Pope Francis holds an in-flight press conference en route to Rome from Slovakia, Sept. 15, 2021. (Image: Andrea Gagliarducci)
Rome, Italy, Sep 15, 2021 / 09:20 am (CNA).
Pope Francis said Wednesday that the Catholic Church is firm in its stance on abortion because “abortion is murder,” and urged priests to be pastoral rather than political when faced with the question of who can receive Communion.
Answering questions aboard the papal plane from Bratislava, Slovakia, to Rome on Sept. 15, the pope emphatically said that abortion ends a human life and that human life must be respected.
“Abortion is more than an issue. Abortion is murder,” Pope Francis said.
“Scientifically it’s a human life. The textbooks teach us that. But is it right to take it out to solve a problem? And this is why the Church is so strict on this issue because it is kind of like accepting this is accepting daily murder,” he said.
In response to a question about the U.S. debate about denying Communion to politicians who support abortion, the pope said that in the history of the Church when bishops have acted politically rather than as pastors, there have been problems.
“What should the pastor do? Be a shepherd, do not go around condemning … but be a pastor. But is he also a pastor of the excommunicated? Yes, he is the pastor and … he must be a shepherd with God’s style. And God’s style is closeness, compassion, and tenderness,” the pope said.
“For me, I don’t want to particularize […] the United States because I don’t know the details well, I give the principle … Be a pastor and the pastor knows what he has to do at all times, but as a shepherd. But if he comes out of this shepherding of the Church, immediately he becomes a politician,” Francis said.
The pope cited the controversy over Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics that followed the publication of his 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia.
“Do you remember the storm that was stirred by Amoris laetitia when that chapter on accompanying separated, divorced couples came out: ‘Heresy, heresy!’ Thank God there was Cardinal Schönborn, a great theologian who clarified things,” he said.
“But always condemnation, condemnation, enough with excommunication. Please let us not place any more excommunications. Poor people. They are children of God. They are outside temporarily, but they are children of God and they want, and need, our pastoral closeness. Then the pastors work things out by the Spirit of God.”
Pope Francis said that he had never personally refused the Eucharist to anyone, adding that he was not aware of ever having been in the situation that the journalist who posed the question described: that of a pro-choice politician coming to him for Communion.
The pope also told the story of a time when he inadvertently gave Communion to a Jewish woman at a retirement home who had approached the sacrament in ignorance.
Pope Francis said: “Those who are not in the community cannot take communion – like this Jewish lady, but the Lord wanted to reward her and without my knowledge – why?”
“Because they are out of the community, excommunicated, they are ‘excommunicated’ it is called. It is a harsh term but what it means is that they are not in the community or because they do not belong or are baptized, but have drifted away from some of the things.”
The pope’s comments during the in-flight press conference came at the end of his four-day visit to Hungary and Slovakia.
It was the 84-year-old pope’s first international trip since undergoing colon surgery in July.
Pope Francis began his journey on Sept. 12 with a visit to Budapest, where he offered the closing Mass of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress and met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The pope told journalists on the flight that he had discussed ecology and his concerns about a “demographic winter” in Europe with Orbán, but nothing about immigration, a topic which the two have differing opinions.
After spending just seven hours in Budapest, the pope departed for neighboring Slovakia the same day and spoke at an ecumenical gathering in the capital city of Bratislava on the evening of his arrival.
In Bratislava, the pope addressed political leaders, offered encouragement to the Catholic community, and visited a homeless center run by Mother Teresa’s nuns on the capital’s outskirts on Sept. 13.
Pope Francis then traveled to the eastern city of Prešov, where he presided at a Byzantine Divine Liturgy on Sept. 14. In the afternoon, he met with members of the minority Roma community in Košice and spoke to 25,000 young people about the importance of the sacrament of Confession.
Before returning to Rome on Sept. 15, the pope offered Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows in Šaštín.
The pope’s flight touched down in Rome’s Fiumicino airport at 3:30 p.m. local time. The 90-minute flight marked the last time that Pope Francis will fly Alitalia, Italy’s long-struggling national airline which is being replaced next month by a new airline called Italia Trasporto Aereo (ITA).
Out of the six questions that the pope was asked during the in-flight press conference, he spent the most time speaking about the topic of abortion and the reception of Communion by politicans who support abortion.
Pope Francis said that many times before a mother realizes that she is pregnant, her child’s DNA and organs have formed.
“It’s a human life, period. This human life must be respected. This principle is so clear,” he said.
The pope said that to those who cannot understand this, he would pose two questions:
“Is it right, is it fair, to kill a human life to solve a problem? Scientifically it is a human life. … Is it right to hire a hitman to solve a problem?”
During the flight, Pope Francis also answered a question about a resolution in the European Parliament seeking the recognition of same-sex marriages and registered partnerships in all member states of the European Union.
In response, the pope underlined that marriage is a sacrament between a man and woman, instituted by Christ, which the Catholic Church does not have the power to change.
He said there are civil laws which attempt to help the situation of couples “of different sexual orientations,” but which at the same time do not challenge the teachings of the Church on the sacrament of marriage, such as giving same-sex couples the security of inheritance, or of health insurance.
“But marriage is marriage,” he emphasized. “This does not mean condemning people who are like that, no, please, they are our brothers and sisters and we must accompany them.”
The pope noted that civil laws such as France’s PACS law — which allows adults of any sexual orientation to form a civil union — exist, but are not sacramental marriage.
“Sometimes what I said is confusing. All the same, respect everyone,” he said, adding: “Please don’t make the Church deny her truth.”
“Many, many people of homosexual orientation approach the Sacrament of Penance, they approach to ask priests for advice, the Church helps them to move forward in their lives,” he said.
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Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Oct. 5, 2016. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
CNA Staff, Mar 13, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
March 13 marks the anniversary of the election of Pope Francis as the 266th successor of St. Peter. Here is a timeline of key events during his papacy:
2013
March 13 — About two weeks after Pope Benedict XVI steps down from the papacy, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is elected pope. He takes the papal name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi and proclaims from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica: “Let us begin this journey, the bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust. Let us always pray for one another.”
March 14 — The day after he begins his pontificate, Pope Francis returns to his hotel to personally pay his hotel bill and collect his luggage.
