Liberation Theology is in - should Yi be concerned?

[CountDeMoney]

I am irritated by how much popularity a Pope can get by shooting off lame buzzwords without doing anything. If he was a politician in a government (ie. much less power to actually do something about stuff than what he has as Pope) he would get criticism for the very same thing.

"oh look, the supposedly most Christian guy on Earth is telling Christian stuff! HOW CUTE!"

Somehow I think your irritation goes deeper than that.

[celedhring]

God forbid that a guy who hundreds of millions of people look up to for counsel on how to live their lives makes public pronunciations about lifting your fellow man from poverty.

And heck, I'm far from being a fan of religion, but one can't forget that the church does carry on a lot of charity work, how can one accuse them of speaking against poverty but not acting on it?

EDIT: Me defending the Catholic Church, what is this place doing to me? 

[grumbler]

God forbid that a guy who hundreds of millions of people look up to for counsel on how to live their lives makes public pronunciations about lifting your fellow man from poverty.

And heck, I'm far from being a fan of religion, but one can't forget that the church does carry on a lot of charity work, how can one accuse them of speaking against poverty but not acting on it?

EDIT: Me defending the Catholic Church, what is this place doing to me? 

What Pope has not made public pronunciations about lifting you fellow man from poverty?  Isn't that (and this so-called "liberation theology") a basic part of Catholic doctrine?

The proof of the pudding will be if this pope divests himself of all of those expensive trappings and divests the church of all the trappings of majesty in order to further serve the poor.  From the outside, I don't see this pope as any different from his predecessors, except maybe for hair color (he's more grey than white).

[MadImmortalMan]

If that indeed is the case, it's a rather harsh indictment of how the Church has operated previously. And maybe it is.

Hmm

[celedhring]

God forbid that a guy who hundreds of millions of people look up to for counsel on how to live their lives makes public pronunciations about lifting your fellow man from poverty.

And heck, I'm far from being a fan of religion, but one can't forget that the church does carry on a lot of charity work, how can one accuse them of speaking against poverty but not acting on it?

EDIT: Me defending the Catholic Church, what is this place doing to me? 

What Pope has not made public pronunciations about lifting you fellow man from poverty?  Isn't that (and this so-called "liberation theology") a basic part of Catholic doctrine?

The proof of the pudding will be if this pope divests himself of all of those expensive trappings and divests the church of all the trappings of majesty in order to further serve the poor.  From the outside, I don't see this pope as any different from his predecessors, except maybe for hair color (he's more grey than white).

Fair enough, but as the article says it's a matter of focus. One got the impression sometimes that to be a good Catholic it was enough to not use condoms and thinking gays should be cured, but this guy certainly has made some pretty public gestures and discourses about fighting poverty, certainly more so than the previous ones, and pretty clearly said that family morals have taken too much space in Catholic discourse these past times. If this permeates to the hundreds of millions of Catholics, or at least a fraction of them, it will be something good.

[Beenherebefore]

If that indeed is the case, it's a rather harsh indictment of how the Church has operated previously. And maybe it is.

Hmm

I look forward to the holographs of St. Francis come 2459.

[Razgovory]

Tamas is so edgy.

I am irritated by how much popularity a Pope can get by shooting off lame buzzwords without doing anything. If he was a politician in a government (ie. much less power to actually do something about stuff than what he has as Pope) he would get criticism for the very same thing.

"oh look, the supposedly most Christian guy on Earth is telling Christian stuff! HOW CUTE!"

  He is a politician in government.

[alfred russel]

You know the world is going in a bad direction when gays and socialists support the Pope. 

The pope probably went to mass a few times and saw who the old supporters were. He decided to throw his lot in with the gays and socialists for a reason. 

[Tamas]

You know the world is going in a bad direction when gays and socialists support the Pope. 

The pope probably went to mass a few times and saw who the old supporters were. He decided to throw his lot in with the gays and socialists for a reason. 

[grumbler]

Fair enough, but as the article says it's a matter of focus. One got the impression sometimes that to be a good Catholic it was enough to not use condoms and thinking gays should be cured, but this guy certainly has made some pretty public gestures and discourses about fighting poverty, certainly more so than the previous ones, and pretty clearly said that family morals have taken too much space in Catholic discourse these past times. If this permeates to the hundreds of millions of Catholics, or at least a fraction of them, it will be something good.

Fair enough, but a change of "focus" without a change of actions is pretty meaningless.  And I very much doubt that the pope is actually saying that the church needs to de-emphasize family morals.

I think it is great that the Catholic Church has picked a non-European pope for a change, but I will believe he is significantly different when I see it.  As Tamas noted, talk is cheap.

[PDH]

Unless it is birds, then talk is cheep.

[Gups]

The proof of the pudding will be if this pope divests himself of all of those expensive trappings and divests the church of all the trappings of majesty in order to further serve the poor. 

For example refusing to occupy the Apostolic Palace and staying in a single bedroom in a guest house instead? Or wearing a plain white cassock instead of an ermine lined red mozetta? Or driving around in a Ford Focus instead of a bulletproof popemobile? That kind of divesting?

[crazy canuck]

The proof of the pudding will be if this pope divests himself of all of those expensive trappings and divests the church of all the trappings of majesty in order to further serve the poor. 

For example refusing to occupy the Apostolic Palace and staying in a single bedroom in a guest house instead? Or wearing a plain white cassock instead of an ermine lined red mozetta? Or driving around in a Ford Focus instead of a bulletproof popemobile? That kind of divesting?

And the Bishop, or whatever he was, the Pope busted for his extravagant life style.

[Beenherebefore]

And the Bishop, or whatever he was, the Pope busted for his extravagant life style.

The Bishop of Limburg, wasn't it? With his gilded bathroom and whatnot.

[crazy canuck]

And the Bishop, or whatever he was, the Pope busted for his extravagant life style.

The Bishop of Limburg, wasn't it? With his gilded bathroom and whatnot.

Yeah, thats the one I am thinking of.