Pope John Paul II was the best and most charasmatic Pope in my lifetime. Naturally, I was interested in watching the CNN special on his life and reign, broadcast on Christmas Eve. It started out well enough, describing his early life and his contributions to obstruct communism in his native Poland and to the destruction of the Berlin wall. By the end , however, it degenerated into marked criticism of him and his successor, Pope Benedict for being too rigid and doctrinaire in defending the principles of the Church, concerning things like abortion and gay marriage. By contrast, they gushed over our current Pope, Francis. They went on and on about what a true man of the people he has been, just what the Church has needed, opening it to fresh air and progressive ideas. In truth, many, if not most Catholics, have concerns about the direction in which Francis is leading the Church. By the end it was clear, the program was not meant to celebrate the life of John Paul so much, as it was an opportunity to espouse more CNN liberal BS.

Francis came in, I left. Until he's gone, I am also.

Francis is a communist! Born out of the liberation theology pervasive in Latin America. He is the reason I will no longer practice Catholicism.

Who or what is the ‘Pope’ u speak of????

The Catholic church actively harbored Vici collaborators after the war.

I thought the Pope was supposed to be a man of God, not a man of the people. Defender of the faith and all that.

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Originally posted by Fredward:
I thought the Pope was supposed to be a man of God, not a man of the people. Defender of the faith and all that.

^^ THIS ^^

CNN will always praise a bad pope and vilify a real Pope.

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Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Who or what is the ‘Pope’ u speak of????

Aaannnnd-there it is.

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Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Who or what is the ‘Pope’ u speak of????

Over 40,000 posts. They’re mainly stupid.

John Paul 2 was an avid opponent of communism, he saw it for the evil it was. He was a fan of democracy and freedom. Of course CNN would be against that.

Assholes

There may never be another John Paul II. I fear the ways of the Catholic Church will follow the likes of Francis moving forward.

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Originally posted by Graniteguy:
There may never be another John Paul II. I fear the ways of the Catholic Church will follow the likes of Francis moving forward.

Short-term, I share your fear. The Church will continue to shrink and lose much of its relevance until the "reset button" gets pushed.

Long-term, not so much. There are only around 125 Elector Cardinals (those who haven't "aged out" of voting participation in the selection of a new pope) and while the vast majority of them were installed by Benedict or Francis, they were mostly born in the 1940s... making it likely that by the time the NEXT pope is selected, they too will have retired from voting (age 80.) The next crop of Cardinals will have come into the priesthood during JPII's papacy and will likely have a much different view of the world and Church doctrine than the "incumbent." That could be a good thing.

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Originally posted by recoatlift:
Francis came in, I left. Until he's gone, I am also.

Wow, sounds like I wrote that.


That is about what I expected from CNN about Pope Paul. That has always been what some people criticize the church for. TOO RIGID...going by the bible is too rigid for most.

Did they mention all the people who have left the Catholic church since Francis TOOK authority and forced out the last pope?? No, probably not.