Pope Francis

I don't care much about religion, but as an Argentinian I'm interested in knowing what people from other countries think about the new Pope.

I am in the United States. People here are very excited and happy. I have heard from our media here:

He is the first non-European pope. He is of Italian decent, humble and living a life without luxuries, dedicated to helping the poor and building churches for the poor communities. He is very well liked and admired by the other cardinals. Having spent all his life in Argentina he is not until now part of the Church politics in Rome, although he is considered a good and tested leader, and a person of knowledge and education. He likes opera, has taught several subjects, and majored in chemistry. So, he seems a very good choice. I'm not Catholic, but I can appreciate the process and historic and worldly significance of the new pope.

Anti abortion, anti gay marriage, poking his nose into where it doesn't belong... New boss looks much like the old boss.

Personally, I can't stand anything to do with the institution of child abuse and cover ups or those who'd want to put their face to it. Disgusting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_sex_abuse_cases

After some of the initial reports from the media circus, I really wanted to like him.

But then I read this quote of his from a few years back:

"Women are naturally unfit for political office. Both the natural order and facts show us that the political being par excellence is male; the Scripture shows us that woman has always been the helper of man who thinks and does, but nothing more."

https://www.examiner.com/article/pope-francis-misogyny-homophobia-bigotry

So - nothing to see here, folks. Business as usual at the Vatican.

Well unfortunately Bob, not to defend the church (who I still hate btw), but apparently that "quote" was made up: http://fatherangel.tumblr.com/post/45353964464/pope-francis-a-misogynist

However, still doesn't change the fact he's against gays and safe sex methods. Apparently he labelled children of gay parents as being discriminated against by said parents!

Don't call me Francis

[QUOTE] [b]Panchgani wrote:[/b]

Don't call me Francis[/QUOTE]

If Queenzone is like a foot, you are our big toe ...

[QUOTE] [b]Donna13 wrote:[/b]

I am in the United States. People here are very excited and happy. I have heard from our media here:

He is the first non-European pope. He is of Italian decent, humble and living a life without luxuries, dedicated to helping the poor and building churches for the poor communities. He is very well liked and admired by the other cardinals. Having spent all his life in Argentina he is not until now part of the Church politics in Rome, although he is considered a good and tested leader, and a person of knowledge and education. He likes opera, has taught several subjects, and majored in chemistry. So, he seems a very good choice. I'm not Catholic, but I can appreciate the process and historic and worldly significance of the new pope.[/QUOTE]

He's not the first non-European pope. There have been three from Africa, one from (present day) Turkey and six from Syria.

http://www.geographictravels.com/2013/02/map-of-non-european-popes.html

Yes, more recently they are reporting that he is the "first non-European pope in one thousand years". Also, apparently he never finished his chemistry degree, because of illness.

I think he seems to be a more lively and confident type of person than recent popes. His choice to be named after St. Francis of Assisi is interesting. He is maybe making a statement about church finances and helping the poor.

[QUOTE] [b]Holly2003 wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]Panchgani wrote:[/b]

Don't call me Francis[/QUOTE]

If Queenzone is like a foot, you are our big toe ...[/QUOTE]

Thanks. I may be too modest, but I think that there are much bigger toes on Queenzone. LOL

I could continue this movie quoting game, but I would have to resort to cheating (googling).

I read the debunking of that quote Thursday am on snopes, which is the first place I went after reading the quote on a blog because it was fairly patently absurd given the sentiments, the context, and Pope Francis' position in Argentina. It did make me lol that it was apparently a Mexican atheist organization that was the first big vector of dissemination with their 18,000 followers and 11,000+ shares of the quote. First rule of "critical thinking": be arsed to check sources. Second rule: if it's 'Yahoo Answers' maybe dig a little deeper.

Of the pundits' comments and information on the positions and record of the new Pope my favourite was Piers Morgan's: "He is known to be, duh, anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage." Fairly predictable in the Catholic hierarchy in their golden years set!

He seems like a very warm engaging man who cares for the poor. OK, so he is going to be a bit backward on some important issues like the treatment of women in the church and homosexuality, but that's a given at this point unfortunately with the Catholic Church. However if he could make a real difference to the world's poor or something like that, well he could still have a productive papacy in my view. Maybe when a few more of the oldies die off we'll see real reform and maybe then the church could become relevant to most of the developed world.

Up until this past week, the Vatican stood with the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran and other extremists in opposition to the UN’s attempt to end violence against women worldwide. Specifically, they objected to language in the new UN statement which indicated that no religion, custom or tradition can be used as an excuse to ignore a government’s obligation to eliminate violence against women – including by permitting husbands to rape their wives.

By opposing this non-binding UN statement, the Vatican, like the Muslim Brotherhood, has insisted their abusive practices are put before (read that, ‘in place of’) the advancement of women. Of course, their intent to continue the oppression and abuse of women is not a surprise, but it is disturbing nevertheless.

When – if – this new pope shows leadership, fairness and common sense by withdrawing the Vatican’s objection to this – especially now that it has passed despite the attempts to thwart it – then, maybe, we can start to form opinions of him and where he might lead the catholic church. Until then, in my opinion, he is little more than another bigot in another position of power.

If I might take this opportunity:

I am abhorred by the fact that the supposedly civilized and secular western world, whilst acknowledging that theocratic regimes have no legitimacy in the Middle East, still recognizes the Vatican as a WORLDLY STATE led by an absolute monarch that is welcome to send ambassadors (called nuntii) to the governments of the world. I have no right to deny Catholics their spiritual leader, but I am firmly of the opinion that the Vatican as a worldly state has unacceptable diplomatic and political means at its disposal to influence foreign governments, and that the Vatican should no longer be recognized as a wordly state, and that its nuntii are an unacceptable form of religious interference with democratic government.

"I have no right to deny Catholics their spiritual leader"

Well I do, and if I had the power to back it up I would.

Man, if I could address those maggots directly, I'd have a field day. It's about God, and it's not about money? Fine then, guys - let's melt all this gold 'n' shit down and turn the entire basilica into housing for the poor. And let's see about overturning their tax free status.