{"id":7260,"date":"2023-08-28T22:03:47","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T22:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=7260"},"modified":"2024-07-04T03:29:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T03:29:12","slug":"pope-francis-politics-and-being-catholic-briefly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/pope-francis-politics-and-being-catholic-briefly\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis, Politics and Being Catholic: Briefly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"March<\/a>
Billy Sunday giving another rip-roaring performance. (1915)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pope Francis criticized (some) Catholics in my country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I had any sense, and was trying to make A Catholic Citizen in America famous, influential, profitable or some combination of those qualities, I’d have long since picked an earnestly wacky political fringe position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, having picked my target demographic, I would now churn out a rant denouncing the pope for not being sufficiently American; for not supporting the civil rights of wombats \u2014 or whatever the Great Cause of the Month was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t, happily, have that sort of “sense”. But I do think this deserves a brief response:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“Pope Francis laments ‘reactionary,’ politicised, US Catholic Church<\/a>“
Philip Pullella, Reuters (August 28, 2023)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“…Francis made his comments on Aug. 5 in a private meeting in Lisbon with members of the Jesuit order, of which he is a member, during his trip for World Youth Day. They were published on Monday by the Jesuit journal Civilta Cattolica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In a question-and-answer session, a Portuguese Jesuit said that during a sabbatical in the United States, he was saddened that many Catholics, including some bishops, were hostile to the pope’s leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“‘You have seen that in the United States the situation is not easy: there is a very strong reactionary attitude. It is organised and shapes the way people belong, even emotionally,’ the pope responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Religious conservatives in the United States often have aligned with politically conservative media outlets to criticise the pope over a host of issues such as climate change, immigration, social justice, his calls for gun control and his opposition to the death penalty….”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Being Catholic, and American<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Political<\/a>
Political cartoons of yesteryear: 1896, 1912.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"An<\/a>To begin with, I’m “A Catholic Citizen in America”, like the blog title says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, I’m a Catholic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I live in America. I’m a citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I am not a [liberal\/conservative\/libertarian\/whatever] Catholic Citizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m a Catholic, and I take my faith seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since no political party reflects the values and behaviors that come with being Catholic, I can’t reasonably give unyielding, unwavering, unthinking allegiance to any political party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I probably wouldn’t, even if by some miracle there was a political clique that was a good match, and that’s another topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m not utterly apathetic, so I do have views that correspond to political platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>[Not] Fitting a Political Pigeonhole<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\"An<\/a>A few years back, I took a few of those ‘what are your political beliefs’ online (and free) questionnaires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned that I was conservative, liberal, and \u2014 in one case \u2014 libertarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Results depended on what questions the questionnaire asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, about what Pope Francis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the Pope is Catholic, and that he’s right: some folks in this country who say they’re Catholic, and may sincerely believe that they’re the only ‘real’ Catholics left, act a great deal like the wacked-out and very Calivinist-Protestant radio ranters of my youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There may be loony left Catholics who are convinced that the Church oughta be more firmly supportive of voting rights for pigeons, or whatever the current cause is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My guess is that the ‘Jesus was a liberal’ faction doesn’t make much noise, at least not in a religious context. And that’s yet another topic. Topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There. I’ve talked about Pope Francis and making sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That, at least, is what I hope I’ve done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the usual ‘more stuff’ list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n