Pope says he's saddened by 'perfect' Catholics who despise others
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=170720&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
IMAGE: CNS photo/L'Osservatore RomanoBy Junno Arocho EstevesVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God did not choose perfect people to form his church, but rather sinners who have experienced his loveand forgiveness, Pope Francis said. TheGospel of Luke's account of Jesus forgiving the sinful woman shows how hisactions went against the general mentality of his time, a way of thinking that saw a "clearseparation" betweenthe pure and impure, the pope said Aug. 9 during his weekly generalaudience. "There were some scribes, those who believed they wereperfect," the pope said. "And I think about so many Catholics whothink they are perfect and scorn others. This is sad."Continuinghis series of audience talks about Christian hope, the pope reflected on Jesus' "scandalous gesture" offorgiving the sinful woman. The woman, he said, was one of many poor women who were werevisited secretly even by those who denounced them as sinful.Although Jesus' love toward the sick and the marginalized"baffles his contempo...
IMAGE: CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano
By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God did not choose perfect people to form his church, but rather sinners who have experienced his love
and forgiveness, Pope Francis said.
The
Gospel of Luke's account of Jesus forgiving the sinful woman shows how his
actions went against the general mentality of his time, a way of thinking that saw a "clear
separation" between
the pure and impure, the pope said Aug. 9 during his weekly general
audience.
"There were some scribes, those who believed they were
perfect," the pope said. "And I think about so many Catholics who
think they are perfect and scorn others. This is sad."
Continuing
his series of audience talks about Christian hope, the pope reflected on Jesus' "scandalous gesture" of
forgiving the sinful woman.
The woman, he said, was one of many poor women who were were
visited secretly even by those who denounced them as sinful.
Although Jesus' love toward the sick and the marginalized
"baffles his contemporaries," it reveals God's heart as the place where
suffering men and women can find love, compassion and healing, Pope Francis
said.
"How many people continue today in a wayward life
because they find no one willing to look at them in a different way, with the eyes -- or
better yet -- with the
heart of God, meaning with hope," he said. But "Jesus sees the
possibility of a resurrection even in those who have made so many wrong choices."
Oftentimes, the pope continued, Christians become accustomed to
having their sins forgiven and receiving God's unconditional love while
forgetting the heavy price Jesus
paid by dying on the cross.
By forgiving sinners, Jesus doesn't seek to free them from a guilty
conscience, but rather offers "people who have made mistakes the hope of a
new life, a life marked by love," the pope said.
The church is a people formed "of sinners who have experienced the mercy and forgiveness
of God," Pope Francis said. Christians are "all poor sinners" who need God's
mercy, "which strengthens us and gives us hope."
- - -
Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju.
- - -
Copyright © 2017 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275483&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Archbishop Christopher J. Coyne. / Credit: Diocese of Burlington, VermontCNA Staff, Apr 29, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).A New England prelate is urging Catholics to both minister to transgender-identifying individuals in the Catholic Church while still continuously affirming "the goodness of human creation" as male and female.Coadjutor Archbishop Christopher Coyne of Hartford, Connecticut, told CNA last week that he would make it a point not to challenge a transgender-identifying man or woman when they present as the opposite sex.Coyne appeared on Connecticut Public Radio earlier this month arguing against the basic claim of gender ideology, which argues that men and women who "identify" as the opposite sex should be treated as such."Biology is biology. You're either XX or XY. That's a scientific fact. You can't un-prove that fact," the bishop told public radio. But, he argued, the LGBT debate has "pulled me more into a place of understanding and care," including regarding trans...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275482&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
The Verona Arena is illuminated at night on Aug. 3, 2018, in Verona, Italy. The Holy See Press Office on Monday, April 29, 2024, released the pope's schedule for a one-day trip to the city scheduled for May 18, 2024, on the vigil of Pentecost. / Credit: Athanasios Gioumpasis/Getty ImagesRome Newsroom, Apr 29, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).After completing a one-day trip to Venice, Pope Francis is set to return to northern Italy in late May for a visit to the city of Verona, where he will attend events focused on peace and justice while also meeting with clergy, laity, and inmates. The Holy See Press Office on Monday released the pope's schedule for the one-day trip scheduled for May 18 on the vigil of Pentecost. Located in the Veneto region, approximately 75 miles from Venice, the city is renowned for its trove of Roman antiquities, medieval architecture, and as the setting of Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet."Pope Francis will leave the Vatican by helicopter at 6:30 ...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275467&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Pope Francis waves while traveling by boat in Venice, Italy, for a meeting with young people at the Basilica della Madonna della Salute on April 28, 2024. Earlier in the day he met with inmates at a women's prison. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis opened his one-day visit to Venice on Sunday morning with a meeting with female inmates where he reaffirmed the importance of fraternity and human dignity, noting that prison can be a place of new beginnings. "A stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute," the pope said to the female inmates gathered in the intimate courtyard of the Women's Prison on the Island of Giudecca. Pope Francis left the Vatican by helicopter at approximately 6:30 in the mo...