VATICAN CITY (CNS) – People who act shocked that a priest would bless a gay couple but have no problem with him blessing a crooked businessman are hypocrites, Pope Francis said.
“The most serious sins are those that are disguised with a more ‘angelic’ appearance. No one is scandalized if I give a blessing to an entrepreneur who perhaps exploits people, which is a very serious sin. Whereas they are scandalized if I give it to a homosexual – this is hypocrisy,” he told the Italian magazine Credere.
The interview was scheduled for publication Feb. 8, but Vatican News reported on some of its content the day before when the magazine issued a press release about the interview.
A less hypocritical Catholic Church would be nice. I wish Francis luck, he’ll need it to push the right wing of the church to be less shitty.
I’ll take one that actually does something about it’s pedo problem.
Its not a pedo problem; it’s an employee benefit
But why would anyone beome a priest then?
I am an (agnostic) atheist, but let’s be clear: not all priests are pedophiles, this is a huge exaggeration. But I still think they should be able to marry and have children, like normal people. And I believe that this would at least stop some of them doing pedophilic acts.
Pedos are going to pedo, but if you only recruit from an audience of people that are actively trying to avoid romantic adult relationships, I imagine going to have a higher percentage of pedos in that group.
By allowing priests to marry, be LGBTQ+, etc, you’re going to have fewer open seats at the alter for pedos.
I would even challenge that pedos are going to pedo. Obviously there’s no research on this, but are pedos only attracted to children? Are all pedophiles also rapists? I find that hard to believe. I think that “child molesting priests” are an intersection of priest, pedophile, rapist, and sexually frustrated.
If the wikipedia page is accurate: some pedophiles are only attracted to children ("exclusive pedophiles), but some are also attracted to adults; and not all pedophiles commit rape.
No, not all pedophile are rapist but almost all consume materials that were produced by raping children. One problem is that there are only a few programs that actually targeting helping pedophiles to deal with their condition. So we leave them on their own to figure out how to deal with their condition.
but almost all consume materials that were produced by raping children.
So what’s your take on lolicon?
It would also help if church would actually punish (by assisting police investigation) and kick out offenders instead of covering up and moving them around.
But Lemmy only deals in extremes. Like AcAB
That’s a bad example since it’s true
All the nuns you can eat
Please elaborate
Nun of yo damn buisness.
A less hypocritical Catholic Church would be nice.
Then we’ll have to wait for the next pope I guess. “Turn the other cheek” isn’t really compatible with victim blaming.
My family is super Catholic & conservative. They hate the Pope and it’s so weird - growing up in Catholic school, one good thing I’ll say is that we were educated in almost every aspect of that religion and its history.
So even though I can’t remember the last time I was in a church, I do remember shit like “the pope can talk to god”.
Now, of course it’s bullshit, but I have to assume that’s the premise we start from here. If so, shut the fuck up. He talks to god. End of story.
And somewhat related - they’re MAGA types. They like their dictators. Fuck off. This is what you get.
Yeah, before my grandma passed, she was a devout roman catholic, and even earned some award for her service to the church (she still volunteered in her mid 90s)
But, when the pope was criticizing Trumps border concentration camps, she said, “The pope needs to mind his own business.” It’s wild.
She wasn’t a Maga type, but she was absolutely a bigot and not a nice person.
The only moral [disagreement with the Vatican] is my [disagreement with the Vatican].
I think that many of these types see Trump as God himself (or Jesus maybe) so his views outrank the pope. That’s how much of an unhinged cult MAGA has become.
Pretty hilarious that the pope, they guy sitting in a golden throne, is saying that the worst sins are made by people who pretend to be angelic.
Yeha man, look at how corrupt the Vatican is and what it pretends to be.
Shameless.
It’s better for a good man to take up a morally bereft throne than for him to yield the position on principle to an equally morally bereft man.
Pope Francis may not be perfect, but the facts are that he’s still making progress considered unheard of by Vatican standards and he still leads one of the world’s biggest religious sects that very sorely needs the progress.
Oh, you sweet summer child. He’s just making sure his religion still has followers in the coming generations in which homosexuality will be totally normalized. This is marketing, it’s all planned. This is just the Vatican figuring out how to stay relevant and powerful for generations to come.
Isn’t it curious how this religion keeps adapting to the moral views of the majority? They know the homophobic generations are about to die, this is calculated.
Do you think the pope is allowed to say whatever he wants?
Oh, you sweet summer child
Fact is, Christianity is getting less bigoted. Does it matter if it’s a calculated move by the Vatican or one man using his authority to call out immorality?
Insult me all you like. The end result is the same
I didn’t insult you at all. Yes, it does matter to me because this strategy means they’ll gain popularity with newer generations and will still push their other bigoted ideals until they no longer satisfy the majority.
The fact they are in power is harmful. It is a power structure that protects pedophiles and steals money from people. So yes, it is concerning for me that they are planning how to stay relevant and powerful.
