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Post 26 Nov 2013, 4:36 pm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pos ... litics_pop
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Post 26 Nov 2013, 4:45 pm

Makes you want to become Catholic?
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Post 26 Nov 2013, 5:44 pm

No, but there is something special about this pope.
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Post 18 Dec 2013, 11:45 am

You're not the only one who thinks this way:

http://poy.time.com/

From the outside, it is wonderful to see someone in this position focusing on telling people what they should do, rather than what they shouldn't do. But, of course, I have no skin in this game.
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Post 22 Dec 2013, 2:30 pm

I just had an audience with Pope Francis last Sunday. I was joined by about 75,000 of my closest Italian friends.

After reminding everyone that the church is called to be a house of joy and laying out his reasons as to why he told us all to have a good lunch.

Apparently the Romans are coming out in droves on Wednesdays and Sundays to hear him speak.

I worry for his safety.
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Post 23 Dec 2013, 11:13 am

geojanes wrote:From the outside, it is wonderful to see someone in this position focusing on telling people what they should do, rather than what they shouldn't do. But, of course, I have no skin in this game.
While non-Catholics don't have much invested in the opinions of Popes, it is of interest what they say, simply because millions of Catholics do value papal pronouncements highly. Obviously because I tend to agree with the tenor of what he's saying here, I think it's a good thing that he is, not because I think it matters to the Church or theology, but because it could influence a lot of people.

In that sense, we do have some 'skin in the game', even if we are not Catholic (or even Christian).
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Post 23 Dec 2013, 4:04 pm

danivon wrote:In that sense, we do have some 'skin in the game', even if we are not Catholic (or even Christian).


Oh, I agree, and it's one reason I'm paying attention. I believe that Francis is great and is exactly the kind of person that should be influencing a billion or so Catholics on a compassionate world view. I can't say he's a good pope, though: because that's for Catholics to determine. But I can say that I'm glad he's the one they chose! It's a subtle distinction, I admit.

dag wrote:I worry for his safety.


First, you saw him in Italy? How cool is that? Tell us more. Second, I have to say that I admire that he's out there, mixing it up with the common man. If there's risk involved with that, isn't it worth the risk? Or are you thinking that the threat is coming from somewhere else?
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Post 28 Dec 2013, 4:01 pm

No Geo, I think the threat will come from within, specifically from the mafia and their involvement with the Vatican Bank. You may recall that Pope Benedict started the process of shining a spotlight on the bank and its many cockroaches? He eventually gave up. Pope Francis has taken on this task with vigor hiring outside high end financial institutions to come in and set up systems of accounting that are in every way transparent. He's spending some serious $ to do so. There are many within the northern families who are not happy about it. That's why I worry. Plus he's now looking into the southern families and their involvement with the country's trash disposal.

I was there on a business trip and was able to catch his Angelus address. His talk was wonderful. He basically reminded his bishops, priests and all of us that a punitive approach to the world will never win the world over to what we as Roman Catholics profess. On the contrary, he said the Church is to be a "House of Joy." We are called to be joyful and that one proven pathway toward that joy is to be in service to God's holy people, those in most need.

You also might enjoy this....I have it from a good source that on the day he was elected pope he skipped the traditional dressing ceremony (papal red cape) given to popes for the last 1,500 + years saying, "no boys, the circus is over."

The red cape is symbolic of several ideas including the pope's supremacy over the church as well as the Italian states. Pope Francis basically sent the message that the Pope as King is a model no longer needed in the modern world.
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Post 03 Jan 2014, 3:45 pm

dag hammarsjkold wrote:No Geo, I think the threat will come from within, specifically from the mafia and their involvement with the Vatican Bank. You may recall that Pope Benedict started the process of shining a spotlight on the bank and its many @#$!? He eventually gave up. Pope Francis has taken on this task with vigor hiring outside high end financial institutions to come in and set up systems of accounting that are in every way transparent. He's spending some serious $ to do so. There are many within the northern families who are not happy about it. That's why I worry. Plus he's now looking into the southern families and their involvement with the country's trash disposal.


I only had a vague notion of any of this. A worthwhile account of the Vatican Bank is on Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_the_Works_of_Religion
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Post 03 Jan 2014, 3:53 pm

dag hammarsjkold wrote:You also might enjoy this....I have it from a good source that on the day he was elected pope he skipped the traditional dressing ceremony (papal red cape) given to popes for the last 1,500 + years saying, "no boys, the circus is over."

The red cape is symbolic of several ideas including the pope's supremacy over the church as well as the Italian states. Pope Francis basically sent the message that the Pope as King is a model no longer needed in the modern world.


I do enjoy that.

There is no place for monarchy anywhere in the world of today. The fact that it remains tolerated, if attenuated, in England (and the Commonwealth), the Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, etc. I find astounding. The pope is from the New World: I'm not that surprised he rejects such trappings.