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 |  Subject: President Obama is a fan of Pope Francis  Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:14 pm | |
| No surprise here, Obama and the Pope....Almost a smell of the end times... President Obama is a fan of Pope FrancisPresident Obama tells cnbc's John Harwood that he's "hugely impressed" with Pope Francis's "incredible" humility and empathy.By Tracy Connor, NBC NewsPOTUS digs the pontiff.President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he is "hugely impressed" with Pope Francis' humble style.In an interview with CNBC, Obama was asked what he thought about the Roman Catholic leader'srecent comments that the church has become too focused on issues like gay rights and abortions. Franco Origlia/Getty ImagesPope Francis, seen here in St. Peter's Square, gets high marks from President Obama."I tell you, I have been hugely impressed with the pope's pronouncements. Not because of any particular issue," said Obama, who is Protestant."First of all, he seems somebody who lives out the teachings of Christ," he added. "Incredible humility, an incredible sense of empathy to the least of these, the poor."He's also someone who is first and foremost thinking about how to embrace people as opposed to push them away," Obama continued. "For any religious leader, that's a quality I admire."Obama has not met Francis, who succeeded Pope Benedict XVI in March and has been praised for his down-to-earth, non-judgmental approach.In an interview with an Italian newspaper this week, Benedict condemned a “Vatican-centric view” of the church and said its leaders have too often been narcissists, “flattered and sickeningly excited by their courtiers.”An interview with Jesuit journals published two weeks ago quoted him as saying the church needed to find a "new balance" and branch out beyond the hot-button issues of abortion, contraception and homosexuality. |
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| | Subject: A wolf in Pope's clothing? Francis is not the progressive man he has been made out to be Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:00 pm | |
| A wolf in Pope's clothing? Francis is not the progressive man he has been made out to beThere's more than meets the eye to the man behind the cloth Let's be honest, Pope Benedict was a public relations nightmare for the Catholic Church. His aptitude for saying the worst thing at the worst moment made Prince Philip look like a smooth operator.So Catholics and religious apologists have been jumping for joy at recent sympathetic words from Pope Francis on homosexuality, contraception and abortion and even the possibility that we atheists could be granted an entry visa to that place we don't actually believe in.But is this papal compassion for real or is Francis just a better spin doctor than his predecessor?The first worrying sign is that hard line Catholics are not angered by Francis's words. Last week I debated this on Voice Of Russia radio with Peter D. Williams of Catholic Voices, a man who opposes gay marriage and has likened abortion to the transatlantic slave trade. The latest comments from Pope Francis have neither shaken him nor changed his views.popindInstead he glibly points out that these are conciliatory words and do not signal any change in policies or doctrine.Any hope that the comments might have been a precursor to a real change - to a Catholic church that welcomes gay marriage, gay adoption and women priests - were roundly dashed a few days later when an Australian priest wasexcommunicated for holding liberal views on those exact issues.Contraception and abortion are the most important human rights issues in the world. That’s my opinion, and it's rooted in scientific fact. Ensuring women’s reproductive rights is by far the most cost-effective way of lifting women, families and communities out of poverty, poor education and poor healthcare.Even a small step like freeing Catholic charities to distribute condoms would have a huge impact. Still it is too much to hope for. The day after everyone’s hopes were raised heurged a group of gynecologists to refuse to perform abortions.The most frightening story of all however dates back to July when Pope Francis brought in new laws for the Vatican state. Again the superficial story - increasing the maximum sentence for child sex abusers in the state from 10 to 12 years - makes great positive press.We should first remember though that organisations representing victims of clerical abuse were not best-pleased with the changes, saying “The Church hierarchy doesn’t need new rules on abuse. It needs to follow long-established secular laws.”Secondly he took the opportunity to bring in a law meaning up to eight years jail time could be faced by anyone caught stealing or leaking information concerning the “fundamental interests” of the Vatican. Sneaking in one law behind another more headline-grabbing one and making it harder for insiders to whistle-blow on corrupt Vatican dealings? Smooth-operating spin doctors would be proud.He might have been media-unfriendly, hard line, sexist and homophobic, but at least we knew what we were getting with Pope |
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quietobserver
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| | Subject: Re: President Obama is a fan of Pope Francis Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:26 pm | |
| Anyone else find the irony that Jorge grew up in the same neighborhoods of Buenos Aires that 3-5 thousand NAZI's emigrated to near the end and after WWII.
His parents emigrated from Italy (supposedly) and he was just a couple of days shy of being 33 to the day when he was ordained. | |
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| | Subject: Re: President Obama is a fan of Pope Francis Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:11 pm | |
| Add to that: the RCC ran a bunch of the rat lines to get the Nazi's out of Germany and over to South America. Anyone willing to place bets those rat lines also included some Italian Fascists too?
Hey, just thinking out loud here. !! FOXTROT JULIET BRAVO !! | |
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quietobserver
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| | Subject: Re: President Obama is a fan of Pope Francis Tue Oct 08, 2013 2:32 pm | |
| ODESSA. (I was poking my toe into the water to make sure I wasn't going to offend anyone) The U.S. & Russia did the same though, albeit with the scientists they desired. I.e. PAPERCLIP. - researcher wrote:
- Add to that: the RCC ran a bunch of the rat lines to get the Nazi's out of Germany and over to South America. Anyone willing to place bets those rat lines also included some Italian Fascists too?
Hey, just thinking out loud here. | |
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