(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Pope Francis tells Catholic German bishops to stop doing the right thing [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-26 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 In a Tuesday interview with the Associated Press, Pope Francis delighted empathetic Catholics by saying that being gay was not a crime. Tamping down the enthusiasm, he also said gay sex was still a sin. And, in a move that will convince religious conservatives he is a godless communist, Francis added that gun violence justified by self-defense had become a habit. And governments needed to address it. In his translated words, “I say when you have to defend yourself, all that’s left is to have the elements to defend yourself. Another thing is how the need to defend oneself lengthens, lengthens, and becomes a habit. Instead of making the effort to help us live, we make the effort to help us kill.” The message is clear. You can either be a second amendment absolutist or pro-life. American conservatives, even the Catholic ones, will ignore his plea — while atheists will congratulate him for stating the obvious. However, the Pope is no liberal icon. For all his pretty words, when it comes to dogma, the Roman Church is as bigoted as it was before Francis got the job. In 2021, he made clear that the Vatican would not endorse gay marriage. Francis also expressed displeasure at liberal bishops. In the AP interview, he addressed a difference of opinion between the Church’s head office and one country’s regional management. He was clear he would not tolerate any independent thinking. In Germany, Catholic bishops and an influential lay group are contemplating revolutionary reforms for the Church. Under consideration are married priests, female deacons, and institutional blessings for same-sex couples. This effort, The Synodal Path , aims to align the Church more closely with Jesus’ inclusive philosophy. German Catholic authorities created it in reaction to the Church’s child rape scandal and its subsequent systemic cover-up. Half of German Christians are Catholic, and for many their faith in the institution was strained, if not shattered, by the discovery that as many as 5% of the country’s Catholic Priests were abusers. Deservedly, the credibility of the Catholic Church took a beating worldwide. It did not help that the previous Pope, Benedict XVI, in cahoots with Vatican conservatives, downplayed the obscenity. Their self-protective reaction was symptomatic of a hidebound organization clinging to its bigoted traditions. And protecting the institution no matter the harm to children. Francis’s oratory was forceful in his condemnation of the church’s sordid acts. But his lack of action belied his words. Apart from a few high-level spankings and some forced retirements, he did not seem to have the energy or desire to bring about needed reforms. In contrast, the German Bishops did not hope and pray for change or counsel patience. They discussed remedies. Francis came down hard on the rebels. In the interview, he said that while dialogue is good, “the German experience does not help.” He also claimed the process is being led by the “elite”. Because it doesn’t involve “all the people of God.” Francis added the goal must always be unity. He said, “Here the danger is that something very, very ideological trickles in. When ideology gets involved in church processes, the Holy Spirit goes home, because ideology overcomes the Holy Spirit.” “We must be patient, dialogue, and accompany these people on the real synodal path,” The aim, he said, is to “help this more elitist (German) path so that it does not end badly in some way, but so is also integrated into the church.” “Always try to unite.″ The “real synodal path” the Pope refers to is his plan for two big Vatican meetings of world Catholics this coming October and October 2024. Francis is a wheelchair-using 86-year-old. There are concerns about his health. And whispers he may retire. Whatever these meetings decide, the Church will likely take no action until there is a new Pope. And I suspect the new guy will probably be relatively young, African (that’s where the growth is), and very conservative. Francis is also blind to hypocrisy. It is hard to think of a more elitist organization than the Vatican. And for 2,000 years, the Church has constantly changed its orthodoxy to match the prevailing ideology of the Vatican elites. And when has the Catholic Church ever listened to “all the people of God”? Surveys show Catholic congregations in America are more compassionate than senior Church management. In a Pew Poll, 61% of American Catholics favored gay marriage . And 56% think abortion should be legal in most cases. If Francis is serious about “unity” he should move the Church toward the acceptance of its adherents. Not trample on their humanity in the name of orthodoxy. There will be no change in American Catholic philosophy soon. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops runs the Church in America. It is a group that is conservative even by Catholic standards. The Bishops twice passed over a Francis-appointed cardinal for a key leadership post. And they have rarely backed the Pope’s more inclusive message. However, they agree with Francis that the best way to address divisions between the altar and the pews is to delay, delay, delay. The reach and influence of the Catholic Church are trickling away in Europe and North America. In South America, Catholics are also rejecting catholicism. However, many have switched to conservative evangelical Protestantism and its political activism. The appeal is the same as it is in the US. It grants permission for the bigots to be racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and sexist — all in the name of God. Notably, it underpinned the dictatorial Jair Bolsanaro's rise to power in Brazil. Catholic Church management is floundering. Its appeals to exclusion have turned off the moderate believer. And its embrace of social injustice has not kept the anti-social zealot in the fold. They should focus on the Gospels, especially the Beatitudes — and do what Jesus would do. But it may be too late for those pecksniffs to rediscover Jesus’s Christianity. 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