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Subscribe to RSSCatholics and the curious flooded St. Peter's Square to greet Pope Francis on the day of the ceremony to officially install him as pope. NBC's Keir Simmons reports.
ROME -- Italians have an expression for things that happen rarely, like running into an old school friend who lives far away. They’ll say they see the person “ogni morte di papa” or “every death of a pope.”
With only four conclaves in the past 35 years there’s good reason for the expression, despite the fact that Benedict’s surprise resignation may force the phrase to change to “ogni cambio di papa” or “every change of a pope.”
Though the events are few and far between, I’ve had the pleasure of being here the last three times the white smoke went up. And the election of Pope Francis feels reminiscent of the heady excitement surrounding the election of another outsider: Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II.
Zany charm of a crowd of strangers
The first time I saw the white smoke I was just 16 years old, the editor of my high school newspaper at an American school here in Rome.
It was October 16, 1978, and it was the second conclave in just a few months, because the newly elected John Paul I had died after only 33 days in office.
St. Peter’s Square was not as well lit as it is today. Only the church’s façade and the Sistine Chapel roof chimney were illuminated. The shoulder-to-shoulder crowd of almost 100,000 stood in a chilled darkness, sustained by an excited, Christmas-like anticipation of the announcement of a new pope. There’s something quite unusual, a little zany and inexplicably charming about standing in an enormous group of strangers, waiting for an arcane smoke signal to reveal a new leader.
The smoke finally appeared on that October night and there was a rush to interpret whether it was black or white. With a history of spotty results when it comes to ballot burning, there was room for doubt, but it ultimately turned a solid white and a thrill ran through the crowd. The anticipation built even more as we waited for the first appearance on the balcony, and the question “Who will it be?” crisscrossed the crowd in a dozen languages.
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Cardinals from around the world gathered in the Vatican to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Roman Catholic Church made history that night, electing the first foreign pope in more than four centuries. The red velvet draperies trembled and parted to bring forth a vibrant, youthful Polish cardinal. He immediately charmed the crowd in stumbling Italian, and then went on to radically transform the papacy with intercontinental travel, a constant television presence and a historic moral challenge to the Soviet Union’s harsh rule of Eastern European nations behind the Iron Curtain.
After high school and during college I worked for several of the American network news bureaus in Rome. Pope John Paul II was almost killed by a Turkish gunman in St. Peter’s Square in 1981, and I spent most of 1982 working for ABC News. In June of that year, I flew on my first “papal plane” when the pontiff visited Britain.
Satellite television and videotape had just come of age with John Paul II’s election, and the Pole’s long pontificate would rise, thrive and fall under the unblinking eye of the constant camera lens. For people who had known only one pope their whole lives, John Paul II would come to symbolize Catholicism: both stubborn and frail, often charming but also uncompromising.
Transitional, not transformational
The death of John Paul II in 2005 was mourned by millions. I returned to the Vatican for NBC News in 1996 after many years working in the United States and covered the last decade of his papacy.
Like most of my fellow Vatican watchers, I knew the Polish pope would be an impossible act to follow. Still, I hoped the cardinals would go for a bold choice over a safe one.
Though Catholic women and nuns have long run the Roman Catholic Church's hospitals, schools, and parishes, women cannot be ordained, say Mass, or vote for the pope. As Pope Francis is officially installed, many women think it's time they be allowed deeper involvement. Maria Shriver reports.
Benedict was not that bold choice. But clearly the cardinals felt the church would benefit from a transitional figure, rather than a transformational one like John Paul II.
The white smoke came quickly that time, on the third vote after just a day and a half, and the excitement in the square was shared with cellphones in the age of the Internet.
The election of 78-year-old Joseph Ratzinger, a full 20 years older than John Paul II at his election, would shift the image of the papacy to a staid, conservative and bookish one.
Many believe resigning was the most courageous act of Benedict’s entire papacy. It took a lot for someone who loves the trappings of Catholic conservatism as much as he does to break with 600 years of tradition, but Benedict did it, making way for one more puff of white smoke.
A swift surprise
This latest conclave also lasted a mere day and a half, a surprise in itself. Unlike the last one, where Ratzinger went in a clear favorite, this time there was an open field, no top contenders, and for the first time in history, not one but two Americans on the short list of possible popes.
Courtesy Stephen Weeke/ NBC News
NBC News Producer Stephen Weeke walks with American Cardinal Timothy Dolan in Vatican City recently.
