Pope proclaims year of families, offers advice to keep peace

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday proclaimed an upcoming year dedicated to the family as he doubled down on one of his papal priorities and urged renewed attention to his controversial 2016 document on family life.

Francis announced the upcoming year on the family would begin March 19, the fifth anniversary of his document “The Joy of Love.” Among other things, the document opened the door to letting divorced and civilly remarried couples receive Communion, sparking criticism and even claims of heresy from conservative Catholics.

Francis penned the document after summoning bishops from around the world to debate how the Catholic Church can better minister to families. While the divorce-remarriage issue dominated headlines during the back-to-back synods, the discussion also touched on ministering to gay people and other “non-traditional” families.

Francis made the comments during his Sunday noon blessing, delivered from inside his studio to prevent people from gathering in St. Peter’s Square below as part of the Vatican’s anti-virus precautions.



Pope Francis caresses a boy as he arrives to celebrate Mass on Christmas eve, at St. Peter's basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020. (Vincenzo Pinto/Pool Photo via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/europe-pope-francis-834f39f3749d31a7aa20a3854a9abb50

[LuvNewcastle]

1. The caption.under that photo is nutty.

The Pope "caresses a boy" as he walks in.... You'd think they wouldn't use a phrase so sexual in nature. Blech!

[cate94]

2. +1

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

7. The Biden haters claim that when Biden made a similar gesture to his granddaughter

At her father's funeral, he was "fondling" her, and is a pedophile.

[LuvNewcastle]

8. They say some vile things.

The Q-Anon people call basically everyone who isn't a Trumper a pedophile or a cannibal or both. The Trumper philosophy, if you want to call it that, is like a mental virus that some people are immune to while others get a terminal case of it. I wish someone could find a cure, at least for some of them.

[Cinnamonspice]

20. I think the point trying to be made is to give the pope the same benefit of the doubt as Biden.

[Polybius]

10. And look at the boy's look of horror on his face!

[BrightKnight]

12. It looks like astonishment. ...but why let that get in the way of Catholic bashing.

Interfaith warfare threads are great (especially in LBN).

[Polybius]

18. Because it's funny and makes good memes

I’m a Catholic, but a joke is a joke. They caption was hysterical.

[ananda]

3. The pope is maskless.

Words fail.

[BrightKnight]

4. It's harder for him to use a mask with 1 lung removed. "He has started to use the mask now,"

https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-mask-covid-19-vatican-dda52ba1b2bde9fcf24228efdc7f1b7a


"The Rev. Augusto Zampini, one of the key members of the pope’s COVID-19 commission, acknowledged Tuesday that at age 83 and with part of his lung removed after an illness in his youth, Francis would be at high risk for complications if he were to become infected with COVID-19."

"...Vatican regulations call for masks indoors and out when social distancing cannot be guaranteed."

With a few exceptions the Catholic Church has been very good about social distancing and sending the right message.

[ananda]

11. Actually it's more important for him to use the mask then.

...

[mopinko]

6. yup. hiding bernard fucking law in the vatican, and

letting him say daily mass for "his holiness" was all i needed to see that he was full of shit.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

9. No, he is not, and I'll thank you to stop lying. n/t

[spike jones]

14. The Pope could stop all child abuse in the church by jailing the offenders,

but he chooses not to do it. IMO that makes him evil.
BTW Why are not the hundreds of millions of Catholics forcing changes in their church.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

15. No, he could not, and you should know it.

Outside of the Vatican City, the Pope has no ability to do criminal prosecutions. Even the most virulent pope-hater should know this. And you seem to believe that Catholics approve of the whole clerical sexual abuse mess. That is another lie.

To repeat: It is a flat, out-and-out LIE to say that he is "the leader of an international child sex ring." You don't help your argument if it is based on an obvious falsehood

[spike jones]

16. The Pope, as leader of the church, could require church officials to report all abuse to the police

and NOT hide it within the confines of the church organization. Just as I can report to the police any crime I see occurring. Let the civil courts deal with the offenders and let the church not allow convicted offenders back in the organization.

[pnwmom]

22. Pope Francis did that.

https://apnews.com/article/e51ecf763cc897ade687ff070618480b

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican told bishops around the world on Thursday they should report cases of clergy sex crimes to police even when not legally bound to do so, in its latest effort to compel church leaders to protect minors from predator priests.

The Vatican issued a long-awaited manual for bishops and religious superiors on conducting in-house investigations into allegations of priests who rape and molest minors and vulnerable adults. While the Vatican has had detailed canonical norms in place for two decades, the laws continue to be ignored by some bishops, particularly in the developing world and even Catholic strongholds like Poland.

[spike jones]

17. thank you for this exchange and have a good new year. n/t

[pnwmom]

21. You must be kidding. The Pope can't jail any offenders. He's the head of a Church, not a prison. nt

[Cinnamonspice]

19. A lot of Catholics who remarry get an annulment anyway.

That is probably why the pope said years ago that a lot of marriages were not legitimate in the eyes of God.

I am all for taking marriage vows seriously, but there are often things people don't realize when they're married like if their spouse has a violent side, if they want to throw away their marriage for addictions, etc. I think God is probably more understanding than people believe.