Pope Francis, on Gay Catholic Priests, Inquires, "Who am I to judge?"

le Roi-Soleil

le Roi-Soleil

PokéBeach Staff Alumnus
Member

Well, what are your opinions on Pope Francis' growing tolerance towards athiests, the LGBT Community, and other minorities? Do you think Pope Francis is doing the "right" thing? If not, what do you think should be done?

Personally, I think this is simply FABULOUS! I have gained a bit of respect for Francis, but I am still apathetic towards the Catholic Church. Francis seems to want to erase the hideous traits of his predecessors (absolute intolerance, bigotry) and he is taking a much more humble approach to the Papacy, which, in my opinion, is a wonderful thing. I would say he has progressively moved the church forward by a few decades (or, cough, centuries) by showing the people that the archaic laws of the RCC are outdated. He is leading the Church to respect human life.

Opinions? Post them here.
 
Tbh, I'm in conflict as per my opinion on the current Pope. I like him, and all of his ideas, but there's that competitive side to me...
I feel like I'm being coddled to, seeing how the Pope is a voice for free rights, which I do not mind. I was kind of looking forward to fighting for those myself.
Not to mention, I also feel like it's kind of sad; the fact that it takes some with the power like the Pope to finally speak some sense into a lot of people.
 
Haunted Water said:
the fact that it takes some with the power like the Pope to finally speak some sense into a lot of people.
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Hoo boy, prepare for some major disappointment.
 
It's really nice to see a religious leader of his prestige come out and say this. It's actually really shocking to me, and I can only wonder what kind of reaction all the members of the catholic church around the world have after hearing this. It's a really bold statement for him to make, especially as the head and vision of a faith that has scorned and completely judged homosexuals for so long.

At least Catholicism is heading in the direction they should have always been following on this topic: loving all people for who they are. That's the christian way, afterall.
 
Haunted Water said:
Not to mention, I also feel like it's kind of sad; the fact that it takes some with the power like the Pope to finally speak some sense into a lot of people.
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This.
Actually, I don't get why the pope is considered to have any sort of power at all, but...
It's a step forward, but it's a baby step. It's a little bit like when a kid hands you their bajillionth stupid crayon drawing and you can finally sort of tell what animal it is. That's great and all, but it's still a stupid crayon drawing. The catholic church has a ton more advancing and cleaning up to do.
 
Rusty Sticks said:
Haunted Water said:
the fact that it takes some with the power like the Pope to finally speak some sense into a lot of people.
Click to expand...

Hoo boy, prepare for some major disappointment.
Click to expand...

I've been prepared. I don't put much faith in people to renounce arrogant ideas to be disappointed.
 
Problem, homophobes?
 
It's funny, I don't remember him being that progressive when he was bishop here, I heard stuff about him wanting to mix things up a little in vatican, but I didn't saw this coming. Well, Let's hope he gets lucky.
Hehe, I used to joke about him and kids, altar boys, the classic stuff; it's the easy joke one can make with catholicism... I guess he isn't that bad... I'm glad I was wrong (...I hope to be wrong).
 
Looks like the Pope finally realized that the world is moving on and has him with the back to the wall... It's good to see he begins to be more tolerant and practical.
 
The pope realized.

Does that mean everybody else will follow? No.
 
I think that as time goes on more and more people will kind of back down and realize the absurdity of their predjudice. Maybe they will follow, just not instantly of course. I mean there are so many Catholic priests you hear of that molest little boys that you'd think homosexuality isn't that big of a deal in the church anymore (of course, we know that they're probably no longer ministering after that.) My point being: people, even ministers, are seemingly more comfortable with expressing it, which could mean more people are being accepting of it.
 
It's pretty much a breath of fresh air. It is good to see things changing, even at a slower pace than I would want. But still, change is change.
 
Elite Stride said:
At least Catholicism is heading in the direction they should have always been following on this topic: loving all people for who they are. That's the christian way, afterall.
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Dont speak as though its every Catholic that had the same view.
 
Elite Stride said:
...there are so many Catholic priests you hear of that molest little boys that you'd think homosexuality isn't that big of a deal in the church anymore (of course, we know that they're probably no longer ministering after that.)...
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Honey, you are WAY too naive.
Maybe I should expand: priests molesting little boys has nothing to do with homo/heterosexuality. Personally, I think it's a combination of power/domination over the other (kids are impressionable towards high authority figures, especially religious) and sexual frustration derived from celibacy.
As for the other point, the church is famous for covering up molestations and just sending the offending priests to other places. where history repeats again. Some of them even get to rise in the ranks, becoming bishops, etc (even popes, I imagine).
 
r3skyline said:
Elite Stride said:
At least Catholicism is heading in the direction they should have always been following on this topic: loving all people for who they are. That's the christian way, afterall.
Click to expand...