I now work out of San Francisco but came back to Rome to help TODAY with this conclave. After working all day at our live location overlooking the Vatican, I made it through the rain and crowds into St. Peter’s Square with minutes to spare before the smoke appeared.
The white smoke poured out of the chimney, with the force and color of something bellowing from a steam-engine locomotive -- there was no ambiguity this time. The crowd went crazy in the age of smartphones and social media, and basically crashed the local cellular network.
I waited for the announcement with other Americans, excited at the prospect of witnessing the arrival of an American pope. When the red drapes revealed a 76-year-old Argentine, I was initially a little disappointed. But the cardinal of Buenos Aires didn’t take long to change that feeling.
When the new Pope Francis bent down to ask the crowd to pray for him, before he would bless them, I was moved. This man's humility seemed genuine, palpable and extremely public. Its effect on the crowd was immediate.
Since then he has broken the mold in half a dozen ways. Refusing the papal limo and riding the bus back after his election with his fellow cardinals. Refusing the gold cross and keeping his iron one. Refusing the red slippers and keeping his clunky black walking shoes. Refusing a prepared speech and speaking off the cuff.
By naming himself after Saint Francis of Assisi, a beloved figure whose radical embrace of poverty reformed an ailing and corrupt church 800 years ago, the pope has already telegraphed that he is open to change.
It's high time the world had a pope with a common touch and a flair for the unscripted. Francis is already reminding a lot of us of the young John Paul II. I’m glad I was here to see his white smoke.
Stephen Weeke was NBC News' Vatican producer from 1996 to 2005. He is now based in Northern California.
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Leave a Comment:
Jean C: Why don't you crawl back into that hole you crawled out of....ignoranant fool....
What is that all about?
Anyway, I'm not the biggest fan of Catholicism though I was baptized as a Catholic by my parents. This pope seems a much better choice than Benedict in that his actions seem more in line with what a church ought to be. Still too soon to tell, but here's hoping.
Hello folks, how many centuries have we heard that one. The new Pope will stop the rampant PEDOPHILIA in the church! The new Pope will stop drug money laundering in the church! The new Pope will disband the gay sex ring within the Cardinals. The Pope is just another figure head with no power. If he gets out of line they will give a bowl of hemlock soup.
Don't bother arguing with Catholic fundamentalists as most are nothing more than drones. During their weekly ritual they actually think they are drinking the blood of and eating the body of "Christ". It always appeared to be cannibalistic to me. They follow orders during this ritual, they kneel, they stand, they sit, they bow their head, they close their eyes all on command from a mortal man who is probably lining up his next victim from the congregation of sheeple. If they can get anybody to believe and willfully cede to their rituals, it's official, they are brainwashed.
They get their
sheepleflock to believe in an old almighty powerful man with a beard that sits in the clouds and watches everything they do 24/7. The Roman Catholics are then told to be thankful that there is a god that has given them the choice to either adhere to 10 laws or to burn and choke and suffer and scream and cry and be tortured for all eternity!But he loves you! And he needs money, he always needs more money. He is all powerful but just can't handle money.
Look at his resume, war, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, corruption and the Kardashian sisters. If this is the best he can do, I'm not impressed. This is not the work you would expect from an almighty being. This is the work you would expect from a temporary with a really bad attitude. With these results, he should be thrown to the curb on his almighty powerful a$$ (channeling George Carlin)!
Don't get me wrong, everyone has a right to believe in the Easter Bunny, God, Great Gazoo, Oompa Loompas, Santa Claus, Peter Pan or any other fictional character they choose to, but they don't have the right to push it off on anyone else as fact or reality!
"But he loves you! And he needs money, he always needs more money. He is all powerful but just can't handle money."
Why steal from Carlin without credit? Tell me you didn't steal copy too.
Apparently you feel you have the right to push your beliefs on others. Why did you read the article? I am not a NASCAR fan, therefore I don't read articles pertaining to Tony Stewart or any other race car driver. I don't go in spewing hatred of how stupid they are, I just avoid the article all together. If I was around someone who only spoke of NASCAR I would probably not hang around them seeing they have an interest in something I don't. Your problems are yours, only you can disassociate yourself from those that you have no interest in. I for one am intrigued with the new Pope Francis and can't wait to see what changes he decides to make, it may just take me back to the church.. Only time will tell.
Hello Cheetah, look at the fifth paragraph, "(channeling George Carlin)!" I gave credit where credit is due.
Once again, don't get me wrong, everyone has a right to believe in the Easter Bunny, God, Great Gazoo, Oompa Loompas, Santa Claus, Peter Pan or any other fictional character they choose to, but they don't have the right to push it off on anyone else as fact or reality!
