Posted on 05/27/2019 3:25:59 PM PDT by ebb tide
ROME - As Europe continues to see a decline in Mass attendance and a rise in populist leaders with harsh anti-migrant policies, including in some majority Catholic countries, Church leaders have said they face an uphill battle, especially when it comes to Pope Francis’s push to welcome and assist migrants and refugees.
“We are no longer the majority in Europe as Christians and Catholics. Not cultural Catholics, but truly those who believe in the Gospel,” Jesuit Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg and president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, told journalists May 27.
Speaking at the presentation of Francis’s message for the Sept. 29 World Day for Migrants and Refugees, Hollerich said the Church in Europe is “not in a good situation” since many young people especially are drifting farther from the pews, making reception of the pope’s message more difficult as European leaders increasingly sing a different tune.
RELATED: Pope blasts fearful, ‘racist’ attitude toward migrants
Though a “detailed analysis” on this weekend’s elections for European Parliament has yet to be done, Hollerich noted that many traditionally Catholic nations voted for candidates who promote policies opposed to those of Francis, such as Poland, Hungary and Italy.
Yet despite the difficulty, he said the pope’s appeal for migrants and refugees has not fallen on deaf ears, but was taken up by the many bishops and clergy leading communities on the ground, and that without the pope’s message, “the results would be worse.”
“One thing to have clear is that we don’t do politics, we don’t have an opportunist attitude, but we as bishops must proclaim the Gospel of Christ. And, in this Gospel, this welcome of the poor, migrants, vulnerable, marginalized, is a central part of the Gospel,” he said, noting that while populist candidates gained significant votes in some nations, they lost votes in countries where they previously had the lead.
“So, the people saw that one thing is word, another is action,” Hollerich said, adding that on the situation of Christianity in Europe as a whole, he sees himself as “a realist,” but “I am also always optimistic.”
Similarly, Jesuit Father Michael Czerny, undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugees section of the Vatican department for Integral Human Development, referenced the discrepancy in seeing Catholic countries vote against the policies Francis is promoting, saying the number of Christians who actually live out the Gospel has always been a minority.
“That’s probably the way it has been and will always be,” he said, but noted that there are also a great number of people, both Christians non-Christians, who have responded positively to the pope’s message, and have even welcomed migrants into their homes.
“It might not translate into overwhelming votes, but it does translate into real action and real welcome,” Czerny said, adding that the pope’s message is aimed at “the whole person, not just the part of the person that reacts to media or political messaging.”
“It’s cheap and easy to whistle, but it means much more when someone opens their homes and their hearts to the stranger,” he said, voicing his belief that there is a need to focus more on what is being done, rather than “just on the exchange of slogans.”
Ping
The church should not push social justice/ multiculturalism.
That’s NOT what James Joyce was talking about.
Looking back through history, many Popes led the fight against the muslim hordes that have been trying to conquer Europe since Mad Mo launched his war against the rest of humanity.
Earth to Pope Francis,they are not “migrants.”
Or did I miss the part where they are assimilating and not dominating?
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>> ... responded positively to the pope’s message, and have even welcomed migrants into their homes.
Let us know how that is working out for you.
If the Vatican wants to be a political force why don’t they have the parishioners vote to see who will be Pope?
Catholic Church leaders are promoting Satan’s Soldiers?
“We don’t do politics.”
But the pope “policy” must be obeyed by every other sovereign country?
How is any of this interference, with propaganda too, not politics?
This what the Francis was focused on today (hint it's not about the salvation of souls):
Pope Calls for Action on Climate Change
Pope Francis on May 27, 2019, repeated his call for action to address climate change. His comments came at the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican, on the occasion of the Meeting “Climate Change and New Evidence from Science, Engineering, and Policy”, organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
The Gospel is about how one is saved.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is news, good news: the best and most important news that any human being ever hears. This Gospel declares the only way to know God in peace, love, and joy is through the reconciling death of Jesus Christ the risen Lord.
There are plenty of thing Jesus urged us to do such as help the poor, but that's not the Gospel, or "living out the Gospel". Out of curiosity I did a search on "live out the Gospel" and found this:
The term “living the gospel” has become a popular one in the past few years, being used by people such as Tim Keller, J.D. Greear, David Platt, and many others. Many variations on the term exist: “living out the gospel,” “living in light of the gospel,” “being the gospel,” and so on. While most people probably hear the terms and skip right past them without a second thought, there are others who have repeatedly and loudly declared opposition to all such uses of the term.Michael Horton is perhaps the best known opponent of such terms, as he connects his view strongly to his stance on Law and Gospel in the Scriptures. Here is a representative quote:
For instance, we often hear calls to “live the Gospel,” and yet, nowhere in Scripture are we called to “live the Gospel.” Instead, we are told to believe the Gospel and obey the Law, receiving God’s favor from the one and God’s guidance from the other. (http://bit.ly/hortonlivethegospel)
And another, cited by Frank Turk from the White Horse Inn radio broadcast:
The Gospel can’t be lived. It’s the Law that’s lived. We obey the commands that we find in Scripture, we do not—the Gospel is not anything for us to do. The Gospel is an announcement for us to take to the world, and on the basis of that Gospel we do live differently in the world, but that isn’t itself the content of the Gospel: it is the effect of the Gospel.
Is “Living the Gospel” an Acceptable Term?
Anyone using the term "live out the Gospel" is engaging in the usual liberal Christian revisionism of the Bible. There is no such thing.
bfl
This pope and the other dopes quoted in this article are all misguided Jesuits. St. Ignatius Loyola must be spinning in his grave over what these maroons are preaching. They have gone fully over to the dark side.
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