It’s very painful to see how people think this pope is a good guy instead of what he actually is, the head of a corrupted organization.
It’s a facade, they just find the guy that will follow the role they need in order to stay powerful and keep the money coming in. He’s just following the role he’s meant to follow.
I have seen with my own eyes a priest stealing money from a person living in conditions of poverty. Made the person pay for groceries and then left in his truck. The person was so brainwashed that she got mad when my mother tried to talk sense into her.
Fuck that organization, specially the head of the organization.
Ok, so a heavily bigoted organization with their fingers in governments across the globe is better to you? The Vatican isn’t going away buddy.
What you’re saying is essentially that you’d rather a completely evil and corrupt organization influencing global politics than a reasonable but still immoral and slightly more popular organization doing the same.
Either way, this argument doesn’t matter. I don’t care for catholics either. It’s a whole other thing to actively sneer at the group for adopting more tolerant policies.
Have fun with that.
They are already an evil and bigoted organization with fingers in governments across the globe, regardless of whatever this pope says. The pope is just a marketing tool.
That may be true. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s markedly less likely that some gay kids are going to be bullied. Or that some homosexual couples are going to be denied a marriage certificate.
You seem to be missing the forest for the trees.
Anyway, this discussion is pointless. I’m out
Better him than good for nothing SJWs who are whining non stop
SJWs? 2016 wants its buzzword back.
Woke people then. So 2024.
still catholic. still the pope. no matter how progressive he may seem.
I mean…yeah? Did you think progress was going to come from the outside? Someone’s gotta make an effort to steer the ship the right way.
Right? Credit where credit’s due
What do you think would happen if he just came out and blessed gay marriage?
They’d claim he’s possessed by a demon and disappear him.
There’s no progressive religion (I am not including Buddhism). They all say that their religion promotes peace and tolerance but they still believe in what written in their sacred book and won’t change a thing.
Yer name is not checkin out here tbh
deleted by creator
You’ve misunderstood me. I enjoyed your reply and was saying your name doesn’t describe you.
My mistake.
Fucks sake im so tired of you jaded militant shitbirds. It is constantly 120% with you fucks. Its always “agree with my personal breakdown of reality and morality or you are all complete garbage” nonsense. Progress doesnt happen on your schedule you shithead.
Nuance and context motherfucker. Do you understand it?
He is the current leader of a 2000 year old pedophile ring (the largest to ever exist) that owns its own gold plated city/country.
Fuck off with this defense of traditional bullshit. Progress doesn’t happen in tiny steps, it happens all at once with violence and bloodshed. Have you learned nothing from history?
Maybe this will make people finally stop calling him “the cool pope?”
It’s all lip service. He’s no better than any of the others. He just talks a good game.
Why ? isn’t that good, blessing people because they love each other ? did I misunderstand something ?
Maybe I’m the one misreading? It seemed to me like he was saying being gay is still wrong, just not as wrong as being a crooked businessman because it involves love.
Which makes him the cool pope, because after everything else he’s still the pope. Calling him cool pope was never about him being okay with gay marriage and always about him being less anti-gay than for example the absolutely horrendous pope Benedict.
And him having fighting words with more anti-love bishops does frame him as “the most progressive among his group of regressives”.
It’s the fucking catholic church, don’t expect them to be sane.
“Less of a bigot” makes him cool?
And has he changed his mind about reporting child abuse to the church rather than the police?
I mean couldn’t we just call him ‘marginally better Pope’ or something?
Old irrelevant fuck continues to try and rehabilitate a dying organization’s image before the history books can slam shut on its chapter. Tear down the churches and build something useful instead, that’s a lot of wasted space in cities across the world.
Don’t actually tear down church buildings though.
Many of them are beautiful and even if the morals of the Organisation(s) that built them are, to put it mildly, “outdated”, it is still a huge part of our cultural history.
Use the spaces to open “sexual health centers” (like Planned Parenthood on steroids), libraries, and in like 1 or 2 per continent you could create memorial centers to keep alive the memories of the suffering created by organized, doctrinal religion.
Moving past a phase of our cultural development has to include remembering that phase. The church buildings turned to useful purpose will be powerful monuments.
I’m not a religious person, but I think some views in this thread are coming off a bit narcissistic and ignorant. Religion has been a large part of humanity for literally forever, and people can’t expect it to just go away completely. People turn to religion for comfort, often when they won’t receive it in other ways. There will always be someone in the world who needs religion, and we all need to coexist. The important thing here is he is attempting to drive his members to be empathetic and improve moral compass. Just be grateful for that at least. People expect too much.
I’m not a religious person, but I think some views in this thread are coming off a bit narcissistic and ignorant.
I encountered something similar in another Lemmy instance a couple of weeks ago with someone who believes all Christianity is bad, period.
The irony is, it’s the very same black-and-white thinking one would expect from a religious fundamentalist.
