@Bobby Cole you have to know what has happened to the Methodist Church in recent years. There probably are not many people familiar with the Bible still left in that denomination, at least not at the churches Special K would visit. This pope is certainly reckless, and would be more so if he were not kept in check somewhat by the College of Cardinals and the Vatican Administration. The entire Conference of Catholic Bishops in Africa rebelled against the Pope when he spoke of blessing the members of gay unions. Reportedly, that hasn't happened in the Catholic Church in over a thousand years. The bishops released a statement that they simply would not comply/obey the Pope on this matter. I don't think it was covered in the Western media at all.
Your following and grasp of the Roman Catholic church is much better than my own so I do indeed thank you for the information. The one thing though that grinds my gears about ANY theologian who says “pick the lesser of two evils” is that there is no such thing. That’s like saying, let’s pick the person whose sins are lesser than the other. I guess if one person commits murder and another person stole a pencil from work, from a humanistic view the murderer is the most sinful but a theologian shouldn’t be so inclined to think in those terms because ANY sin, large or small is still a condemning sin. It would have been much better if the Pope had said, “choose the person who is best for the country and can admit that he need’s God and His grace to lead him or her. lesser of two evils…..hmphhhhh.
I also often wonder what the Pope actually says since English is not his first language, and, although he can speak and read several languages, I don't know in what language the statement was made and what may have changed in translation. As far as my following of Catholic stuff, I just pay attention to stuff others often don't. I left Methodism when the discipline was published supporting abortion and denouncing homeschooling, both serious points for me, in the 1990s. I have attended many different denominations from Nazarene and Church of God churches, to Roman Catholic and Lutheran. I even dated two women who later became Methodist ministers. I don't want to stray too far in the thread, but, as I have said, this particular Pope is just a nasty man IMO.
I wonder what the Pope would consider the greater evil: killing babies or not wanting your country to be overrun with immigrants. How many Haitians is the Vatican taking in?
Maybe Pope Francis ought to be opining about the politics of his native country of Argentina before commenting on ours. Also, someone should remind him that America has welcomed more immigrants than both Argentina and Italy/the Vatican has...AS LONG AS THEY CAME HERE THROUGH THE PROPER CHANNELS...and not trying to sneak into America undetected,
When I was a kid, I remember the power the Catholic church wielded. I had many Catholic friends growing up and all the catechisms, confessions, masses, etc. were a way of life for them. None dared to eat meat on Friday and women could not enter church without a head covering. People stayed in bad marriages because there was no divorce for Catholics. Back then, whatever the Pope said was as revered as the word of God. In today's world of abortions, divorces, LGBTQRSTUV, yadda-yadda, I don't think many Americans pay much attention to him at all. The Church has had to bend a lot to keep the congregations from abandoning them.
It's hard to believe that the support for immigration from the South isn't part of a power grab within the US.
It is and has been for some time. Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles was a big proponent of immigration form the south to boost his congregations and power.