TrustVerify-
The only one that seems to be pushing their beliefs is you. There are no Catholics out there that go door to door and force people to believe in what they do. You do or you don't...it's your choice.
Atheists, on the other hand, seem to be very in-your-face about how they feel, and they tend to be very condescending and arrogant about their beliefs. "Obviously my way is the most logical and well thought out way, so you're an idiot."
If you're an atheist, fine, but how about some respect for others? I'm positive there are atheist child molesters and drug dealers as well.
We all know this is a place for people’s opinions; it strikes me how many peoples opinions are shaped by bitterness, unrequited love, misinformation or learned behavior from childhood.
I can understand a person being an Atheist, I can understand a person who accepts a certain practice of faith rather than something else, I can understand that some people feel they can pray to their God with no formal association with others.
What astounds me is the number of people here that so totally reject a new Pope, knowing nothing about him except that he is Catholic. They condemn him and make unveiled accusations because of his faith.
Some condemn the church saying their failures are much greater than other mere men as they say the church places itself on some type of moral pedestal, I would suggest that those that condemn others so easily live on a moral platform that is unique to themselves.
I would agree with jrl on this point. Blind adherance to any idiology or religion is abhorant to me. You may believe one thing is true absolutely, and that's great...for you. But it's not what everyone believes, nor should they be made to. I honestly find athieism to be just another religion.
I'm agnostic and do not endeavor to change anyone's mind on their belief system ever, nor would I permit someone trying to tell me what I should think. If I disagree with someone, I just shrug and say "I disagree". If it starts to get ugly, I simply don't associate with them.
Now, Pope Francis has so far impressed me with his seeming humility. Is he worthy of absolute adoration? No. To me no one is worthy of that level of regard. But that's just me.
To those that would denounce him because of his stance on gay marriage and women priests, et al, I would say, You are not surprised. He's still Catholic. Do you honestly think he's going to shift an entire dogma in a week? You're just being arbitrary.
Hello folks, the reason so many people speak out against the Catholic Church is because of their continuous and heinous crimes against humanity. It hasn't subsided or stopped in centuries and the new pope is the same as the old pope (check out his relationship with General Videla). I was raised Roman Catholic and know what the church is all about.
While you hope people will turn a blind eye to the PEDOPHILE CONCLAVE and its brain washed enablers. It's isn't going to happen, they must be stopped once and for all. You guys have funded and enabled these pedophile monsters to the tune of 3 billion that is documented. We will never know the full extent of the crimes perpetrated on innocent children. If you have the intestinal fortitude instead of turning a blind eye take a look at what your church has wrought on the US alone.
Church pedophilia settlements:
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/settlements/
Hello @lola3, you know what they say, bad things are able to happen to good people as long as the apathetic people say nothing even after overwhelming historical evidence. Your backhanded (a)pathetic approval is what perpetuates and enables this criminality. Live with that!
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/settlements/
Why do you never hear of the Boy Scouts of America? They had list of pedophiles within its organization. Maybe it is different for a bunch of married men dressing in Khaki shorts and shirts than it is for those who dress in vestments. I do not agree at all with what the "guilty" priest have done, but I am not going to throw the whole lot in the same group. Do you feel all scout masters are pedophiles?
What low expectations Catholics have had to resort to regarding their pope:
1. He took the bus!
2. He carried his own bags!
3. He paid his hotel bill!
4. He is wearing less ornate clothes!
5. He didn't speak in Latin!
Nothing has changed. The Catholic Church remains primarily a misogynistic political organization seeking to retain power while operating under the smoke and mirrors of faith. It can't be said often enough, their faith-claims about the supernatural have zero, repeat, zero evidence.
Faith is superfluous.
Faith is not needed to be a good person. However, faith is needed if you want a logical pathway for otherwise good people to commit atrocities. "Those who believe in absurdities can be made to commit atrocities." -Voltaire.
Be good for goodness sake!
Trustverify.
May you wrought in hell.
Hey TrustVerify, I do not kow what I am besides me.... but I do know wise words to live by when I hear them.... "He who is without sin, cast the first stone".... I do not know anything about you... but I would bet a beer you ain't without sin..... just saying...
Hello @wild bill, now that isn't very Christian of you! I thought you were supposed to turn the other cheek! I guess you stopped doing that when you finally figured out when you did that in the Catholic church you would get mounted. Yippee Ki Yay.
