Pope Francis recently suggested that President Trump is not a good Christian because of his stand on border security. That may say more about the Pope than it does the President. One of the big no-nos of my days in Catholic elementary school was judging others – lest ye be judged. So, maybe the Pope deserves to be judged.
Popes generally reflect a mix of traits — sometimes saintly, sometimes political, and sometimes corrupt. The measure of a pope – a papacy – is which of these traits dominates. Pope John Paul II was mostly saintly – and is on his way to being one. But he was also political in a saintly way – pushing back at the evils of totalitarian secularism known as communism. He was devoid of corruption – at least as any human can be.
His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, could be said to have been none of the above traits – at least in terms of accomplishment or scandal. His papacy was marked by not being marked by much of anything. His principle claim to historic fame is his resignation. He was fortunate enough to head into retirement before the stain of mostly homosexual pedophilia started rising to the upper ranks of the Church hierarchy.
If one were to objectively prioritize the three traits noted above for Pope Francis, politics would take the lead with corruption edging out saintliness.
Wow! That is a pretty harsh assessment.
Perhaps it is the fact that Pope Frances lived in Argentina by his pre-papal name of Jorge Bergoglio during the reign of Juan Peron. He rose to prominence in the Church in an environment where it was difficult to attain such a rank without at least the acquiescence of the Peron administration. His reputation in that banana republic was sullied by rumors of his cooperation with the oppressive regime.
Apologists for Pope Francis excuse his cooperation with the Peron by doing a bit of whitewashing of the dictator. They claim that Juan Peron was a populist and champion of the poor – ignoring his admiration of Adolf Hitler, his offering exile to throngs of Nazi war criminals, jailing and torturing critics, shutting down education and all those other things despots do. Thousands of opponents were arrested and “disappeared.” The Guardian noted that “the Provincial Superior of the Society of Jesus in Argentina, Jorge Bergoglio, was not among those who put themselves publicly at the forefront of that dangerous enterprise.” At one point, two priests who angered the Peron regime were kicked out of the Society of Jesus – leaving then vulnerable to the civil and military authorities. They were subsequently arrested and killed.
In addition to his political survival under an oppressive regime, Francis is a student of liberation theology. It is a Utopian theology that ironically manifests itself in such secular political movements as socialism and communism. Liberation theology places a religious imprimatur on the false idea that the interests of the poor are not considered by the rich and powerful – even though the theology or political philosophy, itself, is administered by people of wealth and power wherever it takes hold.
In terms of politics, Francis seems to be on the opposite side of John Paul, who challenged the authoritarian strongmen wherever he found them (except in Vatican City, of course), while Francis is more reluctant to call them out. If you recall, Francis’ response to ISIS killing Christians – or anyone else – was rather … well … wimpish.
More recently, Pope Francis appears to be more interested in minimizing the impact of the clergy sex scandal than to get to the bottom of it. He was reluctant to act against Cardinal Wuerl of the Washington, D.C. archdiocese for covering up the child abuse cases.
As far as I know, Francis has not called a single pro-abortion politician a bad Christian – excommunicated anyone for performing an abortion even though the Church rates abortion as the gravest of mortal sins that breaks the bond between Church and sinner and – if unforgiven by God — condemns the person to eternal damnation.
The fact that Francis did not speak out when Ireland made abortions legal suggests that he has taken a softer position than the Church demands.
The Pope’s judgement of Trump is only the latest in his continuing condemnations of the western world, capitalism, free markets and American foreign policy. In this most recent criticism, Pope Francis is siding with the radical left that believes in a borderless world. It may make him popular with the left and their moral relativism, but not with me.
So, there ‘tis.
Well, Pope, since you are so concerned about illegals wanting to enter our country, and Trump saying “NO” for good reasons, maybe you can house them in Vatican City. Be my guest.
What would he know about being a good Christian?
Amen to your comments!
I’ve seen NOTHING from this pope that
leads me to think he is a Christian.
? NOT SURE WHO IS A ” CHRISTIAN”.
I’m sure glad that I’m not a Catholic anymore, because I could NEVER support this Pope!
