Francis blessed by Archbishop of Canterbury

http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2014/06/francis-bows-his-head-to-receive.html ^

[piusv]

It is not remotely surprising that the Archbishop of Canterbury should desire to bless the Pope of Rome, but the humble attitude of His Holiness in accepting it has caused something of a stir among Roman Catholic traditionalists:

[ebb tide]

But we do know there are many souls are in Hell. Do you agree with that?

[Albion Wilde]

BTW, my Confirmation Name, Benedicta, is by happy coincidence a pun in Latin: it means both "Blessed" and "Well spoken" ...Bene-dicta. :o) .. a hopeful thought!

Well said, Benedicta! It fits!

To be clearer about my above wording, perhaps it's not a matter of whether people think it's Biblically okay to pray individually; but whether they actually take up the personal responsibility to be in prayer, rather than a passive desire to be prayed for by officials an in official capacities, taking a sense of righteousness from endorsing all the technicalities that go with officialdom, without the humility and vulnerability that come with deep conversion to Christ.

I think I may have said this to you before, but I estimate the average number of true converts to Christ in any RC or P/E congregation at about 10%. The rest are going through the motions. Better to go through the motions there than at a gym or tavern, I guess.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I assumed that if you made an assertion, you could back it up; but I googled these keywords without quotes,

Pope Francis refused to give a public blessing to an audience for fear of offending non-believers

and didn't find any quote where he said this or anything equivalent. So I can see why you decline to back up your own assertion.

At first I thought you were unwilling. Now I see evidence that you're unable.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I assumed that if you made an assertion, you could back it up; but I googled these keywords without quotes,

Pope Francis refused to give a public blessing to an audience for fear of offending non-believers

and didn't find any quote where he said this or anything equivalent. So I can see why you decline to back up your own assertion.

At first I thought you were unwilling. Now --- unless I see evidence --- it's more probable that you're unable.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Jesus said so. I agree with Jesus.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Sherry Wedell's book "Intentional Disciples" reports woefully low numbers of real converts to Christ vs habitual pewsitters, based on what looks like a ton of legitimate surveys, interviews, and heart-to-heart talks (which she does in the course of "Discipleship" conferences, retreats and suchlike, held over many years in many states.)

I was appalled when I read this, could hardly believe it, but saw that she had better grounds for generalization than I did.

[Legatus]

google the following:

Since many of you do not belong to the Catholic Church and others are non-believers, from the bottom of my heart I give this silent blessing to each and every one of you, respecting the conscience of each one of you but knowing that each one of you is a child of God.

[Legatus]

Wait... there’s more to the quote, it apparently concludes with “May God bless all of you,” and not where I ended it in the earlier post.

[ebb tide]

Thank-you for making the attempt. Now please try to Google this:

“Since many of you do not belong to the Catholic Church and others are non-believers, from the bottom of my heart I give this silent blessing to each and every one of you, respecting the conscience of each one of you but knowing that each one of you is a child of God. May God bless all of you,” Francis, Bishop of Rome

[ebb tide]

You compared giving a pectoral cross to some protestant as the same as giving a rosary to some protestant. You’re comparison is wrong. Every Catholic should know better.

[CTrent1564]

ebb tide:

I think the better question to ask is whether you are a sedevacantist? Only you know the answer to that. It is really a simple question since it only requires a one word answer: yes or no.

[CTrent1564]

Ok, I see later you answered the question. So now we know you are not. Nothing wrong with criticizing the Pope’s administrative and pastoral decisions, as long as it is done charitably.

[ebb tide]

P.S. In the good ol’ days, when bishops and Popes make public blessings, they made the visible sign of the Cross, something Francis seemed ashamed to do for fear of offending non-Catholics and non-believers.

Unlike St. Thomas More, the Man for All Seasons, Pope Francis appears to want to be the Man for All Religions.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Legatus, thank you for your honesty in noting that the Pope did indeed bless these people:

"...each one of you is a child of God. May God bless all of you.”

Ebb tide...

[ebb tide]

Nice try. I said "public" blessing. The pope said, "I give this silent blessing to each and every one of you..." which you so conveniently parsed out.

[Legatus]

Isn’t it kind of weird that the pope made an issue of it being silent then went ahead and said it outloud anyhow? Just weird, not nefarious or sinister.

[ebb tide]

I gave you the full quote in post 69, yet you have chosen to parse it.

[Mrs. Don-o]

1 Corinthians 9:19-21

For though I am free with respect to all,
I have made myself a slave to all,
so that I might win more of them.
To the Jews I became as a Jew,
in order to win Jews.
To those under the law
I became as one under the law
(though I myself am not under the law)
so that I might win those under the law.
To those outside the law
I became as one outside the law
(though I am not free from God’s law
but am under Christ’s law)
so that I might win those outside the law.

To the weak I became weak,
so that I might win the weak.
I have become all things to all people,
that I might by all means save some.
I do it all for the sake of the gospel,
so that I may share in its blessings.

God bless you, ebb tide.

[ebb tide]

Not as weird as seeking public blessings from heretics which is what this thread was about.

He’s afraid of offending non-Catholics and non-believers with a public blessing while he runs around publicly seeking blessings from them.

Please see Romulus’ post 8.

[ebb tide]

Thanks for not parsing this time.

Dominus tecum