The Pope's Homily today: on the second-class citizens who live among us .

[pnwmom]

The full text is at the link.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/read-pope-francis-full-homily-madison-square-garden/story?id=34043728

Living in a big city is not always easy. A multicultural context presents many complex challenges. Yet big cities are a reminder of the hidden riches present in our world: in the diversity of its cultures, traditions and historical experiences. In the variety of its languages, costumes and cuisine. Big cities bring together all the different ways which we human beings have discovered to express the meaning of life, wherever we may be.

But big cities also conceal the faces of all those people who don’t appear to belong, or are second-class citizens. In big cities, beneath the roar of traffic, beneath “the rapid pace of change”, so many faces pass by unnoticed because they have no “right” to be there, no right to be part of the city. They are the foreigners, the children who go without schooling, those deprived of medical insurance, the homeless, the forgotten elderly. These people stand at the edges of our great avenues, in our streets, in deafening anonymity. They become part of an urban landscape which is more and more taken for granted, in our eyes, and especially in our hearts. Knowing that Jesus still walks our streets, that he is part of the lives of his people, that he is involved with us in one vast history of salvation, fills us with hope. A hope which liberates us from the forces pushing us to isolation and lack of concern for the lives of others, for the life of our city. A hope which frees us from empty “connections”, from abstract analyses, or sensationalist routines. A hope which is unafraid of involvement, which acts as a leaven wherever we happen to live and work. A hope which makes us see, even in the midst of smog, the presence of God as he continues to walk the streets of our city.

What is it like, this light travelling through our streets? How do we encounter God, who lives with us amid the smog of our cities? How do we encounter Jesus, alive and at work in the daily life of our multicultural cities?

Go out to others and share the good news that God, our Father, walks at our side. He frees us from anonymity, from a life of emptiness and selfishness, and brings us to the school of encounter. He removes us from the fray of competition and self-absorption, and he opens before us the path of peace. That peace which is born of accepting others, that peace which fills our hearts whenever we look upon those in need as our brothers and sisters.

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Here are some other second class citizens that the RCC tries its best to make sure that they stay

second class:

women.
lgbtq people.

Wake up Frank.

[pnwmom]

2. Pope Francis has been taking significant progressive steps with regard to these groups --

for one thing, the previous Pope had two separate "investigations" going on of the major groups of nuns in the US. Pope Francis quickly ended those investigations and has gone out of his way to praise the work of these women. He also met with Sr. Simone of the Nuns on the Bus, one of the nuns who angered Bishops by openly supporting Obamacare.

And his statement about LGBT "Who am I to judge" -- may not seem like much to a non-Catholic. But it is a big step in the right direction.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. no. he. has. not.

The RCC condems lgbtq equality. Frank did so in no uncertain terms just the other day in one of his speeches here. The RCC is not changing its position on birth control and is fighting access on many fronts all around the world.

[pnwmom]

4. Do you have a link for that? I've read all his speeches while here and I didn't see that.

And with regard to birth control, two things.

During Pope Paul's pontificate, a group of theologians prepared a report for him in which they said there was no theological reason to ban artificial birth control. He did anyway, but not in a way that made it a permanent Church position. So that could change.

And more Catholics use artificial birth control than the average American. So the ban has had little effect on Catholic lay people's decision making.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. Yesterday close enough?

"Yet I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without. Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family."
Sept. 24 2015. Joint session of congress.

Go ahead and pretend that was not what it was about.

[pnwmom]

9. He also spoke about how poverty was threatening families because it was preventing

couples from marrying. I understand why you read that quote that way, but it could be read in the other context he spoke of, too -- about how poverty and the prospect of a bleak future prevents people from marrying.

Go ahead and pretend that Pope Francis hasn't been more conciliatory than any Pope in history. Yes, there is still large room for improvement, but he's at least moving in the right direction.

It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow. I'm in touch with some gay Catholic parents that will be attending the conference on the family. I hope they have a good experience there and a chance to speak their truths.

[Bluenorthwest]

8. Ah the affluent US residents who are unharmed by the anti contraception teachings are not the point.

Those teachings you so casually brush off are taught to people of less means and education. In Africa where the Church tells people condoms spread HIV and that to use them is a sin, over 100,000 people die each month from AIDS. Uganda is 44% Catholic lay people. 7.2% of the population are living with HIV, this includes 190,00 children. Hundreds of thousands are orphaned. Most recent year with a count, 2013, 62,000 deaths in Uganda.
http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-uganda.htm

So empowering bad teachings just because they do no harm to the wealthy is not enough.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. Many LGBT homeless youth are homeless because their religious parents throw them out.

The bigoted teachings of these religious leaders contribute to the atmosphere that allows and encourages this great injustice.
I offer two links, the first is to a Rolling Stone piece:
The Forsaken: A Rising Number of Homeless Gay Teens Are Being Cast Out by Religious Familie
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/the-forsaken-a-rising-number-of-homeless-gay-teens-are-being-cast-out-by-religious-families-20140903

Here is a letter to Pope Francis published in the NY Times, from the director of the Ali Forney Center:
A Long Way From Home: Christianity and the Parental Rejection of LGBT Youth
http://www.aliforneycenter.org/stopreligiousrejection/

When people castigate and condemn LGBT people and our lives, prejudiced minds see a room full of cackling rich white men but what they are doing is castigating and condemning their own youth, their own neighbors and the very least of those among us.

[ChazII]

7. Remember when the Pope hugged the disfigured faced

man? The man and I have the same genetic order although his case is much more severe than mine. That one hug meant the world to the Neurofibromatosis community. Many of us have been asked to leave community swimming pools because people are afraid they will 'catch' what we have. We have often been told that we make folks lose their appetites when at food courts.

The Pope's words did bring comfort to a group of people that have been shunned for decades.

[pnwmom]

10. I think that hug meant a lot to your community as well as millions of other people

with conditions that can cause them to be shunned.

I'm so sorry that there is so much ignorance about conditions like yours.

[ChazII]

12. pnwmom, you words are every bit as meaningful

and touching as that of the Pope's. Thank you for understanding.

[pnwmom]

13. Thank you so much, ChazII. That means a great deal.

I hope his visit was a good reminder to all of us of how important it is to try to support each other.

[REP]

11. ... And he'll be glad to see women, the LGBTQ stay second-class citizens

Not buying the hype. The pope is still Catholic, and Catholicism is still a regressive theology. No thanks!