July 8 — Pope Francis visits Italy’s island of Lampedusa and meets with a group of 50 migrants, most of whom are young men from Somalia and Eritrea. The island, which is about 200 miles off the coast of Tunisia, is a common entry point for migrants who flee parts of Africa and the Middle East to enter Europe. This is the pope’s first pastoral visit outside of Rome and sets the stage for making reaching out to the peripheries a significant focus.
Pope Francis gives the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2, 2013. Elise Harris/CNA.
July 23-28 — Pope Francis visits Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to participate in World Youth Day 2013. More than 3 million people from around the world attend the event.
July 29 — On the return flight from Brazil, Pope Francis gives his first papal news conference and sparks controversy by saying “if a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” The phrase is prompted by a reporter asking the pope a question about priests who have homosexual attraction.
Nov. 24 — Pope Francis publishes his first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). The document illustrates the pope’s vision for how to approach evangelization in the modern world.
2014
Feb. 22 — Pope Francis holds his first papal consistory to appoint 19 new cardinals, including ones from countries in the developing world that have never previously been represented in the College of Cardinals, such as Haiti.
March 22 — Pope Francis creates the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. The commission works to protect the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults, such as the victims of sexual abuse.
Pope Francis greets pilgrims during his general audience on Nov. 29, 2014. Bohumil Petrik/CNA.
Oct. 5 — The Synod on the Family begins. The bishops discuss a variety of concerns, including single-parent homes, cohabitation, homosexual adoption of children, and interreligious marriages.
Dec. 6 — After facing some pushback for his efforts to reform the Roman Curia, Pope Francis discusses his opinion in an interview with La Nacion, an Argentine news outlet: “Resistance is now evident. And that is a good sign for me, getting the resistance out into the open, no stealthy mumbling when there is disagreement. It’s healthy to get things out into the open, it’s very healthy.”
2015
Jan. 18 — To conclude a trip to Asia, Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Manila, Philippines. Approximately 6 million to 7 million people attend the record-setting Mass, despite heavy rain.
March 23 — Pope Francis visits Naples, Italy, to show the Church’s commitment to helping the fight against corruption and organized crime in the city.
May 24 — To emphasize the Church’s mission to combat global warming and care for the environment, Pope Francis publishes the encyclical Laudato Si’, which urges people to take care of the environment and encourages political action to address climate problems.
Pope Francis at a Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 17, 2015. Bohumil Petrik.
Sept. 19-22 — Pope Francis visits Cuba and meets with Fidel Castro in the first papal visit to the country since Pope John Paul II in 1998. During his homily, Francis discusses the dignity of the human person: “Being a Christian entails promoting the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living for it.”
Sept. 22-27 — After departing from Cuba, Pope Francis makes his first papal visit to the United States. In Washington, D.C., he speaks to a joint session of Congress, in which he urges lawmakers to work toward promoting the common good, and canonizes the Franciscan missionary St. Junípero Serra. He also attends the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, which focuses on celebrating the gift of the family.
Pope Francis speaks to the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 24, 2015. . L’Osservatore Romano.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis begins the second Synod on the Family to address issues within the modern family, such as single-parent homes, cohabitation, poverty, and abuse.
Oct. 18 — The pope canonizes St. Louis Martin and St. Marie-Azélie “Zelie” Guérin. The married couple were parents to five nuns, including St. Therese of Lisieux. They are the first married couple to be canonized together.
Dec. 8 — Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy begins. The year focuses on God’s mercy and forgiveness and people’s redemption from sin. The pope delegates certain priests in each diocese to be Missionaries of Mercy who have the authority to forgive sins that are usually reserved for the Holy See.
2016
March 19 — Pope Francis publishes the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which discusses a wide variety of issues facing the modern family based on discussions from the two synods on the family. The pope garners significant controversy from within the Church for comments he makes in Chapter 8 about Communion for the divorced and remarried.
April 16 — After visiting refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, Pope Francis allows three Muslim refugee families to join him on his flight back to Rome. He says the move was not a political statement.
Pope Francis at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Feb. 24, 2016. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
July 26-31 — Pope Francis visits Krakow, Poland, as part of the World Youth Day festivities. About 3 million young Catholic pilgrims from around the world attend.
Sept. 4 — The pope canonizes St. Teresa of Calcutta, who is also known as Mother Teresa. The saint, a nun from Albania, dedicated her life to missionary and charity work, primarily in India.
Sept. 30-Oct. 2 — Pope Francis visits Georgia and Azerbaijan on his 16th trip outside of Rome since the start of his papacy. His trip focuses on Catholic relations with Orthodox Christians and Muslims.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to Amatrice, Italy, to pray for the victims of an earthquake in central Italy that killed nearly 300 people.
2017
May 12-13 — In another papal trip, Francis travels to Fatima, Portugal, to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. May 13 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Marian apparition to three children in the city.
July 11 — Pope Francis adds another category of Christian life suitable for the consideration of sainthood: “offering of life.” The category is distinct from martyrdom, which only applies to someone who is killed for his or her faith. The new category applies to those who died prematurely through an offering of their life to God and neighbor.
Pope Francis greets a participant in the World Day of the Poor in Rome, Nov. 16, 2017. L’Osservatore Romano.
Nov. 19 — On the first-ever World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis eats lunch with 4,000 poor and people in need in Rome.
Nov. 27-Dec. 2 — In another trip to Asia, Pope Francis travels to Myanmar and Bangladesh. He visits landmarks and meets with government officials, Catholic clergy, and Buddhist monks. He also preaches the Gospel and promotes peace in the region.
2018
Jan. 15-21 — The pope takes another trip to Latin America, this time visiting Chile and Peru. The pontiff meets with government officials and members of the clergy while urging the faithful to remain close to the clergy and reject secularism. The Chilean visit leads to controversy over Chilean clergy sex abuse scandals.
Aug. 2 — The Vatican formally revises No. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which concerns the death penalty. The previous text suggested the death penalty could be permissible in certain circumstances, but the revision states that the death penalty is “inadmissible.”
Aug. 25 — Archbishop Carlo Viganò, former papal nuncio to the United States, publishes an 11-page letter calling for the resignation of Pope Francis and accusing him and other Vatican officials of covering up sexual abuse including allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The pope initially does not directly respond to the letter, but nine months after its publication he denies having prior knowledge about McCarrick’s conduct.
