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Pope Says Catholic Politicians Must Back Church’s Doctrine.
Nirvana
aka BUBBA ` ` South Carolina, USA Veteran
In BOLOGNA, Italy, today Pope Benedict XVI strongly reasserted the church’s opposition to abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage, saying that Roman Catholic politicians were “especially” obligated to defend the church’s stance in their public duties.
In a 130-page “apostolic exhortation” issued in Rome, representing a distillation of opinion from a worldwide meeting of bishops at the Vatican in 2005, The pope wrote: “These values are nonnegotiable.
“Consequently, Catholic politicians and legislators, conscious of their grave responsibility before society, must feel particularly bound, on the basis of a properly formed conscience, to introduce laws inspired by values grounded in human nature,” he added.
Whatever happened to the 1960s, when John Kennedy said the Vatican had no say in American political decisions?
BTW, in another thread, writing about the newly released movie, AMAZING GRACE, I left an url for a site giving information (see below) on the Christian Church's exploitation and torture of innocent human beings for the slaveholders. Indeed, the Roman Catholic Church was still unopposed to slavery until 1888, some 23 years after the ending of the American Civil War. In point of fact, many popes were slaveowners themselves and advocates of enslaving others. Oh, the ever-changing values grounded in human nature.
http://www.heretication.info/_slavery.html
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In a 130-page “apostolic exhortation” issued in Rome, representing a distillation of opinion from a worldwide meeting of bishops at the Vatican in 2005, The pope wrote: “These values are nonnegotiable.
“Consequently, Catholic politicians and legislators, conscious of their grave responsibility before society, must feel particularly bound, on the basis of a properly formed conscience, to introduce laws inspired by values grounded in human nature,” he added.
Whatever happened to the 1960s, when John Kennedy said the Vatican had no say in American political decisions?
BTW, in another thread, writing about the newly released movie, AMAZING GRACE, I left an url for a site giving information (see below) on the Christian Church's exploitation and torture of innocent human beings for the slaveholders. Indeed, the Roman Catholic Church was still unopposed to slavery until 1888, some 23 years after the ending of the American Civil War. In point of fact, many popes were slaveowners themselves and advocates of enslaving others. Oh, the ever-changing values grounded in human nature.
http://www.heretication.info/_slavery.html
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Comments
The above illustrates perfectly, why.
Palzang
Hi Nirvy,
did they say anything about the use of altarboys/ girls etc. for sexual purposes? or 'mysterious pregnancies' of nuns and other local girls around catholic churches?
'thought not.
cheers
Xray
In W's world, freedom of religion means you can practice any form of Christianity you want - as long as it's fundamentalism.
Palzang
I still find it embarassing that Buddhism is not an official Religion in Germany, the Austrians made it, we are still marginalized. I like the current Pope, he speaks Bavarian with a German accent. just like me, although I am afraid I won`t convince him to support German Buddhists in the cause to be equally recognized like the catholic church. But hey, that man made look Habermas and all other postmodern "philosophers" look stupid, andfor that I praise him:)
The present Pope, like his predecessor, does not consider that Buddhism is a religion. Perhaps he is right.
Scaramentum Caritatis
It is lo-o-o-ng!
Well, I'll have to give him that one. I don't consider it a religion either. This also relates to the other thread on fo guang (or whatever it is) about the way lay people in Asian countries relate to Buddhism, making it very much a religion and thus missing the basic message, imho.
Palzang
And Simon, could you please point out to us where to find any mention of Buddhism in that long papal document you linked to?
Pope Benedict does not, as far as I can see, mention Buddhism in his exhortation. The subject is the Eucharist.
The matter of non-Christian religions has been addressed elesewhere. If you want me to, I shall search the references.
I am still in the dark as to why you say he or JPII did/do not consider Buddhism a religion.
And to make my own comments seperate as well, a repost of:
I'm not sure that he is head of state. He has certainly handed over the government to an elected group.
Both JPII and the then Cardinal Ratzinger are quoted as having excluded Buddhism from their definition of a 'religion' because it was, in their terms, 'atheistic'. This caused real trouble when the Pope visited Sri Lanka , despite his obvious reverence for Buddhist monks.
My own view, as one who is far from a fan of much of JPII's pontificate, is that Buddhism was very important to him. He met HHDL on a number of occasions. By denying it the status of a 'religion', he could embrace much that is Buddhist without thereby compromising his position as Catholic tradition-holder. This is not to say that he was any more hypocritical than any of us. He was an extraordinary individual, deeply flawed, perhaps, but inspiring none the less.
Actually, Paul II made some assertions about what he thought was Buddhism in his interview with Vittorio Messori. The relevant part, which is I think part of a book can be found here: http://www.tcrnews2.com/Buddhism.html
I read that most people who attacked the pope for his interview actually were not Buddhists, at least not Asian, and that a Sri Lankan monk defended Paul II saying it is his good right to critizize Buddhism. Personally, I think the Interview is worth thinking about although it seems to simplify both Buddhism and Christianity. Especially his sect, the catholics, has a long tradition in being hostile towards the "flesh" and the "world", that the overworldy aim is called God instead of nihil does not change that fact. (Not disputing about existence of God here, merely pointing out to the worldly results. My grandma was a strong believing catholic and she really was a kind of ascetic, regarding eating too much, most things about sex and much more as a sin and she could get very upset about these things:) )
As a person, I liked Paul II, he seemed to "transmit" good will wherever he appeared.
Regards
thats my personal opinion anyway.. lol
plp should always challenge things.. the pope asks ppl to blindly believe in stuff.. which isn't true belief.. which to me .. means he understand less about life than me.. lol
its true i think that you can critise and challenge others as much as you want.. but understandings quite different isn't it.
the popes words spread further than mine.. and he has an image that matters to many..
from the link povided by Fofoo:
Nevertheless, it does seem as if he misunderstood Buddhism.
The Church just changed the derned doctrine. Now where are all those unbaptized babies and Socrates and Plato going?
I'm gonna MAKE my Catholic politicians take a STAND. :rocker:
A salient difference between the Eastern Church and the Western Church is the pesky Western OBSESSION with explaining everything. That can become explaining everything away.
Take the Roman Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation. The (Western) Roman Catholic Church teaches that Bread and Wine are transformed materially into the actual Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, although their appearances remain the same as before the Eucharistic Consecration. Now, to the Eastern Churches, this is a wholly unnecessary doctrine which awkwardly usurps the mystery with a narrow explanation.
The doctrine of Transubstantiation misses the mark entirely for the mystical believer, for whom the PURPOSE of ALL BREAD is to become the Body of Christ.
Now, whether the Roman Church says Limbo never existed or existed until 2007 AD, I don't much care. They are certainly undermining their credibility and strength. Perhaps that is a good thing.
God bless them, anyways!
As for the question of slavery, I have continued to admire the US experiment despite the fact that some of the founders were slave-owners and not very nice to their slaves. Presidents have been liars. adulterers and wife-beaters. Still doesn't invalidate the great democratic experiment.
When it comes to priests/ministers giving instructions to politicians, we get all het up when they don't speak out on ethical and moral issues but condemn them when they remind the political class that there is a higher duty than getting votes. I didn't notice any shortage of sermons aimed at candidates at the last Presidential election.
The same double-think applies in the UK, just so that you understand that this is not an anti-US rant. We have had Prime Ministers who would attend church, spout morality and then go back to their adultery or lying. It would make a pleasant change to come across a top politician who has not compromised their principles for the sake of office or votes, but the search, started by Diogenes, is still going on!
Palzang