Pope Francis condemned the “very strong, organised, reactionary attitude” in the US church and said Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.

Pope Francis has blasted the “backwardness” of some conservatives in the US Catholic Church, saying they have replaced faith with ideology and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time.

Francis’ comments were an acknowledgment of the divisions in the US Catholic Church, which has been split between progressives and conservatives who long found support in the doctrinaire papacies of St John Paul II and Benedict XVI, particularly on issues of abortion and same-sex marriage.

    • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      They’re already doing that, have been for a long time. I have a Baptist coworker who thinks Catholicism isn’t real Christianity…

      • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world
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        I had a Catholic coworker who said some of her Catholic relatives were becoming “Christians”, which turned out to mean Evangelicals.

        • Pat12@lemmy.world
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          I had a Catholic coworker who said some of her Catholic relatives were becoming “Christians”, which turned out to mean Evangelicals.

          in the US they refer to Protestants as “Christians”, mainstream Christianity is made up of Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants

          • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Right—my point is that my coworker (like the previously-mentioned Baptist) was implying that Catholics were distinct from Christians, in spite of being Catholic herself.

            • klemptor@lemmy.ml
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              I was raised Catholic and the distinction was always made between Catholics and Christians. I didn’t really understand that Catholics were a subtype of Christians until someone pointed it out to me when I was a teenager - I just thought Christians was a catch-all term for non-Catholics that believed in jesus.

              • bluebooby@lemmy.world
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                What country were you raised in? I was raised Catholic in the Philippines and in the US and it was made explicitly clear in my education that Catholics are Christian.

                • SCB@lemmy.world
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                  I’m from Ohio and there is a massive Catholic community in my hometown and “Christian” as a term was always used as a throwaway term for the various non-denominational evangelical sects.

                  Catholics and Protestants do not get along, even today. When I went to college and people thought I grew up Catholic, they would try to “convert” me away from “ancestor worship and idolatry.”

      • CADmonkey@lemmy.world
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        Baptist coworker who thinks Catholicism isn’t real Christianity…

        I’ve seen a lot of that and not just recently.

      • dartos@reddthat.com
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        I think all religions are just fake copycats of the one true god.

        Praise be Flying Spaghetti Monster

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        I mean, most protestant Christians dislike Catholicism, that’s why they are called protestants after all.

        The new part is American evangelicals and other extremists thinking that catholicism not being conservative enough…

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        Conservative Protestants have been saying that for a very long time though. The attitude is so pervasive that my wife, who grew up Catholic (but has not been one for decades), has to be reminded that Catholics are Christians.

      • atempuser23@lemmy.world
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        It’s hard to imagine now , but Catholics were not considered Christians and it was ok to openly discriminate against them. I know of people fired for that. People still try and convert me to ‘Christianity’ and claim all sorts of stuff.

        The KKK and Nixon were vocally against’Papists’

      • rambaroo@lemmy.world
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        Even the most minimal amount of compassion is a sin to these people. They’re just straight up evil at this point.

    • zib@kbin.social
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      You know you fucked up bad when even the Pope is saying, “Whoa, slow it down there with the fascism, bud”.

      • abraxas@sh.itjust.works
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        American Catholics have largely voted Democrat for much of the last century. This flip-flop to voting Republican is relatively recent.

        It seems to me to be a bit of a religio-coup. Bishops have some autonomy, and Priests some as well. It’s become increasingly common that both are in opposition to Rome on certain behaviors related to politics, and exactly how strongly they should be pushing people to vote and for what reasons. The dehumanization of Biden (publicly refusing him Eucharist) for his nuanced pro-choice views is in direct contradiction of papal behavior going back at least to the turn of the 20th century. Telling people that in voting, any sin is forgivable except being pro-choice… well, there’s no basis in Canon Law for that attitude.

        I live in a very Catholic area, and have a lot of Catholic family. Talking to them, they mention their priests say “you can vote for either party, as long as they’re pro-life”. The Abortion issue is not the only or greatest issue to Rome. It is AN issue, but disagreeing with the Church is generally not going to earn their full enmity unless you are preaching your disagreement. Biden (the target of that local church smear campaign) is absolutely not preaching pro-choice to anyone.

        Pope Francis is right to be saying that because American Catholic Leadership has gone WAY astray from what Catholicism allows or mandates of them.

    • SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works
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      Conservatives are mostly christian, but if they aren’t catholic the pope has little sway over what they do. And they love dissing catholics so yes they will more than they have been already.

    • Kerred@lemmy.world
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      If you have a throwaway email to see comments on the Newsmax site, it is Catholics and whatnot saying the Pope isn’t the real part of the religion anymore.