How are Catholics reconciling Pope's disagreement with govt policies?

[Anonymous]

As a practicing Catholic, I thought his remarks should have been kept "in house". He could have gone about it in many ways that might have been more effective in changing policy. Or changing Vance's mind but he had to do a public shaming. I thought it was hypocritical. When Obama was in office and deportations were at an all time high, he met with Obama to discuss climate. Now that it's Trump, he is splashing his views across the world. Smh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Catholic who is a liberal Democrat like most of my family. Nothing to reconcile.

Same here.
Sorry for not fitting your narrow view of Catholics, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about how Catholics are thinking about the current position of the Pope, which is decidedly against the Trump administration's immigration policies.

If you're Catholic and opposed legal abortion because the Catholic church was against it (although the government obviously supported it), are you now opposing these immigration policies for the same reason? And if not, how can you reconcile that with being Catholic?

Catholic here. Catholic school and college. Go to church. Pope is just the Pope. Someone not to be listened to really. What he says just disappears. Matters not who is Pope. One's relationship with God is their own. This is the correct Catholic view. Anything else is nonsense.

That doubtless is your personal view, but it most decidedly is not Catholic doctrine regarding the Pope’s role in carrying out the mission and/or implementing the universal teaching authority of the Church.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about how Catholics are thinking about the current position of the Pope, which is decidedly against the Trump administration's immigration policies.

If you're Catholic and opposed legal abortion because the Catholic church was against it (although the government obviously supported it), are you now opposing these immigration policies for the same reason? And if not, how can you reconcile that with being Catholic?

Catholic here. Catholic school and college. Go to church. Pope is just the Pope. Someone not to be listened to really. What he says just disappears. Matters not who is Pope. One's relationship with God is their own. This is the correct Catholic view. Anything else is nonsense.

I didn't go to Catholic school or college but that's not what I learned. We didn't necessarily follow what the Pope said, but it definitely mattered who
Pope was and what he said (always a HE).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were't most germens Catholic during WW2? There was still resistance.

No, only southern Germany.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a practicing Catholic, I thought his remarks should have been kept "in house". He could have gone about it in many ways that might have been more effective in changing policy. Or changing Vance's mind but he had to do a public shaming. I thought it was hypocritical. When Obama was in office and deportations were at an all time high, he met with Obama to discuss climate. Now that it's Trump, he is splashing his views across the world. Smh

Totally disagree.

Someone has to speak out here. So far, I'm counting the Pope, Kendrick Lamar and a tiny handful of Congress members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:This question misunderstands the nature of the Catholic faith. The Pope is only considered infallible in very specific matters of church doctrine. His random thoughts about US politics are not that and hold no extra weight.

—I’m not Catholic, but I do have a basic education

This is the correct answer.

Yup. And abortion is moral doctrine, the Pope can't change the teaching on that even if he wanted. Immigration is considered prudential policy and his musings on it have no authority over policymakers.

Please explain the logic or lack thereof on why the Catholic Bishops do not actively oppose the death penalty in the same way that they oppose abortion. No non-Catholic gives a sh-t about the Catholic doctrine on the differences, as those are religious views (to which Catholics are entitled to hold). The real difference is abortion issues effects the mother and the fetus and is a personal decision. The death penalty is a state decision.

Catholics are against the death penalty.

+1 The Catholic Church is firm on its stance against the death penalty. Honestly, why do people who don’t have the first idea about Catholicism keep posting?

Did the Bishops threaten to withhold communion from AG Barr when he went out of his way to restart the Federal death penalty? Did any of the Bishops call AG Barr a cafeteria Catholic over the death penalty?

Is he Catholic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This question misunderstands the nature of the Catholic faith. The Pope is only considered infallible in very specific matters of church doctrine. His random thoughts about US politics are not that and hold no extra weight.

—I’m not Catholic, but I do have a basic education

This is the correct answer.

Yup. And abortion is moral doctrine, the Pope can't change the teaching on that even if he wanted. Immigration is considered prudential policy and his musings on it have no authority over policymakers.

Please explain the logic or lack thereof on why the Catholic Bishops do not actively oppose the death penalty in the same way that they oppose abortion. No non-Catholic gives a sh-t about the Catholic doctrine on the differences, as those are religious views (to which Catholics are entitled to hold). The real difference is abortion issues effects the mother and the fetus and is a personal decision. The death penalty is a state decision.

Catholics are against the death penalty.

They didn’t say Catholics they said the bishops.

