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The Church is supposed to celebrate God's merciful love for any and all people.  

What religion is this ?

Jesus said hell exists and it is a lake of fire, God destroyed sodomite cities. God was right then and God is right now. Atheists do not go to heaven and by definition are not good. We are not to even associate with gαy people.

The meditation of two standards- Jesus and his army is on one side of the battlefield and satan is on the other with his army. Standing beside satan is pope francis.

The pontiff criticized the situation between Israel and Palestinians as "unacceptable."

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The pontiff criticized the situation between Israel and Palestinians as "unacceptable."

This is nothing new and it his not his job.

Maybe he should visit Los Angeles and address what is happening in that diocese and actually care about Catholics and improving our own Church instead of trying to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Quote from: poche

Quote from: crossbro

Quote

The pontiff criticized the situation between Israel and Palestinians as "unacceptable."

This is nothing new and it his not his job.

Maybe he should visit Los Angeles and address what is happening in that diocese and actually care about Catholics and improving our own Church instead of trying to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

It is his job to criticize immoral behaviour where he finds it.

He did not seem to find the illegal an immoral invasion and occupation of Palestine important enough to criticize, did he? Unlike the saintly pontiff whose memory he spit upon at Hertzl's grave.

Quote from: poche

Quote from: crossbro

Quote

The pontiff criticized the situation between Israel and Palestinians as "unacceptable."

This is nothing new and it his not his job.

Maybe he should visit Los Angeles and address what is happening in that diocese and actually care about Catholics and improving our own Church instead of trying to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

It is his job to criticize immoral behaviour where he finds it.

He did not seem to find the illegal an immoral invasion and occupation of Palestine important enough to criticize, did he? Unlike the saintly pontiff whose memory he spit upon at Hertzl's grave.

Yesterday I was with the Pope. The route was already familiar since I had traversed it with Lippay several times.

Past the Swiss lackeys, who looked like clerics, and clerics who looked like lackeys, the Papal officers and chamberlains.

I arrived 10 minutes ahead of time and didn't even have to wait.

I was conducted through numerous small reception rooms to the Pope.

He received me standing and held out his hand, which I did not kiss.

Lippay had told me I had to do it, but I didn't.

I believe that I incurred his displeasure by this, for everyone who visits him kneels down and at least kisses his hand.

This hand kiss had caused me a lot of worry. I was quite glad when it was finally out of the way.

He seated himself in an armchair, a throne for minor occasions. Then he invited me to sit down right next to him and smiled in friendly anticipation.

I began:

"Ringrazio Vostra Santit� per il favore di m'aver accordato quest'udienza" [I thank Your Holiness for the favor of according me this audience]."

"� un piacere [It is a pleasure]," he said with kindly deprecation.

I apologized for my miserable Italian, but he said:

"No, parla molto bene, signor Commendatore [No, Commander, you speak very well]."

For I had put on for the first time�on Lippay's advice�my Mejidiye ribbon. Consequently the Pope always addressed me as Commendatore.

He is a good, coarse-grained village priest, to whom Christianity has remained a living thing even in the Vatican.

I briefly placed my request before him. He, however, possibly annoyed by my refusal to kiss his hand, answered sternly and resolutely:

"Noi non possiamo favorire questo movimento. Non potremo impedire gli Ebrei di andare a Gerusalemme�ma favorire non possiamo mai. La terra di Gerusalemme se non era sempre santa, � santificata per la vita di Jesu Christo (he did not pronounce it Gesu, but Yesu, in the Venetian fashion). Io come capo della chiesa non posso dirle altra cosa. Gli Ebrei non hanno riconosciuto nostro Signore, perci� non possiamo riconoscere il popolo ebreo [We cannot give approval to this movement. We cannot prevent the Jєωs from going to Jerusalem�but we could never sanction it. The soil of Jerusalem, if it was not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church I cannot tell you anything different. The Jєωs have not recognized our Lord, therefore we cannot recognize the Jєωιѕн people]."

