One acquaintance of mine, a relatively well educated Anglican, said she was relieved that the new Pope believed in the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception.
The fact is, the Pope doesn't have the authority to change doctrines and to overrule God's commandment, "Thou shall not murder" isn't possible.
"But I know Catholics who don't agree with this." I hear you say. Well, sorry to be blunt, but if someone, knowing the church teaching on the sanctity of human life or any other teaching regarding dogma publicly denies this, as opposed to genuinely misunderstanding it, then they're not Catholic.
I am excited by the Pontificate of Pope Francis and whilst he is a man of surprises in so many ways, we know beyond any doubt that he isn't about to change Catholic dogma revealed by God.
Does Pope Francis believe in the right to life?
Yes - or as others might put it, "Is the Pope a Catholic?"
Well said and straight to the nub of these issues.
ReplyDeleteI have the same comment or question, "Is the Pope Catholic?" I mean this question in the most positive way because I feel that as a Catholic, we are called to explain to many (Catholics and non-Catholics) what the Church teaches.
ReplyDeleteIn my humble opinion, those who make comments/criticisms about the Roman Catholic Church and/or Pope Francis fall under one or all of the categories below:
1-Uninformed of the basic tenets of our faith; not realizing nor understanding we cannot change what's in the Bible.
2-Uninformed or misguided in thinking the Pope (being "Infallible"--that's another huge topic) can change his views on the sanctity of life, among many other issues in the "modern world".
3-Someone writes a derogatory article on the Catholic Church without doing due diligence and thorough research on what the church believes, thinking that a new Pope would change church doctrine.