The Pope Urges Conservatives To Be Open To Changes

[Guest]

Just an article. Chill out everyone.   

La la la la la .... ''have the courage to be open to change.''

VATICAN CITY (Reuters)  -  Pope Francis appealed to conservatives on Sunday not to be bound by the status quo as he opened an assembly of bishops to discuss the future of the Roman Catholic Church in the Amazon, including the possibility of introducing married priests.

FULL ARTICLE -

 https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-pope-synod/pope-urges-conservatives-to-be-open-to-changes-in-church-idUKKCN1WL06Q

At a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica opening the synod, Francis also denounced past and present forms of colonialism and said some of the fires that devastated forests in Brazil in recent months were set by special interest groups. In his sermon, Francis said some Church leaders risked becoming “bureaucrats, not shepherds”, and urged them to have the courage of rekindling what he called the fire of God’s gift by being open to change.

“If everything continues as it was, if we spend our days content that ‘this is the way things have always been done’, then the gift vanishes, smothered by the ashes of fear and concern for defending the status quo,” he said. One of the most contentious topics of the synod, whose some 260 participants are mostly bishops from the Amazon, is whether to allow older married “proven men” with families and a strong standing in local communities to be ordained as priests in the Amazon.

This solution to the shortage of priests, backed by many South American bishops, would allow Catholics in isolated areas to attend Mass and receive the sacraments regularly. At least 85% of villages in the Amazon, a vast region that spans eight countries and the French territory of Guiana - cannot celebrate Mass every week. Some see a priest only once a year. Conservative opponents fear it would be a doctrinal Trojan horse that would then spread to the entire Church in the West.

They have attacked the synod’s working document as heretical, including what they say is an implicit recognition of forms of paganism and pantheism practised by indigenous people, such as nature worship. The three-week synod will discuss spreading the faith in the vast region, a greater role for women, environmental protection, climate change, deforestation, indigenous people and their right to keep their land and traditions. Bill Donohue, president of the U.S.-based Catholic League, a conservative group, drew criticism for what was perceived as a condescending attitude toward native cultures when he said this week that a dilemma in the Amazon was “how to respect the culture of indigenous peoples while at the same time acknowledging inherent deficiencies in it.”

A number of conservatives have tweeted their disapproval of a three-planting ceremony in the Vatican on Thursday in which people from the Amazon used native symbols and gestures, such as blessing the earth. In his sermon, Francis said indigenous cultures had to be respected. “When peoples and cultures are devoured without love and without respect, it is not God’s fire but that of the world. Yet how many times has God’s gift been imposed, not offered; how many times has there been colonization rather than evangelization!” he said.

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DT NOTE -  Fair play to the Pope in all honesty. As for the others, meh. Respecting nature (apparently God's creation after all) ... this is outrageous behaviour lol. ''It's outright paganism and so devil worship''.  Haha.... don't we live in a crazy world?!! 

''These people respect nature!! They worship it!! Outrageous.''       Nice to see the Pope getting with the times a bit in fairness.

NB - The above link is an article and may not represent the views of the thread starter. 

Edited October 14, 2019 by Guest

[Guest]

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-vatican-raid-resignation/vatican-security-chief-resigns-after-uproar-over-leak-idUKKBN1WT1PC

La la la la 

This is a link to an article, written by a journalist.

Edited October 14, 2019 by Guest