I was baptized a Catholic in 1946, then my mother left the church when my sister and I were young because its hierarchy was insensitive and corrupt and worse.
Aug 17, 2023·edited Aug 17, 2023Liked by Diane Francis
I have been offended and horrified by the Catholic Church all of my adult life. The Church is first and foremost about Power and Profit, as it always has been. This is the Church that has accepted child abuse and Pedophile priests since inception, that tortured and burnt people at the stake, that took disease to people around the world, that took children from their families and cultures to brainwash them into being a white man's vision of human.
Thank you Diane. As I read your article one thought comes to mind, Trump once said, "But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides." when he responded to a reporter's question about the Charlottesville incident. That response made be angry and sick, maybe Pope Francis needs to reflect on his silence? Religious wars are so embedded around the world and it's difficult to comprehend how these wars could ever end. What ever happened to the vow of "poverty"?
I find this Pope a horrible dissembler. I don't think it's ignorance, I think he's playing politics. I think the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in which I was raised, should quit supporting Rome and join the other Ukrainian churches instead. Even John Paul II, for all his seeming connectedness to Ukraine, removed the UGCC eparchy from Przemysl, where it had been for hundreds of years. The Roman Church should also consider why churches that allow priests/ministers to marry don't have all those scandals with child abuse...
Hence, why I proudly proclaim that I am NOT a Christian. I will NOT follow like a lamb to the slaughter. One visit to Auschwitz & that sealed my distrust & disgust of Religion. I am my own decision maker & I follow my own path. Why a Pope has been given that kind of power escapes me. (by birth I am Greek Orthodox a branch of CatholicOrthodox-- no more interest in it)
in quebec catholic churches are largely empty due to the many pedophile scandals of catholic priests....the influence of the catholic church is waning and rightly so......thanks for another brilliant article
Great analysis. It’s seems strange that there still exists these ultimate moral authorities in every religion that the masses look to for guidance on how they should lead their life. Pick any topic from abortion , sexuality to war and everything in between. If we are looking for what should happen on the planet by asking the Pope, the senior Rabbi, Mohammed 2.0 etc humanity will not survive. Clearly no one in their right mind really believes an old white guy wearing velvet Prada shoes living in a castle with a team of asexual deviates knows what we ( mankind) should do.Nor should anyone look for guidance from the ayatollah in Iran who is living in my friends family home . Nor should they think that any of the religious leaders can save us so to speak.Money, power and corruption is not religion specific. Evangelicals another perfect example.
We needed to stop at the 10 or so commandments and leave out all the variations on a theme that resulted in the destruction of civilizations since time began .
I think you were spot on a few weeks earlier, Russia is not a real
Country and we would all be better off if we just levelled it and move on .
Thank you for making that important connection between Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and Roman Catholic Pope Francis, though there's quite a difference. Francis made a great start as the first Pope from South America and made many reforms. Now it is 10 years later and he is an old man of 86; the inexorable logic of political survival proves once again and forever that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. As the Vatican refused to condemn Hitler, so now it refuses to condemn Putin. The Pope's casuistry towards the Ukraine war is an example of that descent into moral corruption which is also political because of the Vatican's great authority. Of course, Kirill is far worse, essentially a kleptocratic fascist gangster and explicit promoter of genocide. The tourists who gaze at the Sistine chapel ceiling and the Pieta, are taught about Michelangelo but not so much about those terrible Popes who made it all possible, like Leo X who bought his position with hard cash and upon election said: 'Since God has given us the Papacy, let us enjoy it.' I commend you for writing clearly researched and fact-based articles and gathering an audience that appreciates them. But we as readers/consumers should watch our language as we are getting more indulgent in our use of violent language; we should be worried about this as we can easily become part of the problem.
Brilliant article Diane and wonderful research to expose the Pope's behaviour towards Putin and his henchmen. "When pushed to castigate Putin and Russia, he responded “I am simply against reducing complexity to the distinction between good guys and bad guys, without reasoning about roots and interests, which are very complex” Oh so Putin might be a 'good'guy? Willing to negotiate if the west would allow this? What has the Pope done to intervene? To stop the war?
I’m proud to have renewed my subscription.., your newsletters are incisive, extremely well researched, and very often wisely foresee inevitable events…superb big picture analysis of the current human condition…
I was baptized a Catholic in 1946, then my mother left the church when my sister and I were young because its hierarchy was insensitive and corrupt and worse.