Dont speak as though its every Catholic that had the same view.
Click to expand...

Being the leader and face of the worldwide church, it's more than apropriate to word my statement in terms of 'Catholiscism' in the broad. It's kind of painfully obvious I wasn't saying every Catholic agrees. If you actually read the post, you'll see that I allude to that very point early on.

professorlight said:
Honey, you are WAY too naive.
Maybe I should expand: priests molesting little boys has nothing to do with homo/heterosexuality. Personally, I think it's a combination of power/domination over the other (kids are impressionable towards high authority figures, especially religious) and sexual frustration derived from celibacy.
As for the other point, the church is famous for covering up molestations and just sending the offending priests to other places. where history repeats again. Some of them even get to rise in the ranks, becoming bishops, etc (even popes, I imagine).
Click to expand...

You really think it can never have anything to do with homosexuality whatsoever? You should reconsider where the real naivety might be coming from here...
Homosexuality and molestation are two seperate things, and although your point about power, celibacy and domination is equally as true, a disposition can definitely lead one to act in certain ways. That's unquestionable.
 
Elite Stride said:
professorlight said:
Honey, you are WAY too naive.
Maybe I should expand: priests molesting little boys has nothing to do with homo/heterosexuality. Personally, I think it's a combination of power/domination over the other (kids are impressionable towards high authority figures, especially religious) and sexual frustration derived from celibacy.
As for the other point, the church is famous for covering up molestations and just sending the offending priests to other places. where history repeats again. Some of them even get to rise in the ranks, becoming bishops, etc (even popes, I imagine).
Click to expand...

You really think it can never have anything to do with homosexuality whatsoever? You should reconsider where the real naivety might be coming from here...
Homosexuality and molestation are two seperate things, and although your point about power, celibacy and domination is equally as true, a disposition can definitely lead one to act in certain ways. That's unquestionable.
Click to expand...

Perhaps. I dont have stats or anything to back this up, but, at least by perception, every single case I heard about of a priest molesting little children, it was with boys, so, either the priests are gay, and that has a link to molesting kids (which we know is BS), or molesting is due to separate causes, and priesthood just happens to attract gay people (which is really unlikely). See it this way: at a young age, there is not too much physical differences between boys and girls, besides the obvious, so gender of the victim might not even be a factor for the bastards, just the power trip and the sexual release.
 
How did we get from sharing our thoughts on the pope accepting homosexual clergy to catholic priests' motives for molesting little boys?
 
Although this Pope seems more liberal I still have some doubts...It may be his opinion but let's not forget the convenience of it.
There's a difference between what the Pope thinks from what the Vatican (its members and groups) thinks and from what the believers thinks. That said, the Pope's stand might influence the believers towads tolerance but not that much of the Vatican. The Vatican is like a living entity with its own will and thinking, and a more traditional and conservative one!
A couple years ago, I think, there was a migration from English Anglicans to Roman Catholicism because those Anglicans thought that their Church was becoming too liberal by accepting gay priests and female priests (it wasn't new but I don't remember (probably there was) if there was another issue that they saw as crossing their limits) and what did the Vatican do? It softened and accelerated the process of conversion from Anglicanism to R.Catholicism because those former Anglicans were a large flock that came as a boost to counter the shrinking numbers of catholic believers. It was another Pope that was in charge but I can't stop thinking that the new Pope's words have a side objective of appeasing the gay believers and giving false hopes while there's not going to be any changes at all ( the pope said right after that the ordination of women was to stay as a no-no and while a different topic this may indicate what I've said about no changes). The Pope may say one thing but what the Vatican wants may be a whole different one.
 
Pope Francis a few years ago on gay marriage: “Let us not be naive: this is not simply a political struggle, but it is an attempt to destroy God’s plan. It is not just a bill (a mere instrument) but a ‘move’ of the father of lies who seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.”

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/cardinal_bergoglio_hits_out_at_same-sex_marriage#ixzz2afy6howk

The Catholic church is just trying to give themselves a better image. It's still an extremely corrupt organization. Also, Francis is still condemning homosexuals to hell, he's just saying it in a "nicer" way.
 
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