Maybe he’d be happier with a Muslim president, or one of the anti-religion socialists. Or maybe he could attend to those things that should be his concern-like pedophile priests whose actions have been covered up by the church!
Is he religious? No, he forgot the center of the Christian believe.
I think, he should apologize to President Trump like any one else.
Pope needs to keep his hypocritical trap shut…this poope is a Satan worshiper, pedophile child molester & hides behind a fake Christian curtain while doing the evil deeds of his father, Satan…
White Throne Judgement is reserved for everyone & all will stand before God to be judged…
St. John Paul II was canonized in 2014. A bit more rigor in research is advised. Pope Francis should not be judging anyone publically. The confessional is a much better venue. His job is the leading the Church to help bring all to salvation, a higher calling then ridiculous political statements. Plus, practicing US Catholics are shockingly pleased with many of Trump´s pro life initiatives, especially regarding tax payer support of the despicable repugnant legal exception of abortion, the legal murder of our most innocent and weak citizens.
I would say the Pope is not a good Christian since he believes in socialism and look at the amount of people that has killed.
My problem with the hordes of illegal immigrants is: Who told them they could come here and live off of welfare? Who paid their way to get here? Why do they resist becoming a part of our country by refusing to learn and use our language? Who told them how to steal an identity? I could go on, but you get the idea where I am coming from. Having said this, I feel for these people. Someone is misleading them on what to expect and what they need to do to assimilate.
The Pope is the one who might not be a true Christian. He should stick to cleaning up his church (sexual abusing priests) rather than getting into politics. Building walls to protect their cities was a common practice in the Bible. The Vatican even has a wall. Pope – look at yourself rather than criticizing others.
Why doesn’t this “so called” pope worry about what a good Christian pope should be concerned with. LIKE for one, ABORTION!!! He never fit the picture of what a pope should be. I say he should go!!!!!
The pope has a lot of nerve especially after many of his latest comments and deeds. He needs to point that finger back to himself.
“John Paul ii is on way to being a saint…” his canonization took place in 2014, five years ago in April, yet your piece is dated March 26…is this piece all original or a composite of various other observations?
Scribe2
Pope Francis you make it hard to follow you. Send USA money Pope so we can afford the illegal aliens. My President has fed more people than you ever did! He is a fine Christian. I love him and am a Roman Catholic who is proud of his work. He is anti abortion. When have you fought murdering babies? Please keep your opinions to yourself. You have no right to criticize or judge.
Pope Francis you make it hard to follow you. Send USA money Pope so we can afford the illegal aliens. My President has fed more people than you ever did! He is a fine Christian. I love him and am a Roman Catholic who is proud of his work. He is anti abortion. When have you fought murdering babies? Please keep your opinions to yourself. You have no right to criticize or judge. I have never commented before. Am I being prejudged?
Oh yes. Have been a Catholic all my life, and I am really on the edge with the Hypocrisy of the Catholic Church. How do we give ashes and Holy Communion to the likes of Pelosi, Cumo and Biden when they continue to support the killing of babies? How does the Pope speak out of both sides of his mouth? My dear clergy you are losing your flock every single day. Very easy for the clergy and Pelosi ,who has a wall around her house to protect her to say that we should allow illegals in that have criminal records and have already slaughter our innocent people. Get with it, America and get with it Catholics. The Pedophile scandal just about did us in. The Catholic Church decided to be Psychiatrist, Attorney and Judge and Jury. I happen to be a Health Care Professional. After 50 years of this nonsense of moving priests around, in the delusional thinking of the Church you THOUGHT this was going to go away. In the meantime, you destroyed the SPIRIT and innocence of these children, the very life that we try to protect. Now, you actually do not speak up to these politicians who continue to Kill our babies. How dare you attack our President. Do you not believe in Redemption? I guess not. Our President is Christian and our First Lady is Catholic. I have not seen so much hate in my lifetime. We are witnessing good and evil.. Very clear to me. Radical lefts, and now the Catholics have joined them. The proof is when 56% of Catholics voted for Obama. REALLY!