NOTHING'S CHANGED.
I have been offended and horrified by the Catholic Church all of my adult life. The Church is first and foremost about Power and Profit, as it always has been. This is the Church that has accepted child abuse and Pedophile priests since inception, that tortured and burnt people at the stake, that took disease to people around the world, that took children from their families and cultures to brainwash them into being a white man's vision of human.
Thank you Diane. As I read your article one thought comes to mind, Trump once said, "But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides." when he responded to a reporter's question about the Charlottesville incident. That response made be angry and sick, maybe Pope Francis needs to reflect on his silence? Religious wars are so embedded around the world and it's difficult to comprehend how these wars could ever end. What ever happened to the vow of "poverty"?
Thanks for highlighting this. Disgusting and disturbing.
I find this Pope a horrible dissembler. I don't think it's ignorance, I think he's playing politics. I think the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in which I was raised, should quit supporting Rome and join the other Ukrainian churches instead. Even John Paul II, for all his seeming connectedness to Ukraine, removed the UGCC eparchy from Przemysl, where it had been for hundreds of years. The Roman Church should also consider why churches that allow priests/ministers to marry don't have all those scandals with child abuse...
Hence, why I proudly proclaim that I am NOT a Christian. I will NOT follow like a lamb to the slaughter. One visit to Auschwitz & that sealed my distrust & disgust of Religion. I am my own decision maker & I follow my own path. Why a Pope has been given that kind of power escapes me. (by birth I am Greek Orthodox a branch of CatholicOrthodox-- no more interest in it)
in quebec catholic churches are largely empty due to the many pedophile scandals of catholic priests....the influence of the catholic church is waning and rightly so......thanks for another brilliant article
Great analysis. It’s seems strange that there still exists these ultimate moral authorities in every religion that the masses look to for guidance on how they should lead their life. Pick any topic from abortion , sexuality to war and everything in between. If we are looking for what should happen on the planet by asking the Pope, the senior Rabbi, Mohammed 2.0 etc humanity will not survive. Clearly no one in their right mind really believes an old white guy wearing velvet Prada shoes living in a castle with a team of asexual deviates knows what we ( mankind) should do.Nor should anyone look for guidance from the ayatollah in Iran who is living in my friends family home . Nor should they think that any of the religious leaders can save us so to speak.Money, power and corruption is not religion specific. Evangelicals another perfect example.
We needed to stop at the 10 or so commandments and leave out all the variations on a theme that resulted in the destruction of civilizations since time began .
I think you were spot on a few weeks earlier, Russia is not a real
Country and we would all be better off if we just levelled it and move on .
Very interesting as always. Thank you
Thank you for making that important connection between Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and Roman Catholic Pope Francis, though there's quite a difference. Francis made a great start as the first Pope from South America and made many reforms. Now it is 10 years later and he is an old man of 86; the inexorable logic of political survival proves once again and forever that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. As the Vatican refused to condemn Hitler, so now it refuses to condemn Putin. The Pope's casuistry towards the Ukraine war is an example of that descent into moral corruption which is also political because of the Vatican's great authority. Of course, Kirill is far worse, essentially a kleptocratic fascist gangster and explicit promoter of genocide. The tourists who gaze at the Sistine chapel ceiling and the Pieta, are taught about Michelangelo but not so much about those terrible Popes who made it all possible, like Leo X who bought his position with hard cash and upon election said: 'Since God has given us the Papacy, let us enjoy it.' I commend you for writing clearly researched and fact-based articles and gathering an audience that appreciates them. But we as readers/consumers should watch our language as we are getting more indulgent in our use of violent language; we should be worried about this as we can easily become part of the problem.
Brilliant article Diane and wonderful research to expose the Pope's behaviour towards Putin and his henchmen. "When pushed to castigate Putin and Russia, he responded “I am simply against reducing complexity to the distinction between good guys and bad guys, without reasoning about roots and interests, which are very complex” Oh so Putin might be a 'good'guy? Willing to negotiate if the west would allow this? What has the Pope done to intervene? To stop the war?
I’m proud to have renewed my subscription.., your newsletters are incisive, extremely well researched, and very often wisely foresee inevitable events…superb big picture analysis of the current human condition…