Aug. 25-26 — Pope Francis visits Dublin, Ireland, to attend the World Meeting of Families. The theme is “the Gospel of family, joy for the world.”
Pope Francis at the 2018 World Meeting of Families in Ireland. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Oct. 3-28 — The Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment takes place. The synod focuses on best practices to teach the faith to young people and to help them discern God’s will.
2019
Jan. 22-27 — The third World Youth Day during Pope Francis’ pontificate takes place during these six days in Panama City, Panama. Young Catholics from around the world gather for the event, with approximately 3 million people in attendance.
Feb. 4 — Pope Francis signs a joint document in with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, titled the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” The document focuses on people of different faiths uniting together to live peacefully and advance a culture of mutual respect.
Pope Francis and Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, signed a joint declaration on human fraternity during an interreligious meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Feb. 4, 2019. Vatican Media.
Feb. 21-24 — The Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church, which is labeled the Vatican Sexual Abuse Summit, takes place. The meeting focuses on sexual abuse scandals in the Church and emphasizes responsibility, accountability, and transparency.
Oct. 6-27 — The Church holds the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, which is also known as the Amazon Synod. The synod is meant to present ways in which the Church can better evangelize the Amazon region but leads to controversy when carved images of a pregnant Amazonian woman, referred to by the pope as Pachamama, are used in several events and displayed in a basilica near the Vatican.
Oct. 13 — St. John Henry Newman, an Anglican convert to Catholicism and a cardinal, is canonized by Pope Francis. Newman’s writings inspired Catholic student associations at nonreligious colleges and universities in the United States and other countries.
2020
March 15 — Pope Francis takes a walking pilgrimage in Rome to the chapel of the crucifix and prays for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. The crucifix was carried through Rome during the plague of 1522.
March 27 — Pope Francis gives an extraordinary “urbi et orbi” blessing in an empty and rain-covered St. Peter’s Square, praying for the world during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pope Francis venerates the miraculous crucifix of San Marcello al Corso in St. Peter’s Square during his Urbi et Orbi blessing, March 27, 2020. Vatican Media.
2021
March 5-8 — In his first papal trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis becomes the first pope to visit Iraq. On his trip, he signs a joint statement with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani condemning extremism and promoting peace.
July 3 — Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis, is indicted in a Vatican court for embezzlement, money laundering, and other crimes. The pope gives approval for the indictment.
July 4 — Pope Francis undergoes colon surgery for diverticulitis, a common condition in older people. The Vatican releases a statement that assures the pope “reacted well” to the surgery. Francis is released from the hospital after 10 days.
July 16 — Pope Francis issues a motu proprio titled Traditionis Custodes. The document imposes heavy restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.
Dec. 2-6 — The pope travels to Cyprus and Greece. The trip includes another visit to the Greek island of Lesbos to meet with migrants.
Pope Francis greets His Beatitude Ieronymos II in Athens, Greece on Dec. 5, 2021. Vatican Media
2022
Jan. 11 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to a record store in Rome called StereoSound. The pope, who has an affinity for classical music, blesses the newly renovated store.
March 19 — The pope promulgates Praedicate Evangelium, which reforms the Roman Curia. The reforms emphasize evangelization and establish more opportunities for the laity to be in leadership positions.
May 5 — Pope Francis is seen in a wheelchair for the first time in public and begins to use one more frequently. The pope has been suffering from knee problems for months.
Pope Francis greeted the crowd in a wheelchair at the end of his general audience on Aug. 3, 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
July 24-30 — In his first papal visit to Canada, Pope Francis apologizes for the harsh treatment of the indigenous Canadians, saying many Christians and members of the Catholic Church were complicit.
2023
Jan. 31-Feb. 5 — Pope Francis travels to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. During his visit, the pope condemns political violence in the countries and promotes peace. He also participates in an ecumenical prayer service with Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Moderator of the Church of Scotland Iain Greenshields.
Pope Francis greets a young boy a Mass in Juba, South Sudan on Feb. 5, 2023. Vatican Media
March 29-April 1 — Pope Francis is hospitalized for a respiratory infection. During his stay at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, he visits the pediatric cancer ward and baptizes a newborn baby.
April 5 — The pope appears in the Disney documentary “The Pope: Answers,” which is in Spanish, answering six “hot-button” issues from members of Gen Z from various backgrounds. The group discusses immigration, depression, abortion, clergy sexual and psychological abuse, transgenderism, pornography, and loss of faith.
April 28-30 — Pope Francis visits Hungary to meet with government officials, civil society members, bishops, priests, seminarians, Jesuits, consecrated men and women, and pastoral workers. He celebrates Mass on the final day of the trip in Kossuth Lajos Square.
Pope Francis stands on an altar erected outside the Parliament Building in Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos’ Square during a public outdoor Mass on April 30, 2023. Vatican Media
June 7 — The Vatican announces that Pope Francis will undergo abdominal surgery that afternoon under general anesthesia due to a hernia that is causing painful, recurring, and worsening symptoms. In his general audience that morning before the surgery, Francis says he intends to publish an apostolic letter on St. Thérèse of Lisieux, “patroness of the missions,” to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth.
June 15 — After successful surgery and a week of recovery, Pope Francis is released from Gemelli Hospital.
Aug. 2-6 — Pope Francis travels to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day 2023, taking place from Aug. 1-6. He meets with Church and civil leaders ahead of presiding at the welcoming Mass and Stations of the Cross. He also hears the confessions of several pilgrims. On Aug. 5, he visits the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, where he prays the rosary with young people with disabilities. That evening he presides over the vigil and on Sunday, Aug. 6, he celebrates the closing Mass, where he urges the 1.5 million young people present to “be not afraid,” echoing the words of the founder of World Youth Days, St. John Paul II.
Pope Francis waves at the crowd of 1.5 million people who attended the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 6, 2023. Vatican Media.
Aug. 31-Sept. 4 — Pope Francis travels to Mongolia, the world’s most sparsely populated sovereign country. The trip makes Francis the first pope to visit the Asian country that shares a 2,880-mile border with China, its most significant economic partner. Mongolia has a population of about 1,300 Catholics in a country of more than 3 million people.
