Pope Francis has died

Lot of Catholics here. Sorry for your loss.

Too soon to be critical?
 
I disagreed with many of his off-the-cuff comments that were ambiguous, or even scandalous - leading to confusion among the faithful. Nevertheless, I don't wish hell upon anyone, so, as Christians, the charitable thing we are called to do is to pray for his soul
 
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I agree, and I left the Church for some time during his papacy after he took over for Pope Benedict.

I disagree with many of Pope Francis comments and letters, but I will pray for his soul and the Holy Spirit to guide the decision for the next Pope.
 
@bobthefighter I think what more people have to realize is that the Pope can't just change 2000 years of Church teaching with a single comment. The pope is human and thus prone to human error, so when he said things like "who am I to judge?" (In the context of addressing the homosexual lifestyle), he wasn't speaking from the chair of Peter - those were just personal comments. Is it scandalous? Yes. Is it confusing for the faithful, since it's coming from a figure of authority? Absolutely. And that's not good. BUT it is not an official change to the Catholic Church's teachings.

When the pope uses his authority - he can only clarify existing doctrine and basically announce that "hey guys, this is the truth that the church has stood by for thousands of years, and this is how that truth applies to [insert current issue or event in society]" He can never create new doctrine, only clarify and uphold existing teachings/revealed truths
 
@BeaverTown you are correct and the media loves to spin it like it is a teaching, regardless if he was not speaking ex cathedra.

I was not the best catechized when he was elected Pope but over time studied more and returned to the Church in short time.

I respected him as our Pope and do wish he finds peace in Heaven.
 
@bobthefighter It will be interesting to see who the future pope is...Personally I think it'd be amazing if Cardinal Robert Sarah became pope. He's very devout and seems to hold true to Catholic teachings.

But of course, the Holy Spirit will ultimately guide the decision, so we can only pray that a solid, faithful person will be selected
 
Yeah I don’t care. The whole pop star pope thing seems very anti God to me… like what’s the actual point of the guy? People need some mortal fool to pray to cos God not enough? Celebrate the dude like he’s God himself? Yeah no… just seems wrong.

And don’t get me going on the oh hey as long as you tell us your sins and say a few prayers you’ll be good to go to heaven ehski!
 
like what’s the actual point of the guy? People need some mortal fool to pray to cos God not enough? Celebrate the dude like he’s God himself? Yeah no… just seems wrong.
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We don't pray to the pope...we pray for him, that he may defend the faith and be a shepherd to the Church militant. I think you are also confusing respect with worship. People show respect to any head of state, so it's not surprising that many people respect the Pope, who is the visible earthly leader for 1.4 billion Catholics. Worship is and always will be exclusive to God alone. And praying is not worship. The only suitable form of worship that God accepts is the sacrifice of the mass, specifically the Eucharist.

And don’t get me going on the oh hey as long as you tell us your sins and say a few prayers you’ll be good to go to heaven ehski!
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That's not how it works - Jesus atoned for all of our sins through His sacrifice, but it's up to us to choose to "sin no more" every day, and actively follow Jesus (which includes participating in the sacraments God has established for us to maintain a relationship with him).

Presumption of one's salvation is a serious error, and I think that is a much bigger issue among Protestants than it is among Catholics.


I think there's a fundamental misunderstanding of Catholic teaching among many of the members on this forum...
 
Would you say he has done a good job defending that faith? Was it worth praying for him? What if you folks feel he’s a waste of oxygen? Can he be removed?

Where did the whole pope thing come from? Why do you need him? Why do you need a human leader when you have God? Why do you need a church to start off with?
 
@Squishybear
Would you say he has done a good job defending that faith? Was it worth praying for him?
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Doesn't matter what I think - the ultimate judge is God, and that's why we pray for his soul. When Pope Francis died, he met the ultimate judge, and seeing as I don't wish hell upon anyone, the charitable thing to do is to pray for his soul - that God may be merciful. The Holy Spirit moves in mysterious ways - perhaps this dark period was meant to bring the corruption to light so it can be weeded out, now that the Judases of the church made themselves proudly known.

Where did the whole pope thing come from? Why do you need him? Why do you need a human leader when you have God? Why do you need a church to start off with?
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Jesus established the Church and the first pope who was to be its earthly leader (after Jesus ascended) - Peter. Jesus is the bridegroom and the Church (everyone who seeks and believes in Christ) is the bride.

Are you Protestant? The teachings and structure of the Catholic Church do not conflict with what is revealed through scripture. The Sacraments, particularly reconciliation and Holy communion are also supported through scripture.
 
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Perhaps some on here mostly know about Pope Francis's theology from detractors on social media and snippets from airplane interviews. In his teachings, he always tried to be quite practical and give concrete actions we should take. Some of his little Catechism are quite wonderful and a good example of that: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2025/documents/20250319-udienza-generale.html He has a lot of great Catechism and writings.

If any of you is interested in an in depth analysis of the next possible Pope:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8Fj8FlA0vQ
 
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