Pope Francis is being praised for not judging homosexuals. He is recognized for washing the feet of a female prisoner. He is admired for not flaunting the papal wealth by traveling and living modestly. He is acknowledged for acting like a Christian. But let’s look at how Christians have acted throughout history. Not recent history, not even ancient history but all of history. As Christians wrote man’s history since they came to be and they re wrote history before they came to be, turning history into legend, legend into myth and beliefs into fairy tales.
Let’s start with the Pope not judging, is that not a major duty of the Pope? To be God’s judge, representative, authority and ruler of the Church? Can the Pope ‘over rule’ the Bible? The Bible is very clear on its stance on homosexuality. Damnation. Period. And gay priests, should anyone know the sexual orientation of a priest? Are priests supposed to have a sexual preference? No. Priests are not supposed to have sex in their heart, in their head, or in the flesh. Assuming God’s word is authority over the Popes his non judgment doesn’t mean squat. Which leaves me questioning the Pope’s motives. Not judging gay priests; for what? For the pedophilia that is rampant among the clergy? Think about it, does this not relieve the Church of punishing the guilty?
The Pope wants the Church to be more hands on with people in the streets, the poor and the needy and the homeless. He wants to take to word of God to the people, not wait for the people to come to the Church. He wants the rich to give to the poor. But what does the Church really give? Do they sell of their immeasurable treasures of gold and gems? Do they give money to the poor? Does the collection plate make it to the streets? Let’s ponder the idea that reeling in the poor with the offer of food and shelter in return for accepting Jesus Christ is easy to do. Selling the idea that heaven is a better place is easy when the world the homeless live in is cold and violent.
And we cannot forget how many tens or hundreds of thousands of people died in the name of God for not believing what the Church believed, for not behaving the way the Church said you had to behave, for not worshiping the way the Church wanted you to worship. Horrible deaths by fire, by dismemberment, by beheading and from torture. Let’s not turn a blind eye to the fact that people still die every day all over the world for those same reasons.
Homosexuals by the thousands have been burned by the Church. Protestants, Witches, and Pagans were tortured, hanged and burned. All authorized and ordered by Popes. Pope Leo X lured Jews to the walls of the Vatican under the promise of protection during the Crusades in the 1400. The Jews were put inside a Ghetto that had one way in and one way out that was locked at sundown. They were made to wear special clothing and yellow badges, 500 years before Hitler. The Church knew what Hitler was doing at Auschwitz and he had the support of Cardinals, Bishops and Popes.
The history of the papacy and the legacy of thousands of years of Popes cause me to wonder why would this one be any different? His humbleness and his modesty reek of hypocrisy.
RENELAND 