Pope Francis meets with local priests and religious of Mongolia, which includes only 25 priests (19 religious and six diocesan), 33 women religious, and one bishop — Cardinal Giorgio Marengo — in Ulaanbaatar’s Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul on Sept. 2, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media
Sept. 22-23 — On a two-day trip to Marseille, France, Pope Francis meets with local civil and religious leaders and participates in the Mediterranean Encounter, a gathering of some 120 young people of various creeds with bishops from 30 countries.
Pope Francis asks for a moment of silence at a memorial dedicated to sailors and migrants lost at sea on the first of a two-day visit to Marseille, France, Sept. 22, 2023. A Camargue cross, which comes from the Camargue area of France, represents the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. The three tridents represent faith, the anchor represents hope, and the heart represents charity. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Oct. 4-29 — The Vatican hosts the first of two monthlong global assemblies of the Synod on Synodality, initiated by Pope Francis in 2021 to enhance the communion, participation, and mission of the Church. Pope Francis celebrates the closing Mass of the synod at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29. The second and final global assembly will take place at the Vatican in October 2024.
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Vatican Media
Nov. 25 — Pope Francis visits the hospital briefly for precautionary testing after coming down with the flu earlier in the day. Although he still participates in scheduled activities, other officials read his prepared remarks. The Vatican on Nov. 28 cancels the pope’s planned Dec. 1–3 trip to Dubai for the COP28 climate conference, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech, due to his illness.
Dec. 18 — The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issues the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which authorizes nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and couples in “irregular situations.” Various bishops from around the world voice both support for and criticism of the document.
2024
Jan. 4 — Amid widespread backlash to Fiducia Supplicans, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, publishes a five-page press release that refers to Fiducia Supplicans as “perennial doctrine” and underlines that pastoral blessings of couples in irregular situations should not be “an endorsement of the life led by those who request them.”
Jan. 14 — Pope Francis for the first time responds publicly to questions about Fiducia Supplicans in an interview on an Italian television show. The pope underlines that “the Lord blesses everyone” and that a blessing is an invitation to enter into a conversation “to see what the road is that the Lord proposes to them.”
Feb. 11 — In a ceremony attended by Argentine president Javier Milei, Pope Francis canonizes María Antonia of St. Joseph — known affectionately in the pope’s home country as “Mama Antula” — in a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. The president and the former archbishop of Buenos Aires embrace after the ceremony. Pope Francis, who has not returned to his homeland since becoming pope in 2013, has said he wants to visit Argentina in the second half of this year.
Pope Francis meets with Argentina President Javier Milei in a private audience on Feb. 12, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Feb. 28 — After canceling audiences the previous Saturday and having an aide read his prepared remarks at his Wednesday audience due to a “mild flu,” Pope Francis visits the hospital for diagnostic tests but returns to the Vatican afterward.
March 2 — Despite having an aide read his speech “because of bronchitis,” the pope presides over the inauguration of the 95th Judicial Year of the Vatican City State and maintains a full schedule.
March 13 — Pope Francis celebrates 11 years as Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
Munich, Germany, May 15, 2019 / 02:15 pm (CNA).- At least one bishop has offered his support for a week-long “Church strike” organized by German Catholic women, during which participants organize their own prayer services rather than attending Mass.
Calling itself “Mary 2.0” the initiative issued an open letter to Pope Francis, which called for the ordination of women, and claimed “men of the Church only tolerate one woman in their midst: Mary.”
“We want to take Mary off her pedestal and into our midst, as a sister facing our direction,” the letter said.
The website features paintings of Mary and other women with their mouths taped over.
The campaign has met with considerable criticism from German Catholics, some of when even launched of a “Maria 1.0” website, which says that the Mother of God “does not require any updates and should not be instrumentalized.”
But several Church representatives have gone public in support of “Mary 2.0.”
The official news portal of the Catholic Church in Germany provided broad coverage of the call for a strike, taking place May 11-18. It also reported that Bishop Franz-Josef Bode of Osnabrück supports the campaign.
Bode, who leads the Commission on Women in the German bishops’ conference, told press agency EPD that while he regrets the strikes will not attend Mass, he believes it important to acknowledge the impatience of “many women in the Catholic Church” and their feelings of “deep hurt” for not being adequately appreciated for their contribution.
Bode said that while he does not believe women will be ordained priests in the near future, the Church could soon ordain them as deacons.
Participants in the “Church strike” are refusing to step into a church from the week of May 11 to 18 and will not attend Mass. Instead, services such as a “Liturgy of the Word” are held throughout the week. According to the campaign’s Facebook page, these services have garnered between 18 and 155 registered attendees.
Referencing the abuse crisis as a reason for the urgent need for change, the group’s letter to Pope Francis makes a range of demands, from the abolition of “mandatory celibacy” to an “updating” of the Church’s teaching on sexual morality and the ordination of women to “all ministries” – including the orders of deacon, priest and bishop.
In an interview published on the official website of the Archdiocese of Paderborn, vicar general Fr. Alfons Hardt praised the organizers of the campaign as women who are “concerned about the sustainability of their church.”
Hardt said “this is a motivation that I value highly,” even though the campaign might also create division.
Whether women can be ordained to the priesthood is an open question, Hardt asserted, saying, “on the one hand we have a definitive decision by Pope John Paul II on the question of the ordination of women and on the other hand we still do not have a final answer. At least in Germany this question is discussed very openly, especially among theologians. It is clear that there is a need for a global ecclesial consensus for this which currently is not the case.”
Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis have all taught that the sacrament of ordination is reserved to men by divine institution, and that, while the role of female “deacons” in the early Church can be studied, such study does not imply that women can be ordained sacramentally.
Despite its demands and – initially – very small numbers, “Mary 2.0” has not only received support from several German prelates but also sustained coverage in Germany, where many Catholics are turning their back on a church in crisis in the wake of the abuse scandals and other controversies, with a recent prognosis predicting the number of Catholics in the country will halve by 2060, and Church attendance in constant decline, hovering at the 10 percent mark on average according to most recent official figure.
In March, Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising announced that the church in Germany would embark on a “binding synodal process” to tackle what he described as the three key issues arising from the clerical abuse crisis: priestly celibacy, the Church’s teaching on sexual morality, and a reduction of clerical power.