I know that's crass but how long are you people going to accept this PEDOPHILIA behavior?
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/settlements/
P.S. There is no hell just like there is no heaven in the biblical sense so you don't have to accept and bow to PEDOPHILES!
@R-738279 I wouldn't bet you because I don't claim to be more "worldly" as the Pope does. He is just a mortal man like you and me. He's not special, what makes him different is he has Liberace fashion tendencies, that's all.
Trust...You seem to be one of those that will not even listen to the other side of the argument, that paints with a wide brush and attacks those that have the temerity to disagree with you.
You accuse me of apathetic approval, but why? Because I don't rail at all Catholics? Because I don't insult others for following their faith? I won't do that. I will however consider a persons actions as a testement to their character. Simple as that. Evil is everywhere, within religion and without.
TrustVerify wouldn't bet you because I don't claim to be more "worldly" as the Pope does. He is just a mortal man like you and me. He's not special, what makes him different is he has Liberace fashion tendencies, that's all.
Sir I did not say you were or were not worldy, I said that I bet you have sinned, and You have for ALL to see you are bearing false witness againt a man, fashion is not the issue. YOU have no facts regarding this man, you make accusations by association, you profess "Trust and Verify" you sir are only a pretender, a false witness.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops doesn't go bible-thumping door to door, they simply spend millions every year lobbying to get the government to enforce Catholic sharia laws against same-sex marriage and women's reproductive rights. Most recently they filed two amicus briefs with the supreme court in support of the Jim Crow laws of DOMA and Prop h8.
In fact they do want to force people and don't want people to be allowed to make those choices for themselves.
So glad to see all of this spewing by "experts" on Catholicism. I would doubt many, if any, of you have even been inside a Catholic Church in the last decade.
You spew forth your hatred (using as big of words as your dictionary can provide) toward a church that has been the backbone of help toward this world.
Who was there to help the world during the first 1500 years of Christianity? The Protestants didn't show up until about 1500. The Catholic religious did all the helping, healing and serving. All of it. I know, you will find that to be a number you despise. Today's society CAN NOT STAND absolutes. Sorry, the Catholics served the world.
What of this horrible story of all the sex abuse in the Vatican II approved Priesthoods?? It is horrible. Why does no one mention all the sex abuse in the Protestant churches????? In Catholicism, it is proof that the "openness" of Vatican II was merely a screen behind which rebelliousness took hold in the Catholic Church. Today, USA priests and Bishops talk and talk about how the people need to be obedient. But how many of them are obedient? Hardly any:
25 % of Catholic dioceses across the USA agree that abortion is bad. 1 in 4. Sorry, but abortion kills a child and THAT should be on everyone's list of things to avoid. You don't want a child? Then dont have sex. Oh, oh, oh - you cant stop me from what I WANT!! Then you need to prepare for the possibility of children Plain and simple truth.
USA priests are not even consecrated in the proper manner. Who changed the procedure? Vatican II rebels. Your priest may not even have been given all the preparation he needs. Too bad. Vatican II is bigger than you. They don't have to obey the church, but they DEMAND that you obey them. Huh????
US Bishops do not even pay attention to the Papal letters that ask for the Traditional Mass to be honored and celebrated. Nope, these "obedient" Bishops say - we will not. Regardless of their disobedience, the Traditional Mass is growing by double digit numbers every year for the last decade or more. That can not be said of a SINGLE church in the Vatican II kingdom. The Archdiocese of Baltimore has declined by over 50% in the last decade. It is no bigger than the Diocese of Lincoln, NE now. Yet, it is still called an "Arch" (means large) diocese. Huh?????
Prayers have been removed, changed and "secularized" in the Catholic Mass. Wow. I never realized that we don't need to pray. Thanks Vatican II. Sure, let's get rid of all that "old" stuff. We need "new" stuff. Wow, may I remind Vatican II that there are A LOT of great SAINTS who lived all that "old" stuff?
Now, in the USA and elsewhere, it is "cool" to hold hands during the "Our Father" (NEVER EVER done before Vatican II), women and their daughters dress like hookers and are "really cool and free" because they dress like they are going to a bar. Wow. Nice lesson in modesty. Do we really need to see your cleavage and your thighs during Mass??? I think not.
Yes, please make fun of this wonderful church. Please, insult it due to the Vatican II sex abuse. While you do that, remember, there has been as much if not more sex abuse in a lot of the public schools you send your kids to for 18 years. And NOTHING has been done about those teachers. The teachers union is great - huh??
