Sigh. Pope Leo’s first sermon…

[CurlewKate]

“"A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society,"

I don’t know why I expected anything different. Maybe because he likes Wordle?

George Michael said it first

Atheists have overseen the most murderous regimes of the 20th century, and the Catholic Church provides more healthcare worldwide than any other organisation. So not only does he have the right to say these things, he’s also right!

Insinuating that the non-religious are immoral is a common thread across many religions.

Can't see anything wrong with what he's said, at all.

How about “can be”? Or sometimes? He said atheists “often” neglect mercy or are responsible for appalling violations of
human dignity.

"I'm going to pick a very specific time-frame to be able to ignore the many atrocities carried out in the name of my favourite religion"

As to your claim regarding the Catholic Church and healthcare I'd be very interested to see the statistics that back it up.

Maybe she meant to say "Pipe down, Leo!"

I also have no problem with what he said. He's the head of the Catholic church. It would be a bit weird if he didn't mention the benefits of having a faith

That's true. He's a salesman. It'd be weird if a Ford salesman extolled the virtues of buying a Volkswagen.

😂

It doesn't matter what you "hope for". He doesn't represent you, nor impact your life. He's the head of a religion, that's his schtick.

I didn't take it as being aimed as atheists as such but at a general loss of faith, including people who once believed and now don't believe at all or have drifted away from their faith although they might still have some residual belief in a higher being.

I agree . I am an atheist and am not afflicted by a lack of moral compass or a big empty void in my very being. But he's a Pope so he would say that kind of thing wouldn't he?

Human beings of all faiths and none have overseen murderous regimes.

And human beings of all faiths and none have shown great compassion and care for others.

No belief system has a monopoly on common human decency.

So, you want him to speak in the mealy mouthed corporate way that the Church of England does?

He believes. He is speaking to the faithful and those open to the message. The church wouldn’t last long if he started off like a Tesco spokesman desperately trying not to take a position.

Everything good in life is due to God.
We're all terrible sinners and we need God's help to be good.
Yes yes yes zzzzzzzzzz

I wouldn't look to the pope for anything progressive OP

I get where you’re coming from, OP.

I think it’s because potential Popes are described as ‘liberal’ or ‘moderate’, and then when one such Pope is elected it becomes clear that those terms are meant relative to the other Cardinals ie only a teeny bit more liberal or moderate than the most manically religiously conservative people on earth.

At the end of the day the Pope is a religious Catholic who’s lived his life dedicated to worship, theological study and evangelism. He may well have done great works, but they were all done according to a very strict moral framework that most regular folks don’t share. He’s also never had the kind of relationship that defines most adults (a long term romantic / sexual relationship like a marriage) nor does he have experience raising kids. That automatically puts his experiences far away from most people.

He’s better than some alternative Popes from the even-more-extreme end of things. But a regular bloke likely to be liberal on social issues he is not.

I don’t agree with a lot of what he says, but fair play to him for being dedicated to his beliefs and for trying to deliver his view of social justice.

Yes, that's Christianity though. What else do you expect from the actual pope? It isn't as if he's boring on with some boring cliché like an influencer saying she's "obsessed" with everything or whatever.

Everything good coming from God is pretty important to Christians.

No matter how progressive and liberal he might be (in comparison to some cardinals), he'd be neglecting the most important part of his role if he didn't talk about the central tenets of the faith.

I actually think it's possible to talk about the central tenets of faith without explicitly saying that followers of 'our' faith are the most morally upright and everyone else is morally bankrupt.
Really distasteful part of religion and the root cause of many of the world's problems at the minute. 'We're better than you because of what we believe'.
Nah.

Nah, yawn zzzzzzzz? Are you 12?

If you're secure in your beliefs, just carry on about your business and don't listen to the pope if you're a committed atheist. You're fighting a losing battle if you honestly think the head of the catholic church is going to say "atheism is just great. Doesn't make a bit of difference to God"

I’m not expecting him to say that. I’m
expecting him to accept that atheists are not evil!

Why on earth would he talk about atheists??

Well, he didn't say that atheists are evil, so you can take your "sigh"s elsewhere now

I'm, like, in my 50's.
Of course the Pope wouldn't say atheism is just great. He could have kept away from the religious supremacy tho ( or though if you'd prefer 😉 ), especially given all the current problems in the world- I mean specifically- people believing their faith gives them moral superiority.