The sun was shining brightly yesterday at the time of the election and during his appearance on the balcony. Maybe...
So much to think over in these past hours contemplating the election of Pope Leo XIV. It struck me last night that maybe he was thinking not just of Pope Leo XIII in his selection of his name, but perhaps Leo, the Great as well. Could he be thinking of blending attributes of both? Maybe he wants to blend Leo the Great’s doctrinal clarity with Leo XIII’s social justice advocacy. Perhaps Pope Leo XIV may try to shape key Vatican policies in liturgical practices, economic justice, diplomacy, and Church leadership? Or maybe this is all just my wishful (prayerful) hope! I was reading up a bit on both Leo tge Great and Pope Leo XIII- both really good popes. Interesting that Leo the Great was willing to meet with enemies and not good people line Atilla the Hun- persuading him to stand down! And Leo XIII social justice doctrine which highlighted dignity of people through Christ and not through economic and political structures is needed more than ever. Both JP II and Benedict warned of materialism and relativism. Perhaps this will be part of what Pope Leo XIV will emphasize. Enough of my speculations! Bottom line i pray for him that he always point us ti Christ- that he be a holy Vicar who does his best to follow the will of God.
Originally, Protestantism was rooted in being basically a conspiracy between the state and apostates from the Church. I get the impression many of them still have difficulty in making the distinction between religion and politics. To criticise a pope, who is the spiritual leader of Catholics from all over the world, for disagreement with Donald Trump over the latter's very narrowly nationalist, though entirely legitimate, views on immigration, is entirely absurd. Pope Leo XIV is far more important than Donald Trump or any other politician.
It's so sad. Was it GK Chesterton who said that many Protestants hate the Church , not because of what she is but because of what they imagine her to be? I had the most interesting conversation with a wonderful young Baptist Minister one time who came calling to the door doing missionary work. He was from County Cork and had left the Church. He was a very good and holy man, very well intentioned. I talked to him about leaving the Church and why he had done so. He spoke of several Doctrinal issues he had difficulty with. I was very surprised. The things he said were teachings of the Catholic Church were not our teachings at all. I explained this to him and he looked abashed. I doubt really if he was ever truly Catholic in the first place. He had just never been taught his own Faith. So sad.
The 2022 census conducted by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) indicates that evangelicals make up about 31% of the Brazilian population, a significant increase compared to the 22% recorded in the 2010 census.
Ahh this is so reminiscent of the last time we had a new Pope on this board. Sadly back then we lost a lot of members but also back then we had many like myself who defended Francis and stuck around until it became pretty obvious that I just couldn't defend him any longer. I used to go at it so hard and heavy over this with Brian back then. Brian is and will always be way more knowledgeable about all things Catholic over me but I was arguing from the heart. I learned so much about my own self in those times and like any good debate, I listened to my opponent and learned so much from Brian to the point where many years later I apologized and moved forward. Now here we are again. I will not get all heated and angry with what others may feel because they may turn out to be correct. History may indeed be repeating itself on this wonderful forum and I urge all of us to learn from the last time. Everyone is entitled to their thoughts and gut feelings but I urge you all to listen with love and not anger. Have patience because God will always reveal to us the truth. That truth may not come for years and in that time our own blood may boil because that is our nature. We are flawed individuals and things can anger us so fast. I always love listening to Catholic apologetics because they always seem to be so calm when challenged and they listen with love and discuss their points of view in such a calm manner. It really is a super power. I get so heated in debates with fellow Catholics and especially Protestants but the best of us handle things with so much charity. We all need to remember that here! BrianK, I always respect your viewpoint even though we may differ because more often than not, your viewpoint seems to turn out correct in time. Now for the current Pope. I don't know much about him but have started to dig. Yes he doesn't seem to be a fan of Trump or Vance around immigration, and as an American dealing with immigration from a political and econmic standpoint, I agree with Trump and Vance. They look at immigration from the point of view of it is great and essential for this country but you need to come here legally and the bad eggs need to be snuffed out of here. I often try to pull myself back from world views and think of immigration how Jesus would and thus how our church would. I suspect that he too would want laws followed and the