Hence the conflict between Rome, represented by him, and Jerusalem, represented by me, was once again opened up.

At the outset, to be sure, I tried to be conciliatory. I recited my little piece about extraterritorialization, res sacrae extra commercium [holy places removed from business]. It didn't make much of an impression. Gerusalemme, he said, must not get into the hands of the Jєωs.

"And its present status, Holy Father?"

"I know, it is not pleasant to see the Turks in possession of our Holy Places. We simply have to put up with that. But to support the Jєωs in the acquisition of the Holy Places, that we cannot do."

I said that our point of departure had been solely the distress of the Jєωs and that we desired to avoid the religious issues.

"Yes, but we, and I as the head of the Church, cannot do this. There are two possibilities. Either the Jєωs will cling to their faith and continue to await the Messiah who, for us, has already appeared. In that case they will be denying the divinity of Jesus and we cannot help them. Or else they will go there without any religion, and then we can be even less favorable to them.

"The Jєωιѕн religion was the foundation of our own; but it was superseded by the teachings of Christ, and we cannot concede it any further validity. The Jєωs, who ought to have been the first to acknowledge Jesus Christ, have not done so to this day."

It was on the tip of my tongue to say, "That's what happens in every family. No one believes in his own relatives." But I said instead: "Terror and persecution may not have been the right means for enlightening the Jєωs."

But he rejoined, and this time he was magnificent in his simplicity:

"Our Lord came without power. Era povero [He was poor]. He came in pace [in peace]. He persecuted no one. He was persecuted.

He was abbandonato [forsaken] even by his apostles. Only later did he grow in stature. It took three centuries for the Church to evolve. The Jєωs therefore had time to acknowledge his divinity without any pressure. But they haven't done so to this day."

"But, Holy Father, the Jєωs are in terrible straits. I don't know if Your Holiness is acquainted with the full extent of this sad situation. We need a land for these persecuted people."

"Does it have to be Gerusalemme?"

"We are not asking for Jerusalem, but for Palestine�only the secular land."

"We cannot be in favor of it."

"Does Your Holiness know the situation of the Jєωs?"

"Yes, from my Mantua days. Jєωs live there. And I have always been on good terms with Jєωs. Only the other evening two Jєωs were here to see me. After all, there are other bonds than those of religion: courtesy and philanthropy. These we do not deny to the Jєωs. Indeed, we also pray for them: that their minds be enlightened. This very day the Church is celebrating the feast of an unbeliever who, on the road to Damascus, became miraculously converted to the true faith. And so, if you come to Palestine and settle your people there, we shall have churches and priests ready
to baptize all of you."

Count Lippay had had himself announced. The Pope permitted him to enter. The Count kneeled, kissed his hand, then joined in the conversation by telling of our "miraculous" meeting in Bauer's Beer Hall in Venice. The miracle was that he had originally planned to spend the night in Padua. As it happened, I had expressed the wish to be allowed to kiss the Holy Father's foot.

At this the Pope made une t�te [a long face], for I hadn't even kissed his hand. Lippay went on to say that I had expressed myself appreciatively on Jesus Christ's noble qualities. The Pope listened, now and then took a pinch of snuff, and sneezed into a big red cotton handkerchief. Actually, these peasant touches are what I like best about him and what compels my respect.

In this way Lippay wanted to account for his introducing me, perhaps to excuse it. But the Pope said: "On the contrary, I am glad you brought me the Signor Commendatore."

As to the real business, he repeated what he had told me: Non possumus [We can't]!

Until he dismissed us Lippay spent some time kneeling before him and couldn't seem to get his fill of kissing his hand. Then I realized that the Pope liked this sort of thing. But on parting, too, all I did was to give him a warm hand-squeeze and a low bow.

Duration of the audience: about 25 minutes.

In the Raphael stanze [rooms], where I spent the next hour, I saw a picture of an Emperor kneeling to let a seated Pope put the crown on his head.

That's the way Rome wants it.