Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the U.S. Catholic Church, saying they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.
Francis’ comments were an acknowledgment of the divisions in the U.S. Catholic Church, which has been split between progressives and conservatives who long found support in the doctrinaire papacies of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, particularly on issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.
Many conservatives have blasted Francis’ emphasis instead on social justice issues such as the environment and the poor, while also branding as heretical his opening to letting divorced and civilly remarried Catholics receive the sacraments.
Francis made the comments in a private meeting with Portuguese members of his Jesuit religious order while visiting Lisbon on Aug. 5; the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica, which is vetted by the Vatican secretariat of state, published a transcript of the encounter Monday.
During the meeting, a Portuguese Jesuit told Francis that he had suffered during a recent sabbatical year in the United States because he came across many Catholics, including some U.S. bishops, who criticized Francis’ 10-year papacy as well as today’s Jesuits.
The 86-year-old Argentine acknowledged his point, saying there was “a very strong, organized, reactionary attitude” in the U.S. church, which he called “backward.” He warned that such an attitude leads to a climate of closure, which was erroneous.
“Doing this, you lose the true tradition and you turn to ideologies to have support. In other words, ideologies replace faith,” he said.
“The vision of the doctrine of the church as a monolith is wrong,” he added. “When you go backward, you make something closed off, disconnected from the roots of the church,” which then has devastating effects on morality.
“I want to remind these people that backwardness is useless, and they must understand that there’s a correct evolution in the understanding of questions of faith and morals,” that allows for doctrine to progress and consolidate over time.
Francis has previously acknowledged the criticism directed at him from some U.S. conservatives, once quipping that it was an “honor” to be attacked by Americans.
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Blasts Conservatives? We’re the one that oppose abortion and the Godless policies of the left. You don’t even see or hear those on the left supporting most religions & they especially oppose most Christian values, They support transgender surgery and open use of bathrooms even in schools and are also approve of “Drag: shows for children. Quite frankly many us feel like he is destroying the Catholic Church and that he may be the last Pope. If he wants to excommunicate me, let him. God knows what is in my heart.
By now all should realize the evil psychotic corrupt murderous Catholic Church of Hitler never turns away anyone offering MONEY/POWER, their first loves! Many conservatives / Republicans realize all religions are evil foreign psychotic mass murderous mental illness and an ADDICTION to being LIED TO, a FORCED PSYCHOSIS, and written orders in their handbooks for their customers to automatically instantly HATE, HURT, and MASS MURDER everyone on the planet not of the exact same religion!
Amen. He can make the argument if he wants- but conservatism supports Judeo Christian values. Then again- this is the same pope who gladly gives an audience to militantly pro abortion (even infanticide) politicians like Biden and Pelosi. The gates of hell may not prevail but they may very well cause destructive in the wake of the efforts!
First of all, I don’t think the pope understands what does separation of church and state means. Secondly, he has his nerve criticizing conservatives. He is the worst Pope I have ever s en. I was raised Roman Catholic & I feel he is a disgrace.
I was too !! Francis comes from a commie country & just keeps proving that he us a commie, NOT a real Pope! His election was just as phony as Bidens!!
Well saud
The Pope is not a Conservative &
being a Catholic for 20 years I have seen the Catholic Church is false on a lot of things. They are a cult. They believe in Baptism being sprinkled in water as a baby
they believe in Baptism. But JESUS was Baptized by John the
Baptist in Emerson in his Baptism. He knew all about it. Baby’s don’t know that just told.
Also Purgatory is about people
can be prayed after they are dead. The BIBLE says once your
Breathe, right away a person becomes absent with the body, you become present with the LORD. Right away.
AMEN AMEN AMEN
immersion
It is long past time for this old socialist windbag to fade into the sunset. He has personally caused tens of thousands of practicing Catholics to leave the Church. The ‘College of Cardinals’ need to do a much more thorough vetting before electing the next Pontiff, as they failed miserably this time.
When the Pope stated “the vision of the doctrine of the church as a monolith is wrong,” he seems to be missing something in Christian history. In the beginning, when people first started following Jesus, all the church members believed that He was their Savior. Everyone pretty much worshipped Him in the same way. This system could be considered monolithic. While the Catholic Church is allegedly Christian, they did add a lot of things to their system of worship that are not mentioned in the Bible, and other churches had to split off from them due to doctrinal differences. While the church is not monolithic now, perhaps it should be, and get back to the real purpose of following Jesus.