More recently, another German bishop, Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen, voiced similar expectations for the “Pan-Amazonian Synod” in October.
Overbeck, who also leads the influential Catholic Latin America relief organization Adveniat, predicted that “nothing will be as it was before” after that synod.
Speaking to journalists on May 2, he said that the role of women in the Church would be reconsidered at the meeting, and so would sexual morality, the role of the priesthood and the overall hierarchical structure of the Church. The synod will take place from October 6 to 27.
This story was originally published by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Francis gives the Urbi et Orbi blessing on Easter 2022 / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Vatican City, Apr 17, 2022 / 04:30 am (CNA).
In his Urbi et Orbi blessing on Easter 2022, Pope Francis lamented an “Easter of War” as he prayed for peace in Ukraine… […]
35 Comments
Thank God the Holy Father is back safely , for the great and ongoing blessings from the trip for persons world over , to glimpse the Father’s Love , for another good treat of gentle wisdom to help bring more clarity to any who are truly seeking same , seeing the unfathomable ( even foolish Way in the eyes worldly minded ) of the Heart of The Shepherd who can care for one with as much Love and tenderness as for the 99 !
In plain English, please Mr. JPG, where do you see the ‘heart of the shepherd’ within the events of this CNA report? If you could please define what you see as the connoting or denoting of the ‘heart of the shepherd,’ that would help. Thank you.
The words of the Holy Father in the article – hope same would be good enough for most who have enough of a needed trusting attitude ; some of the views at this site also could be helpful .
My question was: What do you, Mr. J.P.G., see as “the heart of the shepherd”? Yes, the pope has spoken many words, but I wanted to understand what YOU meant. It seems you answer: ALL THE WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER and the views at wherepeteris.
Perhaps you haven’t read about wherepeteris, where it describes itself: “The contributors to this website hold and express a diversity of views. Each contributor’s view are his or her own,…”
The same site quotes the very pope himself saying “…we can learn so much from one another!”
I wonder why you cannot or will not share what you think.
“For me, I don’t want to particularize […] the United States because I don’t know the details well, I give the principle … Be a pastor and the pastor knows what he has to do at all times, but as a shepherd. But if he comes out of this shepherding of the Church, immediately he becomes a politician,” Francis said.
What is the sense of these words??
By what claim other than the chair where he sits (or stands, up in a plane) does this man have any moral authority? First, he stops priests from saying private Mass in St. Peter’s. Next, he forbids priests from saying and laity from worshipping at the Mass of the ages. Then he deigns to talk about community and pastors, being shepherds, becoming politicians. Nonsense. He deserves resistance and rejection. When one is
beyond the sensus fidelium, one is not part of the community and belongs to something other than the Body of Christ.
Explain to me, J.P.G. where the “heart of the shepherd” is in this man. By his own explicit admission Bergoglio is a serial formal cooperator in the mortal sin of sacrilege by public manifest sinners and willfully violates canon 915 (“Can. 915 – Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion”), laughs and jokes about giving the Sacred Body and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ to a Jew, denies the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue and the permanence and exclusivity of the Sacrament of Matrimony, by public deed and action supports and promotes the heinous sin of abortion by encouraging and even lauding pro-abortion politicians while saying the opposite to cover his mendacity and hypocrisy, and even stoops to mock Cardinal Burke’s near-death COVID infection as the “irony of life” that is the due dessert of a “Negationist”. These actions come not from the heart of a shepherd but from the heart of a hireling.
The Bishop of LaCrosse WI said the same thing(I don’t know all the details) when Fr Altman(who just lost his faculties by this Bishop) about the Grinder Mnsr. in the same diocese who just got caught with his pants down but only gets a slap on the rist
Rhetorical argument that following moral principles is lacking tenderness, a harsh condemnation is an appeal to sentiment not mercy. We cannot formulate that being a shepherd who calls the sinner to admit their sin and repent, as adversarial to justice. As if justice requires the exclusion of those politicians who support the murder of the innocents simply because they’re politicians. Politicization on the scales of justice weighs against the Pontiff as politicizing the moral responsibility we all have whatever our station. And in this instance especially because of our station as Congressmen with enormous influence to set moral trends the requirement to repent. What then of Catholics who actively and politically supported Nazi genocide? All the exclamation on clear principles and murder is in effect convoluted into support of abortion. We’ve suffered this reversal of justice by sophistry since 2013.
To clarify, my comment addresses Pope Francis’ remark, “In denying Communion to politicians who support abortion historically, when bishops acted politically rather than as pastors, there have been problems. What should the pastor do? Be a shepherd, do not go around condemning” (Francis). Bishops who have denied communion did so when the congressman openly advocated abortion rights, and in instances sought increased access as did Senator Dick Durbin who was denied by Bishop Paprocki. Other bishops acted similarly, nor did they “go around condemning”. What they achieved wasn’t politicization, rather the opposite. A required disciplinary reminder of the congressman’s primary responsibility to Christ’s Church in respect to murder of the innocent, and repentance for salvation. To offer communion to manifest advocates of abortion is a dereliction of one’s priestly office and for a bishop his obligation to defend the faith misrepresented by the sacramental abuser. To offer communion adds to the sacrilege, jeopardizes the salvation of both communicant and priest, and scandalizes the faithful. A laissez faire pastoral attitude urged by Pope Francis isn’t pastoral at all. It promotes these ills.
When he doesn’t have his script written for him, he is no different in his rhetoric and historical “knowledge” than the neighborhood barstool thoroughbred ignorant anti-Catholic.
Thank you for your great presentation that directly makes clear what this issue is all about. You’re clarity snuffs out the “confusion”. We need more priests to the same.
It never was a political. exumunication in this case is the person is well know as is his stance on abortion. Excomunication is a merciful way of trying to draw the person back to the truth. There is a reading the book of St James, not sure were, that God is saying if you see your brother sinning and you try to bring him back and he comes back a soul has been saved, but if he refuses it’s not on you(I’m paraphrasing of course because I do’t remember the exact wording
But what will it take, then, for Pope Francis to not continually allow the public sacrilege of the Holy Eucharist? Has not this papal indifference to the grave sin of scandal contributed to three-quarters of professed Catholics denying the Real Presence?
