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Post by hibernicus on Mar 20, 2024 21:28:54 GMT
PRIVATE EYE was referring specifically to Pope Francis's unfortunately-worded suggestion that Ukraine should negotiate with Russia - they include some "revised" Gospel texts rewritten to praise Putin. (Come to think of it, this is not too far removed from the Vatican's disgraceful recent dealings with the Chinese government.) That said, the anti-intellectualism, presentation of mercy as opposed to justice, and general arbitrariness we have seen in certain circumstances under this pontificate have produced much wider problems.
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Post by hibernicus on Apr 4, 2024 21:21:48 GMT
Something that puzzles me - some Catholic sites are making a big song and dance about the fact that Peter's Pence mostly goes to fund the running of the Vatican rather than on pontifical charities, as if this was some sort of embezzlement linked to Pope Francis. The Peter's Pence collection was established in the C19 as a voluntary offering to replace the revenues formerly provided by the Papal States. Its primary purpose has always been to fund the administration of the Holy See. Why is this an issue?
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Post by hibernicus on Apr 7, 2024 21:52:54 GMT
The new issue of CATHOLIC VOICE reprints Archbishop Chaput's recent FIRST THINGS article which argues that while Pope Francis's pontificate has positive aspects it was badly flawed by resentment - directed particularly (and to some extent understandably given the Latin American experience) towards the Americans who are seen as embodying hegemonic colonialism, so that their opponents (China, Russia etc) are seen with relative sympathy.
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Post by hibernicus on Aug 21, 2024 20:45:22 GMT
Two examples of Francis Derangement Syndrome I have noticed recently: (1) A certain Catholic site which I will not name published an article by a person with medical credentials claiming that Pope Francis has appointed so many homosexuals to various positions that he must be homosexual himself. Much of the article is taken up with a classical Freudian exposition of the alleged causes of homosexuality without any evidence that Pope Francis has experienced any of them, and its argument such as it is rests on the claim that normal men feel instinctive revulsion in presence of homosexual males. This reads like sheer prejudice, and I might add that it is often considered a breach of medical ethics to diagnose someone you haven't met or examined. (2) In his recent rant to a neo-nazi interviewer, Justin Barrett gives as exemplifying the Church's corruption that the Pope washed the feet of Nigerians. No doubt Justin would consider as even more corrupt Someone who washed the feet of Jews, and was a Jew Himself. It's dangerous to denounce Francis indiscriminately, lest we find ourselves making common cause with such slanderers.
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