(Some Christian denominations are liberal, LGBTQ-friendly and not at all like that, such as United Church of Christ and Unity.)
you never would have heard this come from the church, let alone the Pope 20 years ago. I don’t know why people can’t be happy that at least one religion is at least trying to be relevant and adapt to the times, and be more tolerant and inclusive. can’t say the same about every religion unfortunatly
I don’t want them to adapt, I want them abandoned and left in the Bronze Age.
Well we don’t always get what we want. Life isn’t fair like that I don’t mean to start an argument I’m not religious either and also get upset at people hiding their own bigotry behind religion but looking down on others for having different beliefs is in of itself biggoted no?
Depends on the belief. Do they think that 2 + 2 equals 5? I’m not going to respect that. Do they argue for facts that are, from a sense of logic, mutually exclusive? Or something that we have empirical evidence against? Doesn’t make much sense. Do they support an idea that, while not impossible, we only have very limited evidence for? That’s a kind of personal belief I can respect, as long as they’re aware of its epistemological frailty. Is it an idea that could be possible, even though we have limited evidence for, and actively harms society? Then I’m back to not respecting it, for different reasons.
Agreed, I don’t think that’s what the comment I replied to was talking about though.
When God says something is incorrect, that doesn’t change because people have become modern and adapt to the times. An act of abomination is still an abomination. How few stand on the side of God today!
Not a Christian anymore, but I strongly remember being taught that Jesus said that through him all are saved.
Everyone.
Not, “everyone except Brian over there”.
E V E R Y O N E
I don’t care if the Bible says “gay=bad”; in my mind that’s just another sin on a mountain of shit because if Jesus, the son of God, says everyone is saved through him, then everyone is saved through him. No exceptions.
I believe Jesus also said
Matthew 7:5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
So maybe we should focus on our own paths in life rather than someone else’s life decision that has 0 bearing on whether you or I go to heaven or hell?
I mean why people are so obsessed with what people do in their own home, on their own dime, and their own time is beyond me.
Christofacists just want to control others. They don’t care what Jesus said. They don’t want to FOLLOW Jesus, They want to BE Jesus and tell others how to live.
I’m not a Christian but okay. I believe Jesus would stand on God’s side and not go against His rulings. When people state truth that others don’t want to accept, they can be verbally attacked. They have the right to say their truth as well.
Religion has been a large part of humanity for literally forever, and people can’t expect it to just go away
Don’t crush my dreams like that.
Just keep pushing for a better society that doesn’t need to lean on religion for comfort, and that dream may come true. But not forcing people to abandon things. That just makes resentment.
Well spirituality will never go away but we can still try to shape our society in such a way that keeps institutions like the church from gaining massive power.
You are the dream crusher
and people can’t expect it to just go away completely.
At least 79% went away. Only 1% of my country’s population visited churches for christmas. For 20% of people who claim to belive in something other than sky fossil I have no data.
Your puny country does not represent the whole world.
Millions of people is a pretty good dataset for statistical reliability. That country can be considered a useful example of what’s possible.
No. One country is not diverse enough.
Why not? What are your assumptions about diversity in the context of the range of emotions and political tendencies?
How is this case political?
Again, one country’s population does not represent 7 billion people. That is a fact. Those who say otherwise should check their math’s grade.
Is it a fact because you want it to be, or are you some kind of statistics savant? It doesn’t represent the planet anthropologically, but it does psychologically, and whether it is possible for a population to drop organized religion is about brains not tradition.
Celibate crossdresser, head of notorious pedophile network, weighs in on gay marriage.
Uhhh, leave celibates and cross dressing out of this but otherwise, yes.
The entire Catholic church needs to be shut down at this point and their pious, faithful people can start a new religion if they want to.
I’m not denigrating celibates or crossdressers, just drawing attention to the fact that the whole thing is deeply weird.
As a man who wears a skirt, I’d appreciate it if you left cross dressing out of it - the pope wears traditional masculine garb… it’s just uncommon in the modern day.
Honestly, though, the concept of gendered garb can probably go the way of the dodo. Clothes serve a minor functional purpose and mostly are focused on the aesthetic - people should just wear what they like.
Christianity is deeply weird. They ritualisticly canabalize their god.
They can also confer magical powers on dihydrogen monoxide.
I don’t like that popes exist. I’m pretty sure if we took proper care of all people, religion would poof away in short order. That said, if popes have to exist this guy is a wonderful Pope. He’s not dismantling the place from the inside or anything but he is pushing them to be decent people. He’s pushing them to make more sympathetic decisions. We just look at this more shocking public statements and go well f*** yeah why doesn’t everybody say this, but for him in the position where he is he doesn’t have to and it’s kind of a big deal that he does.
He’s still calling birth control “morally unacceptable”, continuing the anti-condom and therefore pro-aids rhethoric of the church.
anti-condom and therefore pro-aids
That’s like saying someone is anti ending humanity and therefore pro suffering
Some weeks back he also put Marxism in a good light. He’s been unusually based lately.