Francis says he has not met ‘this type of person’, pro-abortion politicians, in regard to receiving Holy Communion!!!
Who said anything about excommunication? The question is arbitrary access to the Eucharist by, as the pope says, murderers and hit men (or, rather, hit persons).
And if Biden, let’s us his name even at the risk of particularizing a notorious case…if he is excommunicated, for promoting abortion, this is a penalty which he inflicts on himself, under existing Canon Law.
I would like to ask Pope Francis: what about to deny communion to politicians who claim to be Catholic and support abortion until birth? This is not a political, its a religious question.
The most pastoral action is telling the person the truth: You are endangering your immortal soul by advocating for the murders of babies in the womb. Receiving Communion with this mortal sin on your soul doubles the impact of your sin.
How many people have left the church because they perceive the hypocrisy. No one wants to be associated with a person or group that is unwilling to support what they believe.
So it is not just the politician and the mother and those who preform murder that are lost. We now have the watchers who go else where.
How many souls are lost?
The best gift anyone can give to our Holy Father is a neck pillow and prescription for sleeping pills, so he cannot give any more dreadful plane interviews anymore.
Good point, Crusader. Pope Francis and many Bishops would do away with Canon law, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and even the Ten Commandments, if they could. Following the Pope’s line of thinking, those documents would be considered too rigid.
Tackle? Really?
More like he made another touchdown for the other team. The Bergoglian Captivity roles on and on…
The pastoral disorientation manifested by this gentleman is pathetic, tragic and scandalous. This weeks citations from “On Pastors” by Saint Augustine in the Office of Readings ring in my ears annually while observing an episcopate and the chief shepherd confect a new confession in a romanticized atheism divorced from Divine Revelation.
We are witnesses to a grotesque parody.
The number one problem in the Catholic Church, by far, is the inability of the leaders to stand up to the Godless world around them. Francis knows that abortion and homosexual “marriage” are wrong, but he is far more worried about controversy than standing up to the perpetrators.
This attitude permeates just about the entire Church except for a remnant of the faithful willing to fight for the Truth.
God shows mercy, of course, but he also wipes out entire cities who embrace homosexuality. Same God. Jesus shows mercy to women caught in adultery, but he also calls people “vipers” and runs others out of the temple area. Same God.
The Catholics of the past were far more worthy of respect than the current leaders. Some may talk about the ancients’ failings, but they were at least capable of standing up to the non-Christians.
The person’s at CNA who titled this are participating in the self-deception necessary to being “welcome” inside “The McCarrick Church,” which has as its subversive head the long-time friend of the sociopath McCarrick, the Pontiff Francis.
To be welcome in “The McCarrick Church,”one must do now with abortion what the Bishops of the US did with slavery in the 19th century, repulsively making excuses for it, just as they do now with slaying unborn children.
To be welcome by those in power who define their pathologies as progress, all that is asked is that everyone Ustinov pretend reality is not happening.
Therefore, the unborn now are treated by progressives just as black people were treated in the 19th century: they don’t count as persons, so the Church Bishops trade placeswith Pontius Pilate, and wash their hands of say “this murder is your affair, not mine.”
Pretending reality is not happening is the daily subscription paid for membership in “the progressive lawn party.”
Pope Francis, concerning debate over Communion for politicians who support abortion,
Pope Francis emphatically stated that abortion ends a human life and that human life must be respected “Abortion is more than an issue. Abortion is murder.”
Questioned about the U.S. debate about denying Communion to politicians who support abortion Pope Francis reaches into unspecific history of the Church saying “that when bishops have acted politically rather than as pastors, there have been problems.” The question “what should the pastor do?” evokes the soft answer “Be a shepherd, do not go around condemning … but be a pastor. But is he also a pastor of the excommunicated? Yes, he is the pastor and he must be a shepherd with God’s style, and God’s style is closeness, compassion, and tenderness,” Pope Francis said.
How does that reconcile with the sterner side of God? Who in Jesus, when commenting on those who did
harm to children said “it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Pope Francis also said “For me, I don’t want to particularize the United States because I don’t know the details well, I give the principle … Be a pastor and the pastor knows what he has to do at all times, but as a shepherd. But if he comes out of this shepherding of the Church, immediately he is a politician,”
The statement “because I don’t know the details well” is surprising!! Details of the issue have been well publicised over a long time. . Surely there would have been communication and feedback from hierarchy and diplomats.
“the pastor knows what he has to do at all times, but as a shepherd.”
The Pastor and as shepherd knows what he has to do and it should not always be the gentle soft action, where there is a long history of ignoring Church teaching, ignoring science and common sense.
This approach has resulted in confusion inside and outside of the Church, the falling away from the faith, and a gradual accepting of the falsehoods that underpin child killing abortion.
If a Pastor/shepherd considers that stronger measures need to be taken to jolt the offender into the serious
reality of offending, why when taking strong action does this instantly become political rather than ongoing shepherding? Implication in serial mass murder of children over numerous years in spite of counselling,
meaningful dialogue, engagement dialogue, requires further stronger action. This should be the pastoral
action irrespective of what political party the offender is a member. Endeavouring to prevent or diminish the killing of unborn children is not a political action!
• Joe Biden Vice President in Obama Presidency…. Ignoring, the UNCRC, all scientific medical & DNA evidence, human rights, ignoring common sense, this 8 year administration became the most abortion child killing in American history. Joe Biden fully supported this child killing agenda. Close to six million American children were brutally killed, poisoned, ripped apart limb by limb while alive, head pieced & drained, vacuumed or torn out then disposed of as hospital garbage. Biden & abortion supporters are implicated in the killing.
• Biden, Presidential candidate ,along with Kamala Harris, campaigned on this abortion child killing policy
• Biden, President, >>>is adamantly committed to this child killing and has swiftly dismantled all legislation from the previous administration that was pro life supportive of Children’s Rights and against their brutal child butchery.
>>>Promptly rejoined and funded the World Health Organisation and the Paris Climate Accord. Both organisations have an agenda of worldwide abortion child killing.
Surely, this support of child killing, this persistent heresy, should be a ground for denial of communion, even excommunication.