Please, go ahead liberals, cherry pick various words out of this post and comment EXCLUSIVELY on that word or two, instead of taking this in the whole and reading it in its context. That is something you liberals LOVE to do. Go ahead - ask for proof. You always do and when it is given, you ignore it. Nice liberal mindset - ignore the truth.
Here is more than enough proof from ONE bishop - Gregory in Atlanta
- he destroys any priest who even thinks about the Traditional Mass
- he does not REMOVE gay priests, he only moves them around. CBS covered this and did nothing about it since it is in Atlanta, the gay community east coast HQ. One gay priest CAUGHT IN THE ACT, was merely moved to another church in the same county. Yet, Gregory WROTE the book on what the USA Bishops are to do (see Dallas Charter) in such cases. I guess he cant read???
- he celebrates Mass in ways that are not even understood by Catholics (Vat II or others) - see red mass celebrated with Protestant ministers every year.
- Gregory learned at the knee of "Cookie Cardinal Bernadine" in Chicago. An obvious, outspoken and uncompromising gay Cardinal who gave out recipes so people could make their own "communion hosts" (they were sugar cookies - not made correctly at all) at home - thus the name "cookie" stuck to him.
- Gregory is the face of Vatican II and it is ugly at best. Vatican II has destroyed every piece of the Traditional Church it has got its hands on.
If you are thinking of Catholicism - think again. Try a Traditional Catholic Church. Look up the FSSP, the SSPX, the SSPV and the Canons Regular of Chicago.
Do not go to a Vatican II church - it is obviously not Catholic.
Francis will probably resign in a couple of years just like Benedict did.
That would be ok. That resignation was probably the most important thing Benedict did. Now, it is ok for the next one to do it. Meanwhile, it seems that we would all do well to pay attention to Francis. He seems to be interested in things that are, or should be, vitally important to all of us.
I'd like to point out to the reporter that Pope Francis is an "American" Pope... South American is also American. He apparently was wanting a US Pope, but phrased it wrong.
Also, TrustVerify, you might want to at least give Pope Francis a chance before you condemn him. How would you feel if you were condemned by strangers who don't know you. I'd say try some common courtesy, but I've found that common courtesy is not "common" at all, so let's shoot for some basic human tolerance unless you are given a concrete reason not to. His beliefs are his, just like your beliefs are yours.
Dearest Cindy-7777777, His phraseology is correct he is not wanting anything... he is noting that the Pope is from the Americas... please check your geography.....
Time will tell if he is a sex offender and supporter also. History says he most likely will at least ok it with little boys. But Time will tell i guess.
Time will tell if he is a sex offender and supporter also. History says he most likely will at least ok it with little boys. But Time will tell i guess.
Pope Francis, I hope, is going to be a subversive one. Forgive the child molesters, but subject them to the laws of the land.
Don't expect a Jesuit Pope to become a progressive, in spite of the "velvet glove" populist feel of the ongoing feel-good-poor perception being generated. That's typical Jesuit approach in the history of the Americas - conservative doctrine with a velvet glove for the people, and the willingness to both conflict with and acquiesce to the State where and as useful. The author's comparison of Pope Francis to Pope John Paul II is reasonably on target in that sense. Don't expect sigificant changes in doctrine on birth control, women's roles...
Miss Kitty, I doubt that we will see much change in birth control or abortion, that being a moral issue. I am not so sure about the roll of women in the church though. I doubt you will see a woman priest, but maybe a deacon.
Women serve in one way, men in another. They are not in competition with each other.
We do not need "unisex" toilets or a "unisex" priest hood.
If you want women as your priests, go find another church. I do not like many liberal groups, so - I do not join them. We are both better for that. They stick to their deal and I avoid it completely.
This is something this world has lost sight of. For some reason there is a school of thought that we all MUST BE IN ONE GROUP.
Nope.
Sorry.
I do not like this or that group. I do not join it. Simple.
wwvet - go and wash your mouth out with soap. the trash you spout is fit only for a dumpster
The cardinals picked a really likeable guy this time. The real proof of his value will be when he cracks down hard on the whole pedophilia issue; that's a must. I would also like to see him renounce the use of laws and governments to enforce morality. No one expects the Roman Catholic church to change its opposition to abortion or homosexuality, but people who seek to use the secular legal system to back those views are in the wrong. Governments properly exist to enforce order, not to enforce religion. Let God punish the wicked, if that's what you preach.
