Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	MM - Surprise you are not frothing
Date:	10/22/2020 1:59:34 PM

about what the Pope said yesterday - about allowing civil unions for same sex marriages.  I imagine that a lot of Catholics were not happy with him.  He is by far the most liberal Pope.  

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Nah......
Date:	10/22/2020 2:07:41 PM

The good news for Catholics is that we are only obligated to listen to the Pope on matters of faith and morals when he is speaking in concert with the Magesterium (all the Cardinals and Bishops).  His mindless musings on issues like civil unions mean nothing.  And if you look at the 2,000 year history of the Church we have had far worse Popes and have survived.  Pope Francis creates confusion and makes odd statements all the time.  But to date he has never altered one foundational teaching of the Catholic Church.

I think my biggest angst with his blathering about things like this is that it tends to feed into the frothing fundamentalists that see every Pope as the antichrist and a harbinger of the rapture end times.  It also feeds into a lot of anti-Catholic bias and makes it very hard for us to have to keep answering for his silliness.  Frankly, we were spoiled with Saint Pope John Paul II and Benedict and the other modern day Popes and this is a gentle reminder that the Church has seen worse and survived and will continue to do so.