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Pope Francis: outsider whose reforming mission made him an ally of progressives
The Guardian ^ | April 21 | Julian Coman

Posted on 04/21/2025 9:16:17 AM PDT by RandFan

The pontiff took on church traditionalists and rightwing populism, making powerful enemies on the way

Francis’s approach was to follow in the footsteps of one of his heroes, Pope John XXIII, who said on the eve of the modernising Second Vatican Council in 1962 that he wished to “open the window and let in some fresh air”. In a memorable dressing down of the Vatican’s civil service, the first non-European Pope of modern times railed against a “pathology of power” and excoriated insiders who “feel themselves ‘lord of the manor’ – superior to everyone and everything”. The Roman Catholic church, he said, needed to “come out of herself and go to the peripheries”; to become “a church of the poor for the poor” and a “field hospital for the faithful”. Over the next decade, traditional Franciscan themes of poverty, humility, solidarity with the poor and with the natural environment dominated the style and substance of the new papacy.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
He was a climate change alarmist and Leftist among other things. Sorry, FRiends...
1 posted on 04/21/2025 9:16:17 AM PDT by RandFan
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To: RandFan

That he would be praised by the deluded leftist children at The Guardian speaks for itself.


2 posted on 04/21/2025 9:20:13 AM PDT by gibsonguy ( )
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To: RandFan

I was educated by Jesuits and sent my elder son to one of their high schools after uparmoring him for years first. Francis was a run-of-the-mill left wing Jesuit hack


3 posted on 04/21/2025 9:21:00 AM PDT by j.havenfarm (24 years on Free Republic, 12/10/24! More than 10,500 replies and still not shutting up!)
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To: RandFan

Pope Francis: outsider whose reforming mission made him an ally of progressives and muslims


4 posted on 04/21/2025 9:23:54 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: RandFan
“a church of the poor for the poor” 

 

That's pretty rich for a globalist, socialist organization with billions of dollars as assets.

5 posted on 04/21/2025 9:26:32 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (Nobody elected Elon Musk? Well nobody elected the Deep State either.)
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To: RandFan

We all want Cardinal Péter Erdő to be the next Pope.

Matteo Zuppi would be good.

Luis Antonio Tagle would not be good.

It is a nail biter!


6 posted on 04/21/2025 9:31:43 AM PDT by jroehl (And how we burned in the camps later - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - The Gulag Archipelago)
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To: RandFan

He brought pagan idols into the church and induced his congregations to worship them.


7 posted on 04/21/2025 9:35:03 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: RandFan

This is the first pope in my lifetime where I’m actually questioning whether or not he died in a state of Grace


8 posted on 04/21/2025 9:39:12 AM PDT by suasponte137
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To: RandFan

Pray our next Pope follows Christ and not the World.


9 posted on 04/21/2025 9:40:44 AM PDT by OpusatFR
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To: RandFan

In a memorable dressing down of the Vatican’s civil service, the first non-European Pope of modern times railed against a “pathology of power” and excoriated insiders who “feel themselves ‘lord of the manor’ – superior to everyone and everything”.

_____________________________________________________

He did none of this. In fact, he was simply an extension of the modernist, Leftist club that runs the RCC. Bergoglio was the iconic “Lord of the Manor” and the vast majority of the Magisterium are his very own “insiders”.


10 posted on 04/21/2025 9:42:51 AM PDT by Bishop_Malachi (Liberal Socialism - A philosophy which advocates spreading a low standard of living equally.)
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To: RandFan

Wasn’t there a prediction that Benedict would be the last Catholic Pope?


11 posted on 04/21/2025 9:46:49 AM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again," )
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To: RandFan

The Church has survived worse. At least that is what I kept telling myself. How his legacy plays out will no doubt show the faithful we are living in interesting times.


12 posted on 04/21/2025 9:49:35 AM PDT by lastchance (Cognovit Dominus qui sunt eius.)
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To: Responsibility2nd

Touche’


13 posted on 04/21/2025 9:50:00 AM PDT by lastchance (Cognovit Dominus qui sunt eius.)
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To: RandFan

reforming mission, much like fundamental change, shuv it


14 posted on 04/21/2025 9:52:35 AM PDT by ronnie raygun
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To: RandFan

Fact!


15 posted on 04/21/2025 9:55:58 AM PDT by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to says it.)
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To: OpusatFR

Let’s just hope he’s Catholic.


16 posted on 04/21/2025 9:56:33 AM PDT by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to says it.)
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To: RandFan

Considering how hard he fought to “gay up” everything, I wonder if he had a boyfriend, who it was and if they are quietly leaving the papal apartment yet.

Can someone also burn his pachamama?


17 posted on 04/21/2025 10:04:10 AM PDT by Darksheare (Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same. )
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To: Responsibility2nd

Far from globalist, the church upholds traditional moral and cultural values that clash with secular globalist agendas, such as those promoting unrestricted economic liberalism or cultural homogenization.

The Church has historically defended local traditions and subsidiarity (decision-making at the most local level possible), which counters globalist tendencies toward centralization.


18 posted on 04/21/2025 8:12:47 PM PDT by Cronos
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To: Responsibility2nd

Neither is it socialist as Catholic teaching, notably in Rerum Novarum, defends the right to private property as a natural law, opposing socialist calls for collective ownership of production means.

The Church’s mission is primarily spiritual, not political. It views material solutions like socialism as insufficient without addressing moral and spiritual dimensions, emphasizing charity and personal virtue over systemic restructuring alone.

In fact, going through history you will see that it has historically opposed socialist and communist regimes, notably during the 20th century (e.g., Pope Pius XI’s Divini Redemptoris condemned communism in 1937). It criticized their atheism, totalitarianism, and suppression of religious freedom.


19 posted on 04/21/2025 8:15:39 PM PDT by Cronos
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To: Responsibility2nd

And the billions in assets are in stuff that you can’t sell.

The sistine chapel is quite different from government bonds.

The Church’s global operations (charities, schools, clergy salaries, maintenance) consume significant funds. The Vatican itself has run deficits in recent years, reporting losses of €60-80 million annually before 2020 reforms.

Much of the Church’s wealth supports its mission, including running Caritas (a global charity network), disaster relief, and education.


20 posted on 04/21/2025 8:18:50 PM PDT by Cronos
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