I am actually curious how much does the Pope actually have on devout Catholics? You have many politicians around the World who profess to be devout Catholics yet don't really follow the Pope's pronouncements on things like the treatment of refugees and climate change.
There is a lot too that the spat between Pompeo and the Pope is regarding the Pope making a new deal with the PRC. Catholicism has had to walk a very fine line in the PRC. Like all religions Catholicism under Mao was banned, it was later replaced with a Chinese version controlled by the CCP. Since then the CCP has come to agreements to allow the Catholic church to function again. Xi Jinping has practiced "sinicization" of the church to keep it more under control of the CCP. Francis has worked on a deal to allow the appointment of bishops to be by the Vatican and allow the church to keep going. As such has refrained from criticizing the PRC which Pompeo and others have criticized. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...against-vaticans-deal-with-china-during-visit Pompeo to criticise Vatican's renewal of China deal during visit Pope Francis reportedly declining to meet US secretary of state who says the Catholic church too soft on Beijing Mike Pompeo will visit the Vatican to protest against the imminent renewal of a deal between the Catholic church and China, which the US secretary of state claims endangers its moral authority. Pope Francis has reportedly declined to meet Pompeo during his visit this week, citing the closeness of the US election. However, such a move is likely to be linked to Pompeo’s recent attacks on the Vatican’s perceived soft-pedalling on China’s human rights record as the two sides prepare to extend a historic agreement signed two years ago. The details of the deal have never been made public, but it gave the Vatican a say in the appointment of Catholic bishops in China. Pope Francis also recognised eight bishops that had been appointed by Beijing without his approval. In the past two years, two new bishops have been appointed in China after consultation with the Vatican, and Chinese and Vatican officials met publicly for the first time in seven decades. Critics claimed the deal was a betrayal of millions of Chinese Catholics, most of whom worship in unregistered churches at enormous personal risk, and would cause irreparable damage to the church’s credibility. “They’re [sending] the flock into the mouths of the wolves,” Cardinal Joseph Zen, the former archbishop of Hong Kong, said at the time. Since the rapprochement with China, Pope Francis has been notably silent on the country’s violations of human rights. Despite advocating for marginalised and oppressed people all over the world, Francis has failed to use his voice to highlight the incarceration of at least a million Uighurs and other Muslims in prison camps, where they are reported to face starvation, torture, murder, sexual violence, slave labour and forced organ extraction. Earlier this month, Pompeo, who is on a five-day tour of Greece, Turkey, Croatia and Italy, said the Catholic church should deploy its moral authority against the Chinese Communist party’s crackdowns on religious worship. The criticism is part of a broader pattern of US attacks on China during Donald Trump’s presidency as relations between the superpowers have reached their lowest point for decades. At the UN general assembly this month, Trump accused China of “unleashing this plague onto the world”, referring to the Covid-19 pandemic. In an article in First Things, a US conservative Catholic magazine, Pompeo wrote: “The Holy See has a unique capacity and duty to focus the world’s attention on human rights violations, especially those perpetrated by totalitarian regimes like Beijing’s. In the late 20th century, the church’s power of moral witness helped inspire those who liberated central and eastern Europe from communism, and those who challenged autocratic and authoritarian regimes in Latin America and East Asia. “That same power of moral witness should be deployed today with respect to the Chinese Communist party … What the church teaches the world about religious freedom and solidarity should now be forcefully and persistently conveyed by the Vatican in the face of the Chinese Communist party’s relentless efforts to bend all religious communities to the will of the party and its totalitarian program.” On Twitter he said the party’s “abuse of the faithful has only gotten worse” since the deal was signed. “The Vatican endangers its moral authority, should it renew the deal.” Pompeo is expected to meet Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s secretary of state, and the archbishop Paul Gallagher, secretary for relations with states. China’s president, Xi Jinping, has pledged to “Sinicise” all religious practise, insisting that it must be “Chinese in orientation”, with the government providing “active guidance to religions”. Catholicism is a relatively minor religion in China, with an estimated 10-12 million adherents out of a population of 1.4 billion. Catholics are supposed to worship only in churches approved by the state, but many attend unregistered churches under the authority of bishops who are not recognised by the Chinese authorities. The extension to the Vatican-China deal is expected to be signed next month.
Thanks. I didn't know too much about this issue. I knew that the CCP had suppressed the Catholic Church and substituted it with a "Chinese Catholic Patriotic" church. I didn't know that Francis had been making deals with the CCP until recently.
The Pope has at least been consistent. Pope Says Trump 'Is Not Christian' : NPR Feb 18, 2016 - Pope Francis was criticizing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's plan to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
He sure is... Report finds flaws in Catholic Church abuse-prevention plans https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory...tholic-church-abuse-prevention-plans-73362107 New lawsuit claims Diocese of Savannah covered up allegations of child molestation https://www.wtoc.com/2020/09/24/new...nah-covered-up-allegations-child-molestation/ Number of WNY priests accused in Child Victims Act suits grows to 173 https://buffalonews.com/news/local/...cle_06e847ba-f9ba-11ea-b9ac-d33aceff1913.html 2 new sex abuse suits filed against Metuchen Diocese include clerics not accused before https://www.mycentraljersey.com/sto...w-priest-sex-abuse-lawsuits-filed/5759003002/ Polish Cleric Retires in Face of Cover-Up Accusations. It’s Not Enough, Critics Say. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/world/europe/pope-francis-abuse-gdansk.html Bishop Named by Pope to Investigate Abuse Is Accused Himself https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/nyregion/brooklyn-bishop-dimarzio-sex-abuse.html Polish archbishop refers child sex abuse case to Vatican https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52694489 Little progress since Vatican's sexual abuse summit, say activists https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...ce-vaticans-sexual-abuse-summit-say-activists Vatican office struggles to keep up with clergy abuse cases https://apnews.com/article/6e99b1ddf64d5fd7ff85fe065d699e7b Dozens of Catholic Priests Credibly Accused of Abuse Found Work Abroad, Some With the Church’s Blessing https://www.propublica.org/article/...nd-work-abroad-some-with-the-churchs-blessing ...he consistently waves his wand and grants these pieces of **** forgiveness and absolution. If he doesn't care about the abuse and molestation of innocent children then of course he doesn't give a **** about slavery in China. **** his opinions
Lol sociopath connies and evangelicals hate Catholics, unless it's to stuff a court seat in hopes of gutting Roe v Wade (think of the children) and ACA (**** uninsured, think of much wallet!) Big tent party respect!