The Catholic Church is firmly against the death penalty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a practicing Catholic, I thought his remarks should have been kept "in house". He could have gone about it in many ways that might have been more effective in changing policy. Or changing Vance's mind but he had to do a public shaming. I thought it was hypocritical. When Obama was in office and deportations were at an all time high, he met with Obama to discuss climate. Now that it's Trump, he is splashing his views across the world. Smh

Disagree. So does the nun who sent me the article. Vance, speaking as a public official on a world stage, doesn't get to misspeak about what Catholicism teaches and not expect the leader of the Church to correct him as publicly as he misspoke. How else to reach the same audience Vance lied to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about how Catholics are thinking about the current position of the Pope, which is decidedly against the Trump administration's immigration policies.

If you're Catholic and opposed legal abortion because the Catholic church was against it (although the government obviously supported it), are you now opposing these immigration policies for the same reason? And if not, how can you reconcile that with being Catholic?

Catholic here. Catholic school and college. Go to church. Pope is just the Pope. Someone not to be listened to really. What he says just disappears. Matters not who is Pope. One's relationship with God is their own. This is the correct Catholic view. Anything else is nonsense.

You sound like a Protestant.

[Anonymous]

A large number of American Catholics reject papal authority when they don’t like what the Pope says. Pope Francis has been clear that communion should not be denied based on political belief- as politicized bishops tried to deny it to prominent Catholic democrats. Notably, Catholic democrats did not attempt to support policies with doctrine. They governed secularly. They did not contradict the Pope or Catholic teaching.

Vance twists scripture and contradicts the teaching of the church. For example:


Vice President JD Vance is getting schooled by theologians over his inverted theology expressed in a Jan. 29 interview on Fox News.

What Vance said: “There’s this old school — and I think it’s a very Christian concept, by the way — that you love your family and then you love your neighbor and then you love your community and then you love your fellow citizens and your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.

“A lot of the far left has completely inverted that. They seem to hate the citizens of their own country and care more about people outside their own borders. That is no way to run a society. And I think the profound difference that Donald Trump brings to the leadership of this country is the simple concept of America First. It doesn’t mean you hate anybody else, it means that you have leadership. And President Trump has been very clear about this — that puts the interests of American citizens first. In the same way that the British prime minister should care about Brits and the French should care about the French, we have an American president who cares primarily about Americans, and that’s a very welcome change.”

Politics aside, numerous Christian theologians took to social media to point out the vice president — who is a conservative Catholic — misrepresented the teachings of Jesus and the Gospels.

“Actually no. This misses the point of Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan.”
“Actually no,” wrote Jesuit priest and author James Martin. “This misses the point of Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10: 25-37). After Jesus tells a lawyer that you should ‘love your neighbor as yourself,’ the lawyer asks him, ‘And who is my neighbor?

“In response, Jesus tells the story of a Jewish man who has been beaten by robbers and is lying by the side of the road. The man is helped not by those closest to him (a ‘priest’ and a ‘Levite’), but rather by a Samaritan. At the time, Jews and Samaritans would have considered one another enemies.

“So Jesus’ fundamental message is that everyone is your neighbor, and that it is not about helping just your family or those closest to you. It’s specifically about helping those who seem different, foreign, other. They are all our ‘neighbors.’

“But Jesus’ deeper point can only be understood from the point of view of the beaten man: Our ultimate salvation depends, as it did for that man, upon those whom we often consider to be the ‘stranger.’

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are Leonard Leo/Bannon extreme right Catholics and modern day real life Catholics

So are the "real life" ones pro-life? And do they stand with truth regarding biological sex?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are Leonard Leo/Bannon extreme right Catholics and modern day real life Catholics

So are the "real life" ones pro-life? And do they stand with truth regarding biological sex?

What do you mean by "do they stand with truth"? Is this the same as "are they honest"? I'm not familiar with the phraseology and think it might be
language that fundamentalist Christians usually use among themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are Leonard Leo/Bannon extreme right Catholics and modern day real life Catholics

So are the "real life" ones pro-life? And do they stand with truth regarding biological sex?

What do you mean by "do they stand with truth"? Is this the same as "are they honest"? I'm not familiar with the phraseology and think it might be
language that fundamentalist Christians usually use among themselves.

I just looked up "stand with truth" and all the references were to fundamentalist Christianity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are Leonard Leo/Bannon extreme right Catholics and modern day real life Catholics

So are the "real life" ones pro-life? And do they stand with truth regarding biological sex?

Their private adherence to their faith is not anyone’s business, and likewise their beliefs should not be imposed legislatively on the citizens of the United States of America.