Catholic mommas w/big families: How do you feel about what the Pope said?

[MFG]

Total side topic...

 

On being catholic. Once baptised into the Roman Catholic church they are a child of God and the roman catholic family.

 

They might do something that excommunicates themselves.

 

But that doesn't mean they aren't catholic.

 

Somewhat like if a child disowns their parents and leaves home, they have excommunicated themselves but that doesn't change that they are still the child of those parents. Even if they disown their parent. Even if they change their name. Even if they meet someone else they want to call mom and dad. They are still forever Catholic. And they are still forever hoped to return and be welcomed by the Catholic Church.

 

So someone may leave the RCC and we are for sure sorry to see that, but on the other hand, we never write them off. If 40 years later they decide they'd like to come home again, we quite thrilled to have them.

 

You can't become not catholic once you are.

 

But I didn't think any of that had diddly to do with the original topic of the post.

 

I don't think this had diddly to do with the original topic though. *shrug*

So the Catholic Church is like the Hotel California?

[Guest]

Such a lovely place...

[Audrey]

I think he uses sound bites very well, but he's aiming them at a different audience. Both this quote and the "if you insult my mother, I'll punch you" bit play much, much better in Latin American culture than they do in North America. IMO, this pope is primarily concerned with maintaining the RC church as a central cultural touchstone in Latin America. He can come off as a bit off-center if you look at what he's saying from other perspectives.

 

:iagree: If you are going to take everything this Pope says and try to spin it around in a N. American context, I think you will be losing a LOT in the translation.  He is not a person enamored of N. American ideotypes.  He is a person very much a product of the kind of culture where rampant poverty (not "I can't afford a Starbuck's this week" kind of poverty, but serious, crippling poverty) has framed how he envisions the Church's role -- and his own role -- in the world.  

 

I think that's a good thing.

[Murphy101]

So the Catholic Church is like the Hotel California?

*eyeroll* Basic logic says obviously not since the entire question came up over someone LEAVING the Church.

[chiguirre]

The idea that this pope is less than catholic enough is a party line adopted and endorsed by ultra conservative Catholics who long to return to a pre Vatican 2 church where women cover their heads, shut their mouths and have babies bc their husbands control their bodies sexually.

 

Typically the idea behind these people's objections are that this pope is too progressive and political bc he addresses social justice occasionally instead of mindlessly droning on and on about the tragedy of abortion.

 

This pope is fully catholic and not terribly progressive at all. For the record.

I can understand why conservative, American Catholics dislike this pope. It's not just a question of social justice, it's also the fact that he comes from a place where women's equality is not debated anymore. I literally don't know any Venezuelan woman of my generation who is exclusively a homemaker. Not even women who I know to be members of Opus Dei stay home. Can you imagine super conservative American women universally working outside the home? No, I didn't think so.

 

Latin American women dominate many professions and it's not unusual for them to have high ranking positions in corporations or government. Of course, poor women all work in order for their families to survive. This trend is even more marked in the Southern Cone where Argentina, Brazil and Chile all currently have women serving as president. Think about that. It's not one country or an outlier, it's 3 big countries that are all neighbors. That reflects a huge gulf in attitudes between the US and the culture this pope comes from. It's not surprising that people get upset by him so often.