Thank God the Holy Father is back safely , for the great and ongoing blessings from the trip for persons world over , to glimpse the Father’s Love , for another good treat of gentle wisdom to help bring more clarity to any who are truly seeking same , seeing the unfathomable ( even foolish Way in the eyes worldly minded ) of the Heart of The Shepherd who can care for one with as much Love and tenderness as for the 99 !
In plain English, please Mr. JPG, where do you see the ‘heart of the shepherd’ within the events of this CNA report? If you could please define what you see as the connoting or denoting of the ‘heart of the shepherd,’ that would help. Thank you.
The words of the Holy Father in the article – hope same would be good enough for most who have enough of a needed trusting attitude ; some of the views at this site also could be helpful .
https://wherepeteris.com/page/2/
My question was: What do you, Mr. J.P.G., see as “the heart of the shepherd”? Yes, the pope has spoken many words, but I wanted to understand what YOU meant. It seems you answer: ALL THE WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER and the views at wherepeteris.
Perhaps you haven’t read about wherepeteris, where it describes itself: “The contributors to this website hold and express a diversity of views. Each contributor’s view are his or her own,…”
The same site quotes the very pope himself saying “…we can learn so much from one another!”
I wonder why you cannot or will not share what you think.
“For me, I don’t want to particularize […] the United States because I don’t know the details well, I give the principle … Be a pastor and the pastor knows what he has to do at all times, but as a shepherd. But if he comes out of this shepherding of the Church, immediately he becomes a politician,” Francis said.
What is the sense of these words??
By what claim other than the chair where he sits (or stands, up in a plane) does this man have any moral authority? First, he stops priests from saying private Mass in St. Peter’s. Next, he forbids priests from saying and laity from worshipping at the Mass of the ages. Then he deigns to talk about community and pastors, being shepherds, becoming politicians. Nonsense. He deserves resistance and rejection. When one is
beyond the sensus fidelium, one is not part of the community and belongs to something other than the Body of Christ.
Explain to me, J.P.G. where the “heart of the shepherd” is in this man. By his own explicit admission Bergoglio is a serial formal cooperator in the mortal sin of sacrilege by public manifest sinners and willfully violates canon 915 (“Can. 915 – Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion”), laughs and jokes about giving the Sacred Body and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ to a Jew, denies the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue and the permanence and exclusivity of the Sacrament of Matrimony, by public deed and action supports and promotes the heinous sin of abortion by encouraging and even lauding pro-abortion politicians while saying the opposite to cover his mendacity and hypocrisy, and even stoops to mock Cardinal Burke’s near-death COVID infection as the “irony of life” that is the due dessert of a “Negationist”. These actions come not from the heart of a shepherd but from the heart of a hireling.
The Bishop of LaCrosse WI said the same thing(I don’t know all the details) when Fr Altman(who just lost his faculties by this Bishop) about the Grinder Mnsr. in the same diocese who just got caught with his pants down but only gets a slap on the rist
Rhetorical argument that following moral principles is lacking tenderness, a harsh condemnation is an appeal to sentiment not mercy. We cannot formulate that being a shepherd who calls the sinner to admit their sin and repent, as adversarial to justice. As if justice requires the exclusion of those politicians who support the murder of the innocents simply because they’re politicians. Politicization on the scales of justice weighs against the Pontiff as politicizing the moral responsibility we all have whatever our station. And in this instance especially because of our station as Congressmen with enormous influence to set moral trends the requirement to repent. What then of Catholics who actively and politically supported Nazi genocide? All the exclamation on clear principles and murder is in effect convoluted into support of abortion. We’ve suffered this reversal of justice by sophistry since 2013.
To clarify, my comment addresses Pope Francis’ remark, “In denying Communion to politicians who support abortion historically, when bishops acted politically rather than as pastors, there have been problems. What should the pastor do? Be a shepherd, do not go around condemning” (Francis). Bishops who have denied communion did so when the congressman openly advocated abortion rights, and in instances sought increased access as did Senator Dick Durbin who was denied by Bishop Paprocki. Other bishops acted similarly, nor did they “go around condemning”. What they achieved wasn’t politicization, rather the opposite. A required disciplinary reminder of the congressman’s primary responsibility to Christ’s Church in respect to murder of the innocent, and repentance for salvation. To offer communion to manifest advocates of abortion is a dereliction of one’s priestly office and for a bishop his obligation to defend the faith misrepresented by the sacramental abuser. To offer communion adds to the sacrilege, jeopardizes the salvation of both communicant and priest, and scandalizes the faithful. A laissez faire pastoral attitude urged by Pope Francis isn’t pastoral at all. It promotes these ills.
When he doesn’t have his script written for him, he is no different in his rhetoric and historical “knowledge” than the neighborhood barstool thoroughbred ignorant anti-Catholic.
Good simile, especially the word ‘thoroughbred’ with its allusion of ‘pure’!
Thank you for your great presentation that directly makes clear what this issue is all about. You’re clarity snuffs out the “confusion”. We need more priests to the same.
It never was a political. exumunication in this case is the person is well know as is his stance on abortion. Excomunication is a merciful way of trying to draw the person back to the truth. There is a reading the book of St James, not sure were, that God is saying if you see your brother sinning and you try to bring him back and he comes back a soul has been saved, but if he refuses it’s not on you(I’m paraphrasing of course because I do’t remember the exact wording
“Abortion is murder”
He says.
But what will it take, then, for Pope Francis to not continually allow the public sacrilege of the Holy Eucharist? Has not this papal indifference to the grave sin of scandal contributed to three-quarters of professed Catholics denying the Real Presence?
Francis says he has not met ‘this type of person’, pro-abortion politicians, in regard to receiving Holy Communion!!!
Really?
I’ve given up on expecting anything meaningful/helpful from these airborne musings of PF.
Agreed – from him or anyone of consequence.
Sigh
Who said anything about excommunication? The question is arbitrary access to the Eucharist by, as the pope says, murderers and hit men (or, rather, hit persons).
And if Biden, let’s us his name even at the risk of particularizing a notorious case…if he is excommunicated, for promoting abortion, this is a penalty which he inflicts on himself, under existing Canon Law.
Do not clarify it as persons please. Men include all people in this context.
Biden – and all the others – have already excommunicated themselves.
He said for the umpteenth time.