The rigid hierarchy of the Catholic Church seems more reminiscent of the Imperial Roman Army than of Jesus, if you ask me. But if this pope moves the church closer to Jesus' word (feed the poor, protect the weak and the young, care for the old and the sick) he is a good man in my book and we're lucky to have him.
I am delighted to hear him mention ecology. It's always seemed odd to me that the very first sentence of the Bible tells us that God created the heavens and the earth, but Christianity doesn't care about the environment.
Now you catholics are collapsing posts that mention the pedophilia problem in your church, wow, you should be ashamed of yourselves. By collapsing these posts you are shielding the child rapists yourself, just like so many of the catholic bishops and cardinals have. Have you no morals at all, no sense of justice? This is YOUR church that you support financially. Yours should be the LOUDEST voices calling for the child rapists to be exposed, charged and removed from your church. Disgusting, I don't know how you live with yourselves, I really don't.
leroy brown,
Excellent point. Someone collapsing a thread because they don't like it is in a small but real way, preventing simple evidence from being known. That is NBC's decision to provide the option. But it takes a real person of faith to stick their fingers in their ears and put their blinkers on.
Catholics are silent on this issue (generally). They are not unlike Hitler's willing citizenry who turned the away while Jews were murdered in ovens. They may not like it, but truth is truth regardless of how embarrassing or painful it is. The Catholic Church provides and protects an environment that is not hostile to the sexual assault of children. GLOBALLY. Heck, if current practices are any guide, someday it will happen on Mars if the Church is still around when we colonize that planet.
I have yet to see even ONE Catholic come on here and apologize for their membership without having to hear a "BUT" they do so much good. That's like Muslims saying, I don't like Louis Farrakhan but I remain a member because he has some good programs to get young men off drugs."
Fail.
They are even starting to collapse Frank Laferriere's posts when he describes in graphic detail being raped by catholic priests. This is directly covering up evidence. What kind of a person would do this, basically tell a man with the courage to come forward in a public forum to shut up? Unbelievable, you people are no better than the rapist priests themselves.
Leroy brown,
In a certain sense, what they are doing is mimicking precisely what the Church does: covers up rather than apologizing. It's rather remarkable, if still despicable.
I'm sure there are other reasons such as any attack on the Church is an attack by Satan or other such goofiness.
I thank those Catholics who are reading along and simply not commenting because they know there is nothing defensible about child rape/protection. I hope they are not silent within their own communities however. Change will have to come from them, as well as secular authority.
I hope he devotes *all* of his attention to the poor. That said, nothing in his record indicates an end to misogyny and homophobia.
Broke the mold? John Paul II broke the mold & changed the World! The Vatican is short sighted & should NOT have picked another TEMP!
The "Death Squad Pope" sounds like he was made from the exact same mold as the "Nazi Pope."
I have been an ardent critic of the Vatican which is my right BUT I am not certainly NOT impervious to error and when I make one and I have made many political observational errors, I am not afraid or incapable of admitting them. SO FAR, emphasis on so far, there is something about this pope I like. I do not agree with him on the social issues BUT I LOVE his reaching out to the poor, I LOVE his going to AIDS patients irrespective of his view on sexuality and things related to it, and attending to those stricken. MAYBE this is a pope who can change things; when I look at him I want to embrace him and say PLEASE keep saying things about the inequities and the sins of our economic systems.
He SEEMS to be a humanitarian despite the stands he took on social issues years ago. Maybe it was his way of being able to slowly rise through the Catholic ranks ascending to the papacy so he can really do something. I am willing to change my views and although I am Jewish and very agnostic at that I say Holy Father help us. We need someone something to lead us out of such a desperate time. I am willing to listen. So far I mostly like what I hear and I like what I see. As for the rest there is NO way he could EVER change the church's stand on abortion ... do NOT even look for that. Maybe though he is changing the focus AWAY from the bedroom and into the board rooms. I am willing to give him a chance. Isn't that what Jesus said to turn the other cheek so despite the inequities of the church I so far like their choice for pope!
I repeat again: Did God ask this guy representing God?
isn't it amazing how all catholics get all ga ga over this new pope because he pays them the kind of lip service they want to hear?
amusing really.
folks, why don't you wait and see if he walks the walk, okay?
I really do wonder what the secular left will say when the current pope speaks out against abortion and homosexuality? He will do this because he done so before.
I know what the elites in the media will say. They will fulminate and spew. It's what they do. But what with the common people think? Once Pope Francis has gained the respect, admiration and even the affection of the people of the world though his many acts of humility and kindness, how closely will they listen to him when he teaches on human sexuality?