"who Doesn't Like Pope Francis?"

[Gabriela]

From the Daily Beast:

 

 

But just as the Pope’s pedestrian popularity grows, bolstered no doubt by a savvy public relations move from within the Vatican to get the ‘good news’ message out to the mainstream press, there are a growing number of dissident voices from deep within the Catholic community who aren’t exactly impressed with the so-called “Francis effect” on the church as a whole.

 

In fact, toeing the new party line instilled by Francis is proving to be the greatest challenge for conservative Catholics who are quite used to a prudent and predictable Pope. Francis’s comments about showing mercy to divorced couples,not judging gay priests and even toying with further examination of civil unions outside the church have proven to be tough for conservative Catholics to swallow.  John Vennari, noted Catholic observer and editor of “The Catholic Family News,” has been pounding a steady drumbeat on the danger of Francis’s widespread populist appeal since his election a year ago. “He seems to have a good heart and some good Catholic instincts, but theologically he is a train wreck—remarkably sloppy,” Vennari wrote in a recent blog post.  “Though this might shock some readers, I must say that I would never allow Pope Francis to teach religion to my children.”

 

In an NBC news piece titled “Not Everyone Loves Francis,” Boston College theology professor Thomas Groome pondered whether or not true Catholic conservatives would be able to keep supporting the Pope’s new approach towards acceptance and mercy and still keep their faith.  “I think it will be a real test for conservative Catholics,” he told NBC. “They have always pointed the finger, quoting the Pope for the last 35 years. Suddenly, will they stop quoting the Pope? It’ll be a good test of whether or not they’re really Catholics.”

 

But it’s not just traditionalists who are finding fault with Francis. Writing in the New Statesman, John Bloodworth, editor of the popular British progressive political blog Left Foot Forward, warns that Francis is no different from his predecessors and that the Catholic Church “stands on roughly the same political terrain as it did under the leadership of Pope Benedict.”  He says part of Francis’s popularity is simply a result of “clever repackaging” of the same Catholic propaganda coupled with a troubled society’s search for a new hero, which, he says, “has resulted in people switching off their critical faculties and overlooking inconvenient truths.” Bloodworth blames the mainstream press for essentially drinking the Catholic Kool-Aid without really checking for substance.  “Pope Francis’s position on most issues should make the hair of every liberal curl,” he says.  “Instead we get article after article of saccharine from people who really should know better.”

 

Complete article here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/11/the-secret-pope-francis-haters.html

 

I think it's interesting that Bloodworth blames the misunderstandings of Pope Francis not on liberals' total ignorance of the Church, but on Catholic deceptiveness.

Edited March 13, 2014 by curiousing

[PhuturePriest]

Pope Francis is great. He's a humble and holy person. I liked Pope Benedict XVI way more. Life goes on.

[Fidei Defensor]

The pope is dope.

[Pliny]

Others, like EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo in the National Catholic Register, are recycling a narrative from the latter days of Benedict’s troubled papacy and pointing the finger of blame at Francis’ aides, saying that “as much as they distance the pontiff from his people, handlers can protect the pope from this sort of misinterpretation.”

 

But other Catholic conservatives say these read more like excuses than explanations. The handwriting is on the wall, they say — which might not be such a bad thing for a Catholic right that was so accustomed to preferential treatment that they often identified the pope with the church itself.

 

“To the extent that conservative Catholics in the United States find themselves actively disagreeing with Pope Francis’s emphases … it might help cure them/us of the recurring Catholic temptation toward papolatry,” wrote New York Times columnist Ross Douthat.

 

“The papal office has been occupied by many more incompetents than geniuses,” he concluded, “and there’s a reason why so few occupants of the chair of Peter show up in the litany of the saints.”

 

http://www.religionnews.com/2013/08/06/pope-francis-is-unsettling-and-dividing-the-catholic-right/

 

 

Edited March 13, 2014 by Pliny

[AugustineA]

It's good to specify differences in taste, but at the end of the day he's the Pope. Our unity outweighs our differences in taste, and the authority of the magisterium outweights our personal beliefs. So.. I'm more concerned with the ongoing rift between liberal and conservative Catholics that is being happily spurred on by the press. 

[mortify ii]

“They have always pointed the finger, quoting the Pope for the last 35 years. Suddenly, will they stop quoting the Pope? It’ll be a good test of whether or not they’re really Catholics.”

 

Very interesting, indeed

[Ash Wednesday]

The biggest challenge for so-called "conservative Catholics" is tolerating stupid people.

 

Popes. I love them all.

[CrossCuT]

The biggest challenge for so-called "conservative Catholics" is tolerating stupid people.

 

 

[Pliny]

“They have always pointed the finger, quoting the Pope for the last 35 years. Suddenly, will they stop quoting the Pope? It’ll be a good test of whether or not they’re really Catholics.”

Very interesting, indeed

Baloney. Quoting or not quoting the pope has nothing to do with whether someone is "really" a catholic. Catholics should have common sense and should be capable of critical thinking, so if the pope makes a dumb statement, why repeat it?

[Basilisa Marie]

hoooorrrrrraaaaaayyyyyy clickbait. 

[RC Patriot]

hoooorrrrrraaaaaayyyyyy clickbait. 

 

Lol!

 

It's funny that people are so troubled over the Pope actually being "Catholic." Shocker!

 

I've gotten used to the fact that leftist media will cherry-pick quotes from anything and everyone. Closer examination of what he actually says is very Catholic. Every time. I'm actually impressed that Bloodworth caught on to Pope Francis's sneak attack evangelism.

[Kateri89]

Yep I like him  :pope2:

[Ash Wednesday]

 

Edited March 13, 2014 by Ash Wednesday