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Pope Francis Hits Groups Protesting Virus Restrictions
November 27, 2020 at 12:01 am EST By Taegan Goddard 88 Comments
https://politicalwire.com/2020/11/27/pope-francis-hits-groups-protesting-virus-restrictions/
"SNIP....
Pope Francis criticized groups protesting COVID-19 restrictions in a New York Times op-ed:
It is all too easy for some to take an idea in this case, for example, personal freedom and turn it into an ideology, creating a prism through which they judge everything.
.....SNIP"
applegrove
(118,656 posts)does not offend Trump's base. Not accusatory. Not blaming Trump and his cronies and his base for racism in their handling or point of view in the Covid crisis. No venting. Soft pedalling is in. Fall in line people. I guess we are not going to repair democracy by attacking the people we need brought back into the fold of Democracy. Biden dialed it down too. So did Bill Maher. If all three are on the same page, who am I to disagree.
hlthe2b
(102,276 posts)Of course, the Pope isn't going to call Trump and his ilk out by name. It is clearly there in his piece, though.
applegrove
(118,656 posts)reconnect by using your heart (Bill Maher
) and find a common enemy not in each other but in the disease covid (Biden).hlthe2b
(102,276 posts)Did you REALLY think the Pope would become political to that extent? He's still very clearly calling out those who would abuse religion as an excuse not to protect others and in an OPINION piece in this nation's most well-regarded newspaper. I admire his having done so.
applegrove
(118,656 posts)of all kinds and am going to temper how i see the issues. We are hominids who survive on stories. That is what binds us together. Biden has a better story for holding it all together. I'm giving up my angry one. As to not reading the piece, i do rely on Goddard for his salience. I do think his out-take was the best part of a fantastic Op-Ed. Thanks for directing me to the whole thing. Well worth the read.
hlthe2b
(102,276 posts)gab13by13
(21,337 posts)or is it OK to pack people into Mass?
hlthe2b
(102,276 posts)I'm not religious nor am I going to engage in a defense of Catholocism or any other specific religion. But, I have a great deal of respect for this Pope and what he is saying against a backdrop of arch-conservative factions of Bishops and Archbishops--particularly in the US and in parts of Italy, whose antipathy toward him has me frankly worrying about his longevity.
jumptheshadow
(3,269 posts)And he has also been a counterweight to the bishops, many of whom seem lost and blinded by the light.
hlthe2b
(102,276 posts)I'm sorry I can't include it all because it is beautifully written and personal
Opinion
Pope Francis: A Crisis Reveals What Is in Our Hearts
To come out of this pandemic better than we went in, we must let ourselves be touched by others pain.
By Pope Francis
Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic Church and the bishop of Rome.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/26/opinion/pope-francis-covid.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
--snip--
In every personal Covid, so to speak, in every stoppage, what is revealed is what needs to change: our lack of internal freedom, the idols we have been serving, the ideologies we have tried to live by, the relationships we have neglected.
When I got really sick at the age of 21, I had my first experience of limit, of pain and loneliness. --snip--
I remember the date: Aug. 13, 1957. I got taken to a hospital by a prefect who realized mine was not the kind of flu you treat with aspirin. Straightaway they took a liter and a half of water out of my lungs, and I remained there fighting for my life. The following November they operated to take out the upper right lobe of one of the lungs. I have some sense of how people with Covid-19 feel as they struggle to breathe on a ventilator. -snip--
Whether or not they were conscious of it, their choice testified to a belief: that it is better to live a shorter life serving others than a longer one resisting that call. Thats why, in many countries, people stood at their windows or on their doorsteps to applaud them in gratitude and awe. They are the saints next door, who have awakened something important in our hearts, making credible once more what we desire to instill by our preaching. -snip--
With some exceptions, governments have made great efforts to put the well-being of their people first, acting decisively to protect health and to save lives. The exceptions have been some governments that shrugged off the painful evidence of mounting deaths, with inevitable, grievous consequences. But most governments acted responsibly, imposing strict measures to contain the outbreak. --snip--
Yet some groups protested, refusing to keep their distance, marching against travel restrictions as if measures that governments must impose for the good of their people constitute some kind of political assault on autonomy or personal freedom! Looking to the common good is much more than the sum of what is good for individuals. It means having a regard for all citizens and seeking to respond effectively to the needs of the least fortunate.
It is all too easy for some to take an idea in this case, for example, personal freedom and turn it into an ideology, creating a prism through which they judge everything.
Much more the link. I'm sorry for the paywall. NYT would do well to include this with their free COVID access.
dalton99a
(81,488 posts)Look at us now: We put on face masks to protect ourselves and others from a virus we cant see. But what about all those other unseen viruses we need to protect ourselves from? How will we deal with the hidden pandemics of this world, the pandemics of hunger and violence and climate change?
If we are to come out of this crisis less selfish than when we went in, we have to let ourselves be touched by others pain. Theres a line in Friedrich Hölderlins Hyperion that speaks to me, about how the danger that threatens in a crisis is never total; theres always a way out: Where the danger is, also grows the saving power. Thats the genius in the human story: Theres always a way to escape destruction. Where humankind has to act is precisely there, in the threat itself; thats where the door opens.
This is a moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities what we value, what we want, what we seek and to commit to act in our daily life on what we have dreamed of.
God asks us to dare to create something new. We cannot return to the false securities of the political and economic systems we had before the crisis. We need economies that give to all access to the fruits of creation, to the basic needs of life: to land, lodging and labor. We need a politics that can integrate and dialogue with the poor, the excluded and the vulnerable, that gives people a say in the decisions that affect their lives. We need to slow down, take stock and design better ways of living together on this earth.
The pandemic has exposed the paradox that while we are more connected, we are also more divided. Feverish consumerism breaks the bonds of belonging. It causes us to focus on our self-preservation and makes us anxious. Our fears are exacerbated and exploited by a certain kind of populist politics that seeks power over society. It is hard to build a culture of encounter, in which we meet as people with a shared dignity, within a throwaway culture that regards the well-being of the elderly, the unemployed, the disabled and the unborn as peripheral to our own well-being.
To come out of this crisis better, we have to recover the knowledge that as a people we have a shared destination. The pandemic has reminded us that no one is saved alone. What ties us to one another is what we commonly call solidarity. Solidarity is more than acts of generosity, important as they are; it is the call to embrace the reality that we are bound by bonds of reciprocity. On this solid foundation we can build a better, different, human future.