The Catholic Message Board

Over my life, I have noted that when a new Pope is elected a bevy of non-Catholics, lapsed Catholics, pseudo Catholics, and such appear and begin dctating what short of Pope the Church must elect. Their criteria are almost exclusively secular, political, and demanding. The phenomenon extends beyond the election of a Pope and is applied across the governance, theology, and position of the Church.

So, those who denigrate the Church feel entitled to dictate to the Church. As noted, I see such now demanding the Church elect a new Pope according to their druthers. Pretty much the same approach they would use in the election of the members of the Smith County Library Board.

We will find out soon....

Didn't see that coming. An American Pope with a Peruvian diocese with a "traditional" name. Is he gonna be Francis II or something else?

As some have said, we'll find out.

An AMERICAN pope! This wasn't on my bracket!

As an undergraduate, he majored in math....

I math.

Heard he had dual citizenship -- US and Peru. So, is he the first Peruvian-American Pope?

Indubitbly

Highlander wrote: ↑Thu May 08, 2025 11:32 pm Heard he had dual citizenship -- US and Peru. So, is he the first Peruvian-American Pope?

He's a naturalized citizen of Peru so I would not say that he's "Peruvian-American"

One commentator on YouTube, Redeemed Zoomer, who is a Presbyterian put it best when he said yesterday that “The Catholic Church is the main character in history”, this is why the death of a Pope and the election of a successor is given so much attention and coverage. Every person on the planet has a stake in who the Pope is, the papacy affects the life of every person on this planet whether they know it or want to admit. The Pope is the most important and influential office in history.

This is why everyone immediately starts talking about “what kind of Pope” they want to see, because the Pope matters. There is no equivalent figure for Protestants or Orthodox Christians,

anawim wrote: ↑Thu May 08, 2025 4:25 pm As an undergraduate, he majored in math....

So he knows both sin and cos

Doom wrote: ↑Fri May 09, 2025 2:27 pm

anawim wrote: ↑Thu May 08, 2025 4:25 pm As an undergraduate, he majored in math....

So he knows both sin and cos

I don't think I'm going off on a tangent with this, and Major League Baseball seems to be enjoying the unexpected publicity: The new pope was at the 2005 World Series.

peregrinator wrote: ↑Fri May 09, 2025 10:36 am

Highlander wrote: ↑Thu May 08, 2025 11:32 pm Heard he had dual citizenship -- US and Peru. So, is he the first Peruvian-American Pope?

He's a naturalized citizen of Peru so I would not say that he's "Peruvian-American"

American-Peruvian?

Just noted a call for the Pope to denounce the President's immigration actions. That call is not the point; the point is the expectation that the Pope should become involved in US domestic politics ... progressively.

Irenaeus wrote: ↑Sat May 10, 2025 9:46 pm

Doom wrote: ↑Fri May 09, 2025 2:27 pm

anawim wrote: ↑Thu May 08, 2025 4:25 pm As an undergraduate, he majored in math....

So he knows both sin and cos

I don't think I'm going off on a tangent with this, and Major League Baseball seems to be enjoying the unexpected publicity: The new pope was at the 2005 World Series.

Don't know if I can buy that angle.

Highlander wrote: ↑Wed May 14, 2025 11:23 am Just noted a call for the Pope to denounce the President's immigration actions. That call is not the point; the point is the expectation that the Pope should become involved in US domestic politics ... progressively.

Popes speak out about the polices and issues which they believe conflict with Catholic teaching, not just in the United States, but all countries. The Popes have done this for decades and will continue to do so; speaking out is their job. This is "not getting involved in American politics."

Now, that being said, one of the things I did not like about Francis is that he not only spoke out as all Popes do, but he seemed to have an animus against the United States in general and Donald Trump in particular. He didn't just criticize certain Trump policies while extending an olive branch for future dialogue, which is how most Popes handle disagreements with an administration. Still, he seemed to delight in personally attacking Donald Trump, in a way that is very uncharacteristic of a Pope. Even though he didn't mention Trump by name, Francis's comment in 2016 that anyone who wants to build a wall "is not a real Christian" definitely seemed to be directed at Trump, not just a criticism of policy, but a personal attack unprecedented in modern Papal history."

And then, when Francis called Joe Biden "a real Catholic" despite Biden's decades-long public rejection of Catholic moral teachings, is inexplicable except that Francis just wanted to make a completely gratuitous dig at Trump.



Ironically, Francis was a lot like Trump, he tended to go off script and say stuff that seemed offensive and caused the Vatican to back peddle and deny that he meant what it sounded like he said, and he was incredibly thin skinned to criticism and tended to respond to criticism with rather vicious personal attacks.

Doom wrote: ↑Wed May 14, 2025 4:13 pm
Ironically, Francis was a lot like Trump, he tended to go off script and say stuff that seemed offensive and caused the Vatican to back peddle and deny that he meant what it sounded like he said, and he was incredibly thin skinned to criticism and tended to respond to criticism with rather vicious personal attacks.

I didn't hear the actual sound bite, but according to Raymond Arroyo, when Pope Francis died, after the funeral, a reporter asked Cdl. Paroline how he felt, he reportedly responded, "relieved". It seems that Francis was not easy to work for because you never knew what was going to come out of his mouth. Talk about making a mess.

Trump and Pope Francis both are/were populists.

Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote: ↑Wed May 14, 2025 7:51 pm Trump and Pope Francis both are/were populists.

Was definitely odd when Pope Francis said that populism was bad

peregrinator wrote: ↑Wed May 14, 2025 8:22 pm

Obi-Wan Kenobi wrote: ↑Wed May 14, 2025 7:51 pm Trump and Pope Francis both are/were populists.

Was definitely odd when Pope Francis said that populism was bad

Which is actually typical of populists, "I'm not a populist but the people who oppose me are" is characteristic of populists.