I would like to ask Pope Francis: what about to deny communion to politicians who claim to be Catholic and support abortion until birth? This is not a political, its a religious question.
Tomas, It is a moral question; not a religious one. The difference is important.
Have Catholic politicians who publicly support and promote abortion been excommunicated? Pope Francis seemed to be speaking from that perspective.
The most pastoral action is telling the person the truth: You are endangering your immortal soul by advocating for the murders of babies in the womb. Receiving Communion with this mortal sin on your soul doubles the impact of your sin.
Truth with love, yes!
How many people have left the church because they perceive the hypocrisy. No one wants to be associated with a person or group that is unwilling to support what they believe.
So it is not just the politician and the mother and those who preform murder that are lost. We now have the watchers who go else where.
How many souls are lost?
The best gift anyone can give to our Holy Father is a neck pillow and prescription for sleeping pills, so he cannot give any more dreadful plane interviews anymore.
I am not sure why we even have Canon Law. The bishops ignore it when canceling faithful priests. The Pope and Bishops ignore Canon 915.
Good point, Crusader. Pope Francis and many Bishops would do away with Canon law, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and even the Ten Commandments, if they could. Following the Pope’s line of thinking, those documents would be considered too rigid.
Tackle? Really?
More like he made another touchdown for the other team. The Bergoglian Captivity roles on and on…
The pastoral disorientation manifested by this gentleman is pathetic, tragic and scandalous. This weeks citations from “On Pastors” by Saint Augustine in the Office of Readings ring in my ears annually while observing an episcopate and the chief shepherd confect a new confession in a romanticized atheism divorced from Divine Revelation.
We are witnesses to a grotesque parody.
In future, I’ll skip PF’s airborne musings and just go straight to Phil Lawler’s report on Catholic Culture.
The number one problem in the Catholic Church, by far, is the inability of the leaders to stand up to the Godless world around them. Francis knows that abortion and homosexual “marriage” are wrong, but he is far more worried about controversy than standing up to the perpetrators.
This attitude permeates just about the entire Church except for a remnant of the faithful willing to fight for the Truth.
God shows mercy, of course, but he also wipes out entire cities who embrace homosexuality. Same God. Jesus shows mercy to women caught in adultery, but he also calls people “vipers” and runs others out of the temple area. Same God.
The Catholics of the past were far more worthy of respect than the current leaders. Some may talk about the ancients’ failings, but they were at least capable of standing up to the non-Christians.
May God raise up real men in the Church soon.
always with the flights, this guy.
We need Benedict
The person’s at CNA who titled this are participating in the self-deception necessary to being “welcome” inside “The McCarrick Church,” which has as its subversive head the long-time friend of the sociopath McCarrick, the Pontiff Francis.
To be welcome in “The McCarrick Church,”one must do now with abortion what the Bishops of the US did with slavery in the 19th century, repulsively making excuses for it, just as they do now with slaying unborn children.
To be welcome by those in power who define their pathologies as progress, all that is asked is that everyone Ustinov pretend reality is not happening.
Therefore, the unborn now are treated by progressives just as black people were treated in the 19th century: they don’t count as persons, so the Church Bishops trade placeswith Pontius Pilate, and wash their hands of say “this murder is your affair, not mine.”
Pretending reality is not happening is the daily subscription paid for membership in “the progressive lawn party.”
Pope Francis, concerning debate over Communion for politicians who support abortion,
Pope Francis emphatically stated that abortion ends a human life and that human life must be respected “Abortion is more than an issue. Abortion is murder.”
Questioned about the U.S. debate about denying Communion to politicians who support abortion Pope Francis reaches into unspecific history of the Church saying “that when bishops have acted politically rather than as pastors, there have been problems.” The question “what should the pastor do?” evokes the soft answer “Be a shepherd, do not go around condemning … but be a pastor. But is he also a pastor of the excommunicated? Yes, he is the pastor and he must be a shepherd with God’s style, and God’s style is closeness, compassion, and tenderness,” Pope Francis said.
How does that reconcile with the sterner side of God? Who in Jesus, when commenting on those who did
harm to children said “it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Pope Francis also said “For me, I don’t want to particularize the United States because I don’t know the details well, I give the principle … Be a pastor and the pastor knows what he has to do at all times, but as a shepherd. But if he comes out of this shepherding of the Church, immediately he is a politician,”
The statement “because I don’t know the details well” is surprising!! Details of the issue have been well publicised over a long time. . Surely there would have been communication and feedback from hierarchy and diplomats.
“the pastor knows what he has to do at all times, but as a shepherd.”
The Pastor and as shepherd knows what he has to do and it should not always be the gentle soft action, where there is a long history of ignoring Church teaching, ignoring science and common sense.
This approach has resulted in confusion inside and outside of the Church, the falling away from the faith, and a gradual accepting of the falsehoods that underpin child killing abortion.
If a Pastor/shepherd considers that stronger measures need to be taken to jolt the offender into the serious
reality of offending, why when taking strong action does this instantly become political rather than ongoing shepherding? Implication in serial mass murder of children over numerous years in spite of counselling,
meaningful dialogue, engagement dialogue, requires further stronger action. This should be the pastoral
action irrespective of what political party the offender is a member. Endeavouring to prevent or diminish the killing of unborn children is not a political action!
• Joe Biden Vice President in Obama Presidency…. Ignoring, the UNCRC, all scientific medical & DNA evidence, human rights, ignoring common sense, this 8 year administration became the most abortion child killing in American history. Joe Biden fully supported this child killing agenda. Close to six million American children were brutally killed, poisoned, ripped apart limb by limb while alive, head pieced & drained, vacuumed or torn out then disposed of as hospital garbage. Biden & abortion supporters are implicated in the killing.
• Biden, Presidential candidate ,along with Kamala Harris, campaigned on this abortion child killing policy
• Biden, President, >>>is adamantly committed to this child killing and has swiftly dismantled all legislation from the previous administration that was pro life supportive of Children’s Rights and against their brutal child butchery.
>>>Promptly rejoined and funded the World Health Organisation and the Paris Climate Accord. Both organisations have an agenda of worldwide abortion child killing.
Surely, this support of child killing, this persistent heresy, should be a ground for denial of communion, even excommunication.