Posted on 10/21/2013 9:32:05 AM PDT by armydoc
Pope Francis called for a more open-minded Church on Thursday, suggesting that when a Christian “becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith.”
Francis said because ideology is rigid and non-inclusive, it pushes people away and leaves out the grace of God.
“And, even worse, the Lord cannot be close to the people,” Francis said.
“The faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology,” he said. “And ideology does not beckon [people]. In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid.”
It is judgmental and without exception, which Francis says is not the Lord’s message.
“The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens, ideology chases away the people, distances, distances the people and distances of the Church of the people,” he said. “But it is a serious illness, this of ideological Christians.”
He said the Church does not want to keep the door shut and the key in its pocket.
He also claimed Christians who lose faith and prefer the ideologies are “rigid, moralistic, ethical, but without kindness.”
“The key that opens the door to the faith is prayer,” he said. “If there is no prayer, you always close the door.”
A person who does not pray is “arrogant, is proud, is sure of himself. He is not humble. He seeks his own advancement.”
That being said, he also warned, “It is one thing to pray, and another thing to say prayers.” He said people who are obsessed with Christian ideology don’t pray; they simply recite the same prayers they’ve memorized years ago.
What’s left? Emotionology?
Matthew 10:34
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
I think this is another way of warning us of repeating the “sins” of the Pharasees. And of doing something by rote, rather than understand WHY we do/pray it.
He pretty much lets us conservatives off the hook with this language, but Pelosi is definitly on it, imho.
Ideology is an aping of doctrine.
The Resurrection is not an ideology - it is a historical fact with profound spiritual importance.
The great conservative thinkers - like Edmund Burke and Russell Kirk - have warned against conservatives imitating ideological constructs like Jacobinism and Leninism.
Subsidiarity is insurance against ideology.
>>Francis said because ideology is rigid and non-inclusive, it pushes people away and leaves out the grace of God.
Sez the leader of the most rigid and rulebound part of Christendom.
Keeping a close watch on this Pope.
He is either very right or very wrong.
Overall I get what he is trying to convey, but he also seems to be loosing the Church from the moorings of the teachings of the Bible.
He seems to be advocating fervent worship, but his direction of worship without sound biblical mooring also could provide many with confusion on just who and what is being worshiped.
Frank, Frank, Frank.
Eiki: “An ideology is a set of conscious and unconscious ideas that constitute one’s goals, expectations and actions. An ideology is a comprehensive vision, a way of looking at things (compare worldview) as in several philosophical tendencies (see political ideologies), or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society (a “received consciousness” or product of socialization).”
IOW, you have an ideology, I have a world view.
Everybody has an ideology, it’s just that some refuse to admit it. I suspect Frank is using ideology to mean “bad ideology,” but that’s a really dumb thing to do.
Wow.
This can be read on several layers. On the surface, I understand the argument. It is not controversial. It is what Christ would say.
But,
We’ve been here before. Vatican II was not controversial (sorry to friends who disagree), it was just “heard” in creative ways, ways that gave license to that which was not intended. Layers of meanings were found, layers that were inferred not intended.
I believe that Francis may be naive. Many of the saints were naive, blessedly so. Naivete in Peter’s chair though could cost souls.
Need to pray on this, and hope that I am wrong.
The serious illness of the Church is the fear of preaching the Bible as written and risk offending someone. You cannot like some parts of God’s Word and ignore the ones you don’t like. It is all or nothing. You may not like what the Bible says about a certain topic but you can bet God isn’t interested in not offending you. His wrath is already upon us as stated in John 3:18 it is up to us to accept the gift He has offered us to escape that wrath and not think we are equal to Him and decide which of His Words we want to follow.
Eiki = Wiki. New keyboard.
Dumb question, dogmas are not ideologies. They are articles of faith. Faith is in the will, not in the mind. Holiness is in the will, not in the reason. Reason is the handmaiden of faith.
Everyone has a perspective. Some people adopt an ideology to represent their perspective. Not everyone does.
What is the difference?
An ideology has a precise answer for every one of life's questions, and the answer always leads back to a defined core of political beliefs - beliefs which trump any larger moral principles.
No. I'm not Catholic.
You miss the point. He is simply saying that love trumps all else. Nothing more. You can’t hate someone because they disagree with you. Nor, if you don’t show them love, will they ever come to agree with you. God is Love.
Well put.
Comments like this really leave room for confusion and also allow others to define the meaning of his words in a potentially less than constructive fashion.
His comments do provide and worthy path for reflection but I am not certain they will be taken in the spirit they were intended.
>
Vatican Radio - October 17, 2013
Pope Francis at Mass calls for greater openness
Sounds good - now, will the Pope request that of the Muslims out there?
Of course, we know what the reply would be.
Crusades II - the only question is will it happen before, during, or after CW-II.
Whew, we’ve got a lot on our plate.
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