'Something Far Worse Than MAGA'

[ancianita]

12. Whoever you're describing is in no way representative of the Catholic Church or Pope Francis as

the Vicar of Christ and St. Peter's successor -- whether it's about Catholics' faith, the church's 2,000-year structure, or about this nation and separation of church and state.

Here's a look at how Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina) lives and believes...

...Francis has made women full members of dicasteries in the Roman Curia.[3][4] He maintains that the Catholic Church should be more sympathetic toward members of the LGBT community, and has stated that while blessings of same-sex unions are not permitted, the individuals can be blessed, as long as the blessings are not given in a liturgical context.[5] Francis is a critic of unbridled capitalism, consumerism, and overdevelopment;[6] he has made action on climate change a leading focus of his papacy.[7] Widely interpreted as denouncing the death penalty as intrinsically evil,[8] he has termed it "an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person", "inadmissible", and committed the Church to its abolition,[9] saying that there can be "no going back from this position".[10]

In international diplomacy, Francis has criticized the rise of right-wing populism, called for the decriminalization of homosexuality,[11] helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, negotiated a deal with China to define how much influence the Communist Party has in appointing Chinese bishops, and has supported the cause of refugees during the European and Central American migrant crises, calling on the Western World to significantly increase immigration levels.[12][13] In 2022, he apologized for the Church's role in the "cultural genocide" of the Canadian indigenous peoples.[14] On 4 October 2023, Francis convened the beginnings of the Synod on Synodality, described as the culmination of his papacy and the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council.[4][15][16]...

Francis is the first Jesuit pope. This was a significant appointment ... He is also the first from the Americas,[143] and the first from the Southern Hemisphere.[144] Many media reported him as being the first non-European pope, but he is actually the 11th; the previous was Gregory III from Syria, who died in 741. Moreover, although Francis was not born in Europe, he is ethnically European; his father and maternal grandparents are from northern Italy.[145]

As pope, his manner is less formal than that of his immediate predecessors: a style that news coverage has referred to as "no frills", noting that it is "his common touch and accessibility that is proving the greatest inspiration".[146] On the night of his election, he took a bus back to his hotel with the cardinals, rather than be driven in the papal car.[147] The next day, he visited Cardinal Jorge María Mejía in the hospital and chatted with patients and staff.[148] At his first media audience, the Saturday after his election, the pope explained his papal name choice, citing Saint Francis of Assisi as "the man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man", and he added "[h]ow I would like a poor Church, and for the poor".[149]

In addition to his native Spanish, he speaks fluent Italian (the official language of Vatican City and the "everyday language" of the Holy See) and German. He is also conversant in Latin (the official language of the Holy See),[150] French,[151] Portuguese,[152] and English,[153][154] and he understands the Piedmontese language and some Genoese.[155]

Francis chose not to live in the official papal residence in the Apostolic Palace, but to remain in the Vatican guest house, in a suite in which he can receive visitors and hold meetings. He is the first pope since Pope Pius X to live outside the papal apartments.[156] Francis still appears at the window of the Apostolic Palace for the Sunday Angelus.[157]

As a Jesuit pope, he has been "making clear that a fundamental task of the faithful is not so much to follow rules but to discern what God is calling them to do. He is altering the culture of the clergy, steering away from what he has named as "clericalism" (which dwells on priestly status and authority) and toward an ethic of service (Francis says the church's shepherds must have the "smell of the sheep", always staying close to the People of God)."[158]

On 13 December 2023, in an interview with Mexican broadcaster Televisa, Francis said that his "great devotion" was to the Salus populi Romani icon at the Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Francis also told the news outlet that his tomb was already prepared at the basilica near the icon. Francis will be the first pope since Pope Leo XIII to be buried outside the Vatican.[159]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis