tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1666359425470006829.post4108992299637399588..comments2023-04-28T05:43:48.990-04:00Comments on Traditional Values from an Untraditional Mind: Pope Francis: What will he say next?Joe Trammellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13448308084523866500noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1666359425470006829.post-30456442709256449272014-11-20T10:20:26.668-05:002014-11-20T10:20:26.668-05:00You also say the Church used to persecute people f...You also say the Church used to persecute people for saying that the earth is round or revolving around the sun. This is absolutely false. If you are referring to Galileo, which I believe you are, he was placed under house arrest for trying to ram Copernicus down the throat of Christendom and for being an all around tactless fool offending all the wrong people. This is a very long story which I suggest you research. You'll find that Thomas Huxley (A very prominent Victorian biologist and no friend of Catholics) even sided with the Church on this. It's very much worth the time to look into. It was not science that caused Galileo to be put under house arrest but stupidity bordering on heresy.<br /><br />I'm going to stop here for now. I'll be commenting on the rest of this as I can. I hope I haven't offended you at all in this. That's not my intention but only to make you think. <br />You bring up a lot of good points, but keep an open mind. We're all looking for the same thing, Truth.<br />I look forward to hearing what you have to say.<br />Charlemagnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00852646661799542685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1666359425470006829.post-53919939988496717312014-11-20T10:19:58.434-05:002014-11-20T10:19:58.434-05:00You speak of the Church's immense wealth menti...You speak of the Church's immense wealth mentioning in particular the "finery" of cardinals and the pope. By finery I assume you are talking about the sacred vestments a priest wears during Mass. Now I don't have the numbers on what the Pope's wardrobe is worth and neither do you by the looks of it, but that's beside the point. I'll ask you a question. As Catholics, we believe that in all the Churches around the world, and at every Sacrifice of the Mass, Jesus, God, is truly, physically, present. If you were to meet God in person tomorrow would you dress in the absolute best way possible in the finest fabrics and style? Your outward appearance should try to resemble what you wish your soul to look like. Would you spare any expense for the sake of God? I don't think you would. At least you don't sound like it. <br />Another thing, during the Mass, priests are acting "in persona Christi Capitis" or "In the person of Christ the Head". (Look into this. It's worth it) This is hard to explain right here, but you can understand that if someone believed this, they would spare no expense on the sacred vestments. Also, most of the sacred vestments are bought by families or individuals in the Church and given to priests who will then remember the intentions of the persons who donated the vestments. I could talk about this all I want, but I need to move on. One final word, if all the Catholic charities groups lost their funding from the Church, there would a massive, international,humanitarian crises. But that's another story...<br /><br />A very important note regarding my favorite person the Church, Cardinal Burke: He was most definitely not demoted. His term of office had ended and Pope Francis did not renew it. His new position with the Order of Malta will give him a lot more freedom to speak his mind, which may have actually been the intention of the Pope. But he was not "removed" for his traditional views on marriage or anything else.<br /><br />You speak of the previous Popes stance regarding the Theory of Evolution. Granted, the Bible does not mention the Big Bang or anything like that. However, if you were an uneducated peasant or a slave working on pyramids or in the little fishing village, you would think anyone talking about big bangs and the evolution of certain things, etc. etc etc. would be ridiculously insane. While saying that "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" would be a much simpler, believable, and direct approach. We could talk about the seven days creation if you wish. This is very much open to interpretation as 7 has a special place in the Bible. Since there is no one who can interpret this infallibly it's safe to say that there is a Creator who creates we don't know how. <br />It's not like it really matters either. God is God regardless of how He creates.<br />Charlemagnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00852646661799542685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1666359425470006829.post-65801483437182945782014-11-20T10:19:18.693-05:002014-11-20T10:19:18.693-05:00Hey Joe,
You bring up a few good points, but I do...Hey Joe, <br />You bring up a few good points, but I do believe you have been slightly misled in a few places. I'd like to start this off by saying that I'm Catholic and you did not offend me. Mostly because I've heard some of this before and I do believe that you are not trying to offend anyone. <br />Now to begin with, your allegations that Pope Francis did nothing during the captures of the two Argentinian priests is on very shaky ground. There was a lawsuit against him alleging his involvement, but it was dismissed. No one can say for certain that he did nothing "behind the scenes" to obtain for the release of the priests. Just because it looks like nothing came of whatever he tried to do, doesn't mean he didn't try at all. So yes, Pope Francis is controversial, but not necessarily wrong in this respect. <br /><br />You mention his comments regarding Marxism. I don't want to make excuses for anyone, however, whenever directly quoting this Pope, you have to realize that he is not speaking English. I know that the Vatican tries to translate his words as exactly as possible but sometimes this language barrier can lead to confusion. Now I'll say right up front: If that quote is perfectly legitimate, I don't like it. I heartily disagree with it. I believe the critical phrase in the quote is " legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state". But I also believe that the key word here is "benefits". What is meant by that? He may just be speaking of large corporations getting exceptions from taxes while everyone else has to pay. I'm not quite sure where he was going with what he said (remember context), but it does definitely need to be clarified. So again, controversial, but not necessarily wrong. <br />Charlemagnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00852646661799542685noreply@blogger.com