bad ones punished but would he want those people already here to be deported back to their awful situations? Probably not. My own personal views is the ones already here should be vetted and fast tracked to citizenship. I am a registered Republican and tend to always vote that way but I would never blindly follow all they do. From and economic and demographic standpoint, we actually will need these immigrants over the next 10-15 years or our economy collapses. Currently for every 1 person leaving the workforce we only have 0.25 people entering it. That is a HUGE problem we are facing. Also from an economic standpoint we view immigrants as a huge strain on our health care costs, education costs, etc but that is a political point of view. From Jesus's point of view I bet he would say something along the lines of your politicians waste so much money on pork and bribes and robbery of the people, you fix those issues and you have plenty of funds to charitably care for these people. It is never a black and white issue but politics and views make it one. Enough on that lol! Now for Pope Leo, I too will wait and see but some things out of the gate I really like. 1. He took the name Leo! 2. He obviously has a huge devotion to Mary. 3. He seems to have a love for the traditions of the church so far. 4. He was the head of the Augustinians and when the head, you have to meet physically with all the priests spread around the world, thus he is a man that knows the globe and Catholics are many around the world. 5. Most of his life has been as a missionary so he knows charity and poverty all too well. These individuals typically tend to be the most loving and caring of people and their sufferings. 6. He has his PHd in church Cannon and tends to be more conservative around his views of church history. 7. Finally for now like others have mentioned, just looking at him and his gentle face and smile, just warms me for some reason. You look into his eyes and his smile and I feel love and compassion and warmth. Now all that can change quickly but for now, he just gives me this feeling of peace. So we watch and we wait and we pray and like someone who I don't remember said in one of Brian's posts, if he turns out to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, we will always know where to find our precious Jesus in the tabernacles and in the adoration chapels. If those disappear as many mystics have said were to happen, then we have to trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us to where we will find such things. The church will never be gone. It may be hidden for a time, but the faithful will be guided!
I believe the Pope has every right to criticize Trump—after all, Trump said at the beginning of his new term that he doesn't need Brazilians. So I think we here in South America can respond to that sentiment with equally warm feelings toward him. In fact, if Pope Leo were to publicly endorse Trump, many would likely claim that the American president had interfered in the last conclave—especially since the media portrayed Pope Francis as fearing such interference toward the end of his life. And let's not forget that Trump recently posted that bizarre AI-generated image of himself dressed as the Pope. What concerns me about the new Pope is his alleged role in the removal of Bishop Strickland, as well as his reference to a synodal Church—a term many liberals use to describe a democratic Church, like an inverted pyramid.
It was alright for him to say this as a Cardinal. It would be imprudent , I think , for him to say it as Pope.
My dad was so happy to hear that he and Pope Leo share the "Bob" nickname. I suppose people forget that we have a USA pope now.
I hope that this doesn't happen. I hope what he is getting at is having a more active church, which seems to be what youth are craving. Active not just in social justice, but active in terms of learning and living the faith. We currently have a cultural Catholic problem and it needs to be remedied. Beautifully enough, the youth are doing this regardless.
I'm hoping the reference to 'a synodal Church' is a sop to keep the liberals from going completely apoplectic.
Great homily. It's always a bit of a ‘question of taste’. Putting faith at the centre, he can go that way, to my taste.
What I liked about his first homily was that he said the Church should be a beacon that lights up the nights of the world—something I mentioned yesterday in different words when I said I hoped this pope would play a key role in revitalizing faith around the world, especially in Europe. After all, the dark night of the world and its complete apostasy are two distinct things, but they share the same solution. I was expecting someone with a mystical ministry to emerge during the time of the great miracle. Instead, we received someone with the face of an angelic shepherd, whose appearance strongly resembles John Paul I at his first public appearance. My only concern lies in his somewhat recent past in the cardinalate and episcopate. Still, let’s give the man time and see what surprises God may have in store for us.
Pope Leo XIII had a mystical experience, and I am sure Cardinal Prevost chose the name fully aware of that aspect. Maybe God will grant him the grace of a mystical experience too.
