As for abortion, any medical doctor who knows enough to be licensed as a physician knows very well that aborting an unborn human being in his or her mother's womb is nothing less than premeditated murder for hire of an innocent human being.

If this Pope doesn't believe that abortion is murder and/or that homosexual acts are gross sin I don't believe it was the same God who I know and worship who chose him for that high office.

[PA-RIVER]

10 commandments are now suggestions from a menu.

Thou shall not kill, unless thy victim be voiceless.

Wedding vows: What god has brought together, this man and wife, these two men playing with each others anus, let no man take apart. You may now fondle the drag queen.

Yes, the Pope has jumped the shark.

[PA-RIVER]

It’s now cool to be Catholic.

NAMBLA can come out and join the party.

Priests can have boy toys. Men can marry men. Who are we to judge?

I want to see the pope attend a gay parade with some leather chaps and a rainbow blouse.

[PA-RIVER]

Maybe the Catholic Church could come up with a ceremony to sanctify an abortion. Make it a more joyous occasion.

We take pictures, pass out mementos. Congratulate the mother. Thank the doctor.

The whole abortion thingy needs a make over.

[Pinkbell]

Absolutely disgusting, and I know the Pope doesn’t approve of abortion.

[PA-RIVER]

The thought of two men getting married it just insane to me.

It makes a mockery of the ceremony. Abortion too. Life is not sacred, so just squish a baby like a bug. OK. Let’s pretend we didn’t see that.

This pope doesn’t have all the candles lit. He missed the bus. He’s no longer necessary, we have Obama.

[21twelve]

From the interview:

“But the proclamation of the saving love of God comes before moral and religious imperatives. [The previous sentence is the important one!!] Today sometimes it seems that the opposite order is prevailing. The homily is the touchstone to measure the pastor’s proximity and ability to meet his people, because those who preach must recognise the heart of their community and must be able to see where the desire for God is lively and ardent. The message of the Gospel, therefore, is not to be reduced to some aspects that, although relevant, on their own do not show the heart of the message of Jesus Christ.”

The sermon (Protestant) last Sunday had a prop of three real doors (all rigged up on frames and everything!). The first was of humanistic values. The second was Religion. Neither of those contained the abundant and eternal life. The third door was Jesus - the real answer to abundant and eternal Life.

I think the pope is saying something similar.

[cherry]

I’ve just never loved the kumbaya church and its milk toast music, its hand slapping and signs of peace in church....

[Sun]

What Pope Francis said IN CONTEXT:

“The church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you. And the ministers of the church must be ministers of mercy above all. The confessor, for example, is always in danger of being either too much of a rigorist or too lax. Neither is merciful,”

[Gene Eric]

>> CBS: [the Church’s] divisive rules about abortion, gays and contraception with the greater need to make it a merciful, more welcoming place for all.

ESAD to whomever said that.

[jodyel]

That shouldn’t be a disappointment, Bwana.

He is potentially keeping you from harm or planning something even better for you.

But I see you got there in the end. :)

[SkyPilot]

His comments were not spun by the news media, in fact, they are lauding and cheering his comments.

Liberals and the godless know exactly what he meant, because he said it - and he said it in clear terms.

It is usually the cowards and the liberals who hide behind their actions, and try to weasel out of what they said by saying they were misquoted or out of context. That does occur - but not in this instance. In the past few weeks, the pope has gone against the Bible in terms of salvation, sin, heaven, and precious life in the womb.

Pope Says Church Should Stop Obsessing Over Gays, Abortion

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:15

[kelly4c]

Completely agree with your thoughts. After told he was chosen by the enclave he made a comment something like “God forgive you.” That stands out now.

[xzins]

atheists...live according to conscience...

He was definitely wrong about that. As with every part of a human, the conscience, too, is fallen, even though God can use it to good effect. Romans 1&2.

balance its divisive rules about abortion, gays and contraception with the greater need to make it a merciful, more welcoming place for all

The problem with this statement by the pope is its ambiguity. If he means, "Don't be the Revelation church of Ephesus.", then I'll wait for clarification from him. That would mean to me that he's saying, "Reject the sin, but love the sinner." I have no problem with that formulation.

If he's saying, however: "Ignore sin; go along to get along.", then I would say that he's pushing the church toward Pergamum & Thyatira by way of Laodicea.

Better to be a biblical Christian, and then we don't have to await some man clarifying his meaning. As a biblical Christian we are to "work out (our) own salvation with fear and trembling."

[kelly4c]

Gut instincts are there for a reason. Sometimes we never find that reason out, other times it will eventually be backed up. I realized this last year with a similar vibe regarding a neighbor.

[kearnyirish2]

“Do not trust the MSM to ever get what the Pope said right. They do not understand the concept of welcoming the sinner so that he may be healed through Christ’s grace and mercy.”

They know what he said; they deliberately distort it. He said the Church policies on those issues were clear, and that he served the Church. He just wanted to be able to talk about other things as well; there is nothing from his mouth that any sane person could construe as change coming on any of those positions.

[Ann Archy]

We don’t worship Popes....don’t sound stupid.

[kelly4c]

Any man of God on the world scene who is gettin love from Atheists, homosexuals, and abortion defenders does not seem to be very effective for his purpose. Time will tell. If his method ends up bringing more closer to God as in a revival I’m all for it. But as it stands right now, I’ve got a bad feeling it will be otherwise.

[kelly4c]

Yes, and if they ever team up I think we can know what the hour is.

[Bigg Red]

No, he does not have to be PC. Problem is he make statements sometimes that are too vague and allow the media to twist and misinterpret. So it becomes confusing for the faithful and for others. Prayers up.