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Post by M. Hawbaker on Sept 29, 2019 18:16:55 GMT
ROME — Pope Francis has publicly endorsed an essay that appeared in 2017 criticizing relations between Evangelicals and Catholics in the United States as an “ecumenism of hate.”
In the first essay recommended by the pope, the authors, who are both friends of Francis, slammed conservative Christians in the U.S. as ignorant, theocratic, Manichean, war-mongering fanatics.
Throughout the essay, the authors criticize a string of exclusively Republican presidents as being tainted by the teachings of Evangelical Protestantism. The list of those mentioned includes Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and, of course, Donald Trump.
One of the most serious evils of American Evangelical Christians, the article stated, is “the defense of religious liberty,’” which takes the form of “a direct virtual challenge to the secularity of the state.”
The authors went on to denounce the ecumenical alliance between conservative Catholics and Evangelical Christians who align behind certain moral issues in the public square.
This poisonous alliance over shared objectives “happens around such themes as abortion, same-sex marriage, religious education in schools and other matters generally considered moral or tied to values,” the essay claimed, which unite Catholics and Evangelicals in “the nostalgic dream of a theocratic type of state.”
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Post by scott on Sept 29, 2019 19:52:16 GMT
The spirit of anti-christ at work.
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Post by barb43 on Sept 29, 2019 20:03:29 GMT
This article really raised my hackles.  It's dated September 27, 2019 and has an interesting ending: Praying God will bless the United States to the end and protect us from any evil machinations of this Pope. |
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Post by M. Hawbaker on Sept 29, 2019 20:12:17 GMT
My first thought was that the wolf's sheep mask is slipping out of place.
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Post by barb43 on Sept 30, 2019 1:19:31 GMT
My first thought was that the wolf's sheep mask is slipping out of place. It certainly could be. I wonder what the average American Catholic who sits in the pews & considers himself to be a devout Catholic would think about this if they read the article and heard of the Pope's endorsement - ? I'm remembering my friend who was aghast at my teaching the teen Sunday school class at the Methodist Church. She wasn't one to read the Bible for herself & considered it dangerous that I would research scripture as part of teaching those teens. She said, no, she didn't see a need to read the Bible; adding that whatever she needed to know, she was sure the Church would tell her. She's devoutly Catholic - maybe to this day, and she's a well-educated, college grad who's worked in library science for decades, so she's no slouch in any way.  |
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Post by M. Hawbaker on Sept 30, 2019 11:26:42 GMT
What really blows my mind about the Pope's endorsement of this essay is that it doesn't just put down Evangelical Protestants, it also trashes more conservative Catholics that take a strong stand on pro life and anti LGBT issues. I thought those things were supposed to be what the Catholic church taught that their people were supposed to do.
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Post by barb43 on Sept 30, 2019 20:50:50 GMT
That's what the Catholic Church was teaching when I went through the catechumenate program in the late 1980s. What a difference a couple or three decades and a few popes later can make. ...  |
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