Pope urges dialogue with Islam, says world must do more for poor

[onehandle]

Source: Reuters

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis urged the West on Friday to intensify dialogue with Islam and appealed to the world to do more to combat poverty.

The new pontiff made his appeal in an address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, sending a message through them to the leaders of the more than 170 countries with which the Vatican has diplomatic relations.

Speaking in Italian, he also made another impassioned appeal for the defense of the poor and of the environment, saying richer countries should fight what he called "the spiritual poverty of our times" by re-forging links with God.

"How many poor people there still are in the world! And what great suffering they have to endure!" he told the diplomats in the Vatican's frescoed Sala Regia.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/pope-urges-dialogue-islam-says-world-must-more-103919637.html

[Octafish]

1. How refreshing. A world leader who cares for the 99-percent.

Wish we had more like him, especially in the United States.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. Please deduct from that 99% the LGBT people he cares only to hinder and to lible

It is offensive to be counted as one he cares about while he also slanders my loved ones and family. He says my family is an attack on God. You find that refreshing but it makes me think of pogroms and pyres.

[fitman]

3. I think Pope Francis is more liberal

than he is letting on..he just said that he is open to to arguments for dropping the Priest celibacy rule, he wants more "social justice" for the poor and there was rumors he is ok for civil unions for gays(that is a start for the catholic church).

I'm not going to throw this guy under the bus so soon...

I just have a gut feeling he is going to turn out ok and change the church for the better...

[Bluenorthwest]

4. The man says gay people seeking rights is an attack on God. He calls adoption by gay parents

discrimination against the adopted children. He has been a loud, active and constant opponent of gay rights.
He is a well known entity. I have friends in Argentina. I am only stating his own spoken positions.

[Comrade Grumpy]

9. The Church's positions are unlikely to change quickly.

That said, I welcome the pope's worlds on dialog and caring for the poor and the environment.

The RCC is a mixed bag.

[Rozlee]

7. And let's see how he cares about the rights of children abused by clergy.

That's one of the biggies that got Benedict out of town on a rail. It's the stain on the soul of the Catholic Church that needs to be addressed before it can be re-defined again. But, it's also the elephant in the room that no one's taking by the horns yet. Or by whatever elephants get taken by.

[Octafish]

15. OK. He did endorse civil unions, though.

Most of the priests I know love everyone in the community.

So, please, don't accuse them and me of what I didn't write, Bluenorthwest.

One more thing: The sanctimonious act is great.

[Posteritatis]

17. Really? That's a pleasant surprise

I didn't think he was ready to take things that far. Not going to argue - it'd certainly be a step closer to where things ought to be, which is itself a big deal for an organization that moves as closely as the Catholic Church does.

And isn't the "read post, reply to statements that weren't made in the post" trend lately just delightful? ;P

[Andy Stanton]

5. I'm pleased he's speaking out on behalf of the poor

I disagree with many of the positions of the Catholic Church but I strongly support more attention paid to the plight of the very poor. Poverty and its associated problems are by far the most important issue worldwide, IMO.

[daleo]

6. Religions depend on the poor, to a considerable extent

There is a well studied correlation between religious belief and inequality. People living in countries with a lot of poor people and a few rich tend to be much more formally religious than those in countries with a substantial middle class. It may be that both inequality and religiosity co-vary with educational attainment levels. It may be that people see less need for a deity if most of there material needs are well met. It may be that secular institutions take over social functions otherwise met by churches (e.g. unemployment insurance rather than church charity).

For the Catholic church, fewer poor will mean fewer people in the pews. Same for other religions.

The CBC has done some interesting stuff on this topic recently.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2013/03/05/f-religion-economic-growth.html

[Orsino]

8. Consider contraception, please, Your Holiness.

Consider dropping the war on reality.

[GiveMeFreedom]

10. I do not understand organized religion.

Why don't they sell the Vatican and all the other palaces they own to help the poor?

[onehandle]

11. Beacool covered this in another thread

'Should the US sell the WH and all its historical collection of artifacts? Should we empty the Smithsonian and sell their content too? Should other nations do the same?

I don't expect any nation to sell its patrimony, I don't expect the Vatican to do so either.'


http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014431647#post43

[Posteritatis]

16. For the same reason you don't buy bandaids for someone with a severed arm. (nt)

[hedgehog]

12. " Pope Francis urged the West on Friday to intensify dialogue with Islam"

aaaand..... another batch of right wing heads just exploded!

[tanyev]

13. I just went to Freeperville and couldn't find it posted.

Granted, the search capablities on that site are wretched so I might have missed it, or maybe they've all agreed to pretend it never happened.

[Catherina]

14. Heads of Catholic right wing extremists exploded weeks ago

They have a *prophet* called Maria Divine Mercy who predicted months ago that Pope Benedict was going to get ousted and replaced by a fraud who'd soon be celebrating Jewish and Islamic whatevers (can't even remember their lingo) and that true Catholics must not, NOT, recognize this fraudulent Pope. http://www.thewarningsecondcoming.com/

In NO way do I condone or support her but she did predict that and many people laughed her off at the time. We can call it the broken clock syndrome but it's causing havoc with a some people and St Malachy's predictions, as well as a few other prophecies about end times and the Catholic Church aren't helping.

Right wing heads exploding and melting all over the place.