Pope Francis describes ‘ideological Christians’ as a ‘serious illness’ within the Church

CookieMonster09
By "ideological Christians", the Pope is taking a stab at the conservative, traditional, Latin Rite Catholics such as the SSPX (Society of St. Pius X).

Traditional Catholics celebrate the Mass in the old Latin Rite, which was pretty much eradicated after the hippie 1960's Vatican II changes that allowed the Mass to be said in secular language. This NEW Mass is called the NOVUS ORDO Mass. Vatican II resulted in major changes in the liturgy which traditional Catholics abhor.

Papa Francis' favorite author? One of the architects of Vatican II. Go figure. He's a modernist, New World Order Pope, and he is no fan of traditionalist Catholicism.

Seriously define traditionalist Catholicism. Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, Burning of Witches, the Conquistadors, etc. The Catholic church does not have a peaceful, loving history. If this pope is to redefine it, how would that go against the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament?

reply to post by UnifiedSerenity


From a secular point of view, UnifiedSerenity's statements/theory do fit with what the bible tells us about the end times. He makes a very important point that has been ignored -- that the masses will fall for the attractive "new religion." And there's that bit about accepting the mark of the beast...some of you sound as though you are ready to have Francis' name tattoed on your forehead.

Before anyone calls me indoctrinated: I can count my church visits on two hands (including weddings). My parents encouraged me to find my own spirituality, and my opinions are formed from self-education.

reply to post by BubbaJoe


Throughout history, these things are true: Religious people of all faiths have been manipulated by political and military leaders. Many spiritual leaders have deluded themselves for convenience, survival, or personal gain.

Why are these concepts so difficult for some to grasp?

Perhaps the College of Cardinals thought they would just bury Pope Francis in red tape like they have done to various other pope's didn't turn out that way.Now he's working to turn things around.I'm expecting The Curia to apply the "Italian Solution."Like they did to John Paul I.

BO XIAN
reply to post by UnifiedSerenity

 

Thanks. Wasn't aware of Stern's translation. Is it available on Kindle?

Folks who only read things that flatter their bad-faith generated biases are . . . risking everything on faulty info.

Yes, it is on Kindle.

I love e-sword for my pc, and find it an amazing program with the strongs linked right there at your finger tips, and then I flip back and forth from the Hebrew Stern edition to KJV for strong's an comparisons as well as commentary.

Pope doesn't and can't have his own personal agenda, what he says and does, it is first given serious thought and analysis by the vatican in whole.
Church has realized that now young people question religion in general and are more aware, logical and analytic than previous generations.
that means if they want to keep their powerfull organization in the future they must be more ''elastic'' and more down to earth, and change tactics to many social subjects
They haven't changed inside at all! Of course they don't believe what they say (just like polititians), it is just a (marketing) strategy to appeal to the world.

toddy3174
define an ideological christian!!!
what does that even mean!!!!

"A religion becomes an ideology when the followers of this religion cannot tolerate the existence of those who have different views or beliefs, and when they understand their religious text literally and refuse to accept any way of understanding the religion other than their own way of understanding."

Sounds like this Pope is all about "Hope and Change". Hmmn. Where have i heard that before?

adjensen

Over the past century, the number of Catholics around the globe has more than tripled, from an estimated 291 million in 1910 to nearly 1.1 billion as of 2010, according to a comprehensive demographic study by the Pew Research Center. (Source)

Beyond the 1.2 billion Catholics, there are an additional one billion Protestants -- over two billion Christians.

Hm, the source looks genuine enough. It seems you're right.

Wow, That's just awesome. 1.2 billion?! I must thank you for the info.

Any info on the trend after 2010? Like, on 2013.

reply to post by Dr1Akula

I agree.

swanne
Any info on the trend after 2010? Like, on 2013.

That's where my "1.2 billion" number comes from:

According to the Census of the 2013 Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook), the number of Catholics in the world was about 1.21 billion at the end of 2011. (Source)

In other words, the church population continues to grow (mostly in developing nations, though church demographics in Europe and North America are shrinking FAR less than mainline Protestant churches.) I can't link you to the source directly -- it's a hard cover book, written in Latin, that costs about 75 Euros, but you can buy it here.

knowledgehunter
Sounds like this Pope is all about "Hope and Change". Hmmn. Where have i heard that before?

The obvious difference is that the Pope has no such slogan -- he's just doing the things that brought those words to mind.

OpenMindedRealist
He makes a very important point that has been ignored -- that the masses will fall for the attractive "new religion."

What "new religion"?

The Catholic Church is almost 2,000 years old. It was the only game in town, Christianity wise, until 1054, and then one of two denominations until about 500 years ago. For 3/4 of the lifespan of Christianity, the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches WERE Christianity.

There is no "new religion" here, Francis is not teaching anything that is in conflict with what the church has long taught.

reply to post by TarzanBeta


Um…

What are YOU talking about? Kindly enlighten me as to my error and remove my ignorance, rather than just insulting me.

NoRulesAllowed

toddy3174
define an ideological christian!!!
what does that even mean!!!!

"A religion becomes an ideology when the followers of this religion cannot tolerate the existence of those who have different views or beliefs, and when they understand their religious text literally and refuse to accept any way of understanding the religion other than their own way of understanding."

There has been a push for decades to merge Christianity with Hinduism and other pagan religions. It's been done to change how America runs, and America has been the big dog on the block for over fifty years now. Christianity is not compatible with this new age we are all one, all is God because all is part of God mentality which is pantheism. So, if laws are to be enacted and you and I are supposed to be REPRESENTED then it is only right to stand for your beliefs so your representative can know just how many of his constituents think a certain way and represent their wishes and desires. That is why we have elections so the majority has a representative and we have rights so even those representatives cannot just run rough shod over the people.

The Pope is trying to assist in a One World religious and political system coming into power. Thus, all this ranting over ideology is silly. We all have beliefs and if we stand for nothing we will fall for anything.

reply to post by UnifiedSerenity


THX THX . . . Will try and get Sterns on Kindle next month.

reply to post by UnifiedSerenity


Merge Christianity with pagan religion? Um, that's how Christianity happened. It's already predominantly pagan. They just choose not to educate followers to that fact, because then those followers would begin to look at those pagan roots and wonder why some ideas that went hand in hand were fractured and polarized for the benefit of the church.

reply to post by adjensen


'not out of line with RCC teaching'

. . .

I don't see how a lot of things would be . . . LOL.

The Catechism is such a tome . . . written with so many perspectives and qualifiers . . . there's more wiggle room than a limbo and belly dancer combined could encompass.

. . . which . . . I think . . . was the objective.

a fossilized old slant on all things to all people.

Sigh.