Pope Francis in America, Emotional Tour Enrages Some

Pastor Davila

The Vatican does put their money where their mouth is, they feed the homeless, have homeless shelters, have organizations that help kids get out of gangs, orphanages and theses are just a few of the organizations they sponsor.

Julia

I must agree put his money where his mouth is or quit going out and asking everyone else to do something himself has not even made the effort to do.

Tom

As a child, my parents always admonished to "do as I say, not as I do; because my words will sometimes not match my actions". Realizing the imperfections in us all, Pope Francis would probably applaud this. However, a close examination of him shows that he walks the talk. For every large "political" assembly he addressed, he then went to a school, a prison, or a homeless shelter. He demonstrated what he believed in. Going back to his days in Argentina, he walked the talk. He spent his time with the poor, the disadvantaged, and the downtrodden. He rode city buses, he measured the effectiveness of his priests by the condition of their shoes. Dirty shoes meant they were working where they should have been. When elected Pontiff, he chose to forego the Papal apartments and stay in the little hotel in which he resided during the Conclave. He rides in a Fiat in Rome and everywhere else. By example, he is demonstrating his word that the church needs to be poor serving the poor.

Yet he realizes that he is only one person. Supreme Pontiff though he may be, he cannot wave a magic wand and say open the treasury and distribute it to the poor and needy. Instead, he acts as we should all act. Caring for those less fortunate, visiting the disadvantaged, etc. Can the riches of the Catholic Church solve the problem of world hunger? No. Can the wealth of the church change the hearts of people and bring them closer to God? No. Yet, if we all followed the example set by the Pope, we just make affect a change in a lot of things.

The truth is we cannot change nations, groups of people, churches, or communities until we change ourselves. Change begins with us, each and every one of us. If we change, our families might change. If they change, our communities might change. If communities change, nations can change. Ultimately, the world can change in the end. This was the Pope's message. If I rely on my government or my church to make changes, I am nothing but a "clamging brass in the wind".

Is the Church wealthy? I suppose they have more than I do. But if they gave it all away, sold the art and the treasures and gave it to those in need; would their be no more needy? Sadly, no. Would hunger be eliminated? No. It is the little steps that make the difference. By Francis telling all the parishes in Europe to take in at least one immigrant family is a little thing, but a powerful thing. How many of our churches have done this or intend to. Not many, I fear.

Please do not condemn those who you think may not be walking the talk until you have walked with them and seen the imprint of their steps.

Tom

Along the lines of the theme of this subject, news is coming out that Kim Davis, the Kentucky County Clerk who has refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples allegedly met with the Pope during his American visit. I am not sure at this point if the Vatican has confirmed or denied such a meeting or has repeated the conversation actually held during it. I do know that the Pope said on the plane trip back to Rome that conscientious objection was a right for any government employee in response to a question about Kim Davis. Please let me express my feelings on the subject.

1. I believe that every individual has the right to deeply held and personal religious beliefs.
2. I believe that every individual has the right to conscientiously object to doing anything that they feel is in conflict with those deeply held and personal religious beliefs.
3. The question comes when the manner you choose to demonstrate a conscientious objection is contrary to the law of the land. Ms. Davis was elected by the people in her County to perform a job that is paid for by taxpayer money. Additionally, she took an oath, swearing before God, to fulfill the duties of that office. When her job description changed because of a Supreme Court ruling, she had only two options - do the job she was elected, paid and sworn to do or resign and seek employment somewhere in hopes that her religious sensibilities will not be offended by the job description of another form of employment.

While employers should make accommodations for employees religious beliefs, such as days off to observe religious services or holidays, they are under no obligation to rewrite a job description to exclude those duties that the employee does not agree with. This is especially true of elected officials. They knew well in advance of running for the office what the job entailed. They also knew that things and laws change and as a result, their job description could possibly change accordingly. Conscientious objection carries with it a degree of personal honor that implies you are free to engage in those activities you believe in, but it does not include the right to impose those personal beliefs on your employer, on your co-worker, on those you are elected to serve, or on anyone else.

Note to Ms. Davis: I respect and honor your deeply held and personal religious beliefs. I agree completely with your right to conscientiously object to performing any duty that conflicts with those beliefs. Now, do the honorable thing and resign your position as a demonstration of just how conscientious you are.

Minister Rob

Walk the talk? Firefighters and the like "walk the talk". These mere mortals risk everything to pull complete strangers out of fiery hells. You don't even have to believe a certain way or live a certain way. Love them, hate them, or be completely indifferent...They'll still risk it all to try to get you, your pet, and/or their buddies out of an inferno.

Does the Pope walk the talk like this? Does the Vatican?

Does the Abrahamic God?

Bro. bill barr

I as a protestant and family going back to when King Henry broke from Rome for what I would call all the wrong reasons admire this pope. My own belief is that of primitive Christianity as practiced prior to it becoming the church of state. Government as it always does perverts everything it can for power. The message of Christ was the antithesis of of what became of his teaching. King Henry appointed a fellow playboy and confidant to become the new head head of the Church of England who was a deacon. The evening before he was made Archbishop of Canterbury that wonderful thing that has transform many washed over him. He was blessed by the Holy Ghost and became a new creature in Christ. That evening he gave all of his fine cloths, household goods and vast wealth away to the poor. This was not immediately know to Henry he was looking forward to having his hand appointed man in charge of the wealth of the church and the two of them could go about living as the grandest of playboys on the wealth of the church. Plundering the church was as great a goal for the king as a divorce and perhaps greater. Suddenly Henry is faced with a new foe his old friend answered a higher call to be the guardian of the faith. Henry had him murdered. I mention all of that as the backdrop of humanity, Francis knows who evil lurks in the hearts and minds of men. As we all know robes and collar have hidden many a wolf. It is my thought this man is early in his reign and blessed I would think he has had thought of just going in and spending it all down to nothing but he knows his life would be taken in the offing. He is moving slowly methodically one of his first acts was to remove the Bishop in Germany who was building a 50 million dollar residence. I believe we will see a head roll over being tricked into meeting with that clerk from Kentucky and it appears now that was a set up by an American Archbishop. This man will move slow he has to look no further back then John Paul the first to know evil lurks behind every door in the Vatican. He has set out to find those he can trust to surround him and do the work he believes must be accomplished to bring Rome back to the teachings of Christ. As to the claim in the one post about the church doing nothing. I would suggest that writer buy a ticket and volunteer a month in India working with the ministry Mother Teresa left behind. Please join me in praying for Francis and all world leaders that they do the bidding of Christ for Christ sake. You are each in my thought and prayer please be good and more importantly do good. In Christ love bro bill

Ted Prettyman

The Pope is entitled to his own opinions, and is refreshingly open and above board with his views. However, his references to Mr. Trump are incomplete. His statement, as I heard it on TV was, "if all he thinks about is building walls...." That part is continually left out. It is a dis-service to the Pope to publish partial